What is the PLS file format?
.pls files are supported by many popular audio player applications as a widely recognised playlist format.
Files with the .pls extension are used for storing playlists, which make music playback seamless. A user can add a track to a .pls file and the player will automatically add it to the play queue. It is important to keep in mind that .pls files do not contain audio tracks or music files - they store only references to files on disk, a USB drive, or a remote internet stream.
.pls is a plain-text, INI-style format. Every file begins with a [playlist] section header, followed by numbered entries - File1, Title1, Length1 - and ends with NumberOfEntries and Version=2 keys. A Length value of -1 signals a live or unknown-duration stream.
Users can add or remove tracks, and .pls files can be shared over the internet and transferred to other storage devices, which facilitates management of large audio libraries. The format is particularly popular as the standard playlist type used by SHOUTcast and Icecast internet radio stations - a single .pls link opened in a player connects directly to a live stream.
Many audio players support .pls natively alongside .M3U files; for structured playlists with richer metadata, .XSPF is a modern alternative.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWPLS files are plain text and contain only URLs/paths. The risk comes from where the URLs point: a malicious .pls could direct a player to a remote exploit URL (rare, but media players have had URL-parsing vulnerabilities). For internet radio .pls files from broadcaster websites, risk is negligible. Open in a text editor first if unsure of the source.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open PLS files
Windows4 apps
VLC media player
Open-source Double-click the .pls file; VLC opens and begins playback. Or drag onto VLC window. 
Winamp
Free Open the .pls file; Winamp adds entries to its playlist. Note: Winamp was revived 2022+ by Llama Group. 
Windows Media Player
Built-in Double-click .pls - Windows Media Player opens and plays the stream/files. 
macOS2 apps
iTunes / Apple Music
Built-in Drag .pls onto iTunes/Apple Music window; it will import the playlist entries. 
Linux1 app
Android1 app
Open as text (read URL)
Free Rename .pls to .txt and open in any text editor to extract the stream URL, then paste into any player. Technical details
deep spec| Format type | INI-style plain-text playlist |
| File signature | File always begins with the literal text `[playlist]` (INI section header) |
| Text encoding | UTF-8 or ASCII; no BOM defined in the specification |
| MIME type | `audio/x-scpls` |
| Format version | Version=2 (current); Version=1 used by some legacy players |
| Entry structure | Numbered keys per track: `File#` (path or URL), `Title#` (display name), `Length#` (duration in seconds) |
| Live-stream indicator | `Length=-1` denotes a live stream or unknown-duration content |
| Path types supported | Absolute local paths, relative paths, HTTP/HTTPS stream URLs, MMS stream URLs |
| Typical file size | Under 1 KB (local playlists); up to ~5 KB (large internet radio lists) |
| Maximum entries | No hard limit defined by the specification; practical limit is player-dependent |
| Primary internet use | Standard playlist format for SHOUTcast and Icecast internet radio stream distribution |
| OS compatibility | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Superseded by | M3U8 (UTF-8 M3U) for most modern use; XSPF for structured playlists with metadata |
| Released | late 1990s (Winamp / SHOUTcast era) |
| Latest version | Version 2 (current; Version=2 field in file) |
| Specification | forums.winamp.com |
PLS conversions
Community Q&A
asked by usersNo questions yet - be the first to ask about PLS files.
