What is the META file format?
A .meta file is a metadata file created by RealPlayer, the streaming media application developed by RealNetworks in the late 1990s. When a media file is downloaded or streamed by the application, a .meta file describing it is created alongside. The metadata file provides information about the video, such as the title, the location of the file, and its duration.
Crucially, a .meta file is not itself a video - it is a small plain-text pointer. It contains a reference to the actual media stream location, typically expressed as an rtsp:// or http:// URL pointing to a .rm or .rmvb file. RealPlayer reads this reference to locate and play the real media content.
Because .meta files are plain text with no binary signature, they can be opened and inspected in any text editor such as Notepad. If RealPlayer is no longer installed, applications like VLC media player may be able to follow the embedded link and play the target stream. The format is closely related to .ram (RealAudio Metafile) and .rpm files, which serve a similar pointer role for audio and inline browser playback respectively.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA RealPlayer .meta is plain text and harmless to open in an editor. The only real caution is that, like any media pointer, it can reference a remote URL - opening it in a player makes that player fetch a network resource, so be wary of .meta files from untrusted sources that could point at unwanted content. Also avoid 'RealPlayer downloader/converter' sites that bundle adware; get RealPlayer only from real.com, and note RealPlayer has a history of bundled toolbars during install.
Format details
in a nutshell- Generic metadata / sidecar files - Many unrelated apps and games drop '.meta' sidecar files (e.g. Unity .meta import files, backup/manifest metadata) - these are unrelated to RealPlayer and are read by their own software.
- Unity asset .meta file - Unity game engine creates a .meta file next to every asset to store its import settings and GUID; it is a YAML text file used only inside Unity projects.
Programs that open META files
Windows3 apps
VLC media player
Open-source If the .meta points to a stream/file VLC supports, paste that URL/path into VLC (Media > Open Network Stream) to play it without RealPlayer. 
RealPlayer / RealTimes
Freemium Open the .meta in RealPlayer to follow its reference and play the linked media (if the source still exists).
Notepad / any text editor
Built-in Open the .meta as text to read the URL/path inside and locate the real media file. 
macOS2 apps
RealPlayer / RealTimes
Freemium Open the .meta in RealPlayer to follow its reference. (Mac RealPlayer is legacy - a text editor + VLC is often more reliable.)
TextEdit / VLC
Open-source Read the .meta as text in TextEdit to find the media link, then open that link/file in VLC. Technical details
deep spec| Format type | Plain-text pointer and metadata file - not a video container |
| Developer | RealNetworks |
| MIME type | text/plain |
| Text encoding | ASCII / UTF-8 plain text |
| Binary signature | None - the file has no magic bytes and is fully human-readable |
| Typical file size | A few bytes to a few kilobytes |
| Stream protocol | References rtsp:// or http:// URLs pointing to the actual media stream |
| Associated media formats | .rm, .rmvb, .ram, .rpm, .smil |
| Content structure | One or more lines containing a URL or local file path, optionally followed by title and duration metadata |
| Role | Acts as a launcher or shortcut that RealPlayer resolves to locate and play the real media file |
| Identification method | Read as plain text - a URL or file path on the first line confirms the format; no binary detection possible |
| Editable with | Any plain-text editor (e.g., Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on macOS) |
| Platform origin | Windows and macOS via RealPlayer and RealTimes |
| Era | Introduced in the late 1990s alongside the RealMedia streaming ecosystem |
| Released | Late 1990s (RealPlayer / RealMedia era) |
| Specification | en.wikipedia.org |
META conversions
Community Q&A
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