# Creating playlist/.m3u files **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581 "2010-12-01T20:21:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581/1 "2010-12-01T20:21:24Z")
I am looking to create a playlist file, but I want to be able to do it using an interface like what you’d have in Windows Explorer - namely based on the directories on my hard drive. I have my MP3 collection sorted by artist/album, but I also have a few bunched together in an “Assorted Artists (singles)” directory. I want to select some songs out of that folder and make them into a playlist, but the standard method in most of the software I’ve seen makes this hard to do. Can someone point me towards a utility to do this that would be simple to use? BTW, this is for creating playlists I will transfer to my Zune, but I think M3U files are universal, so it shouldn’t matter, should it??? thank you! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581/2 "2010-12-01T20:41:17Z")
I learned about PathCopy here on the dope. Open a folder in Explorer. Select the audio files. right click, and you’ll see an option to copy the path/filenames. paste into Notepad and save as a m3u. Done > **[Path Copy](https://download.cnet.com/Path-Copy/3000-2072_4-10036463.html)** > > Download Path Copy for Windows to copy path names of files and folders to your clipboard. example of Copy long name. Copy Long Path would include D:\blah blah blah\filename 01 Setting Up The Stage.flac 02 That Old Black Magic.flac 03 Our Love Is Here To Stay.flac 04 Gone With The Wind.flac 05 Misty.flac 06 Applause And Fanfare Interlude.flac 07 The Lady Is A Tramp.flac 08 Fanfare And Announcement.flac 09 The Man I Love.flac 10 Love For Sale.flac 11 Just One Of Those Things.flac 12 Summertime.flac ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581/3 "2010-12-01T21:33:04Z")
nearly forgot… I’ve used pathcopy version 4 on Win 7 and XP. works great. I’ve never had Vista on a pc. But, Pathcopy should work fine under Vista. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581/4 "2010-12-01T21:45:38Z")
Took a look at it and it seemed as if it would take forever to do a long playlist. I did some more searching and found M3U\_Dropper on [download.com](http://download.com) - looks promising and I will check it out when I get home. Thank you for your input… ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581/5 "2010-12-02T02:42:21Z")
Although I’ve never used it for the purpose requested, [Total Commander](http://www.ghisler.com/) has the ability to copy selected filenames with the path to the clipboard; plus, you can open a branch view of all files under a specific folder, then tag only the ones you want and copy names+path the same way. Nothing to gain for me here, but as an IT professional, I’ve used Total Commander as my file manager for over 10 years - it does everything Explorer does, and does it so much better, plus a whole lot more. It’s the first thing I’ll copy or download to a machine I have to work on… ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-playlist-m3u-files/562581/6 "2010-12-02T04:50:46Z")
Practically any decent media player like WinAmp, GOM etc. lets you open multiple audio files. It automatically creates a playlist that can be sorted and Saved. I never use Microsoft’s garbage, bloatware player. But, I bet it has a similar feature. Microsoft Media Player Classic is great, but I haven’t used it in years. I use GOM and it saves playlists like that as .asx I think Winamp lets you pick m3u if you want it. I personally prefer creating them outside the media player. But, it’s nice to know the feature is available if you’re on a friend or relative’s pc and need to save a quick playlist.