Playlists

M3U/M3U8 playlist management

M3U and M3U8 playlists are fully supported in CineWindows. Playlists can be loaded from files, built interactively in the Media Hub, or restored from the previous session automatically.

M3U M3U8 UTF-8 Session save

Playlist Drawer

The playlist is displayed in the Media Hub sidebar under the Playlist tab. Toggle the sidebar with Ctrl + H and select the third tab (playlist icon) to reveal the current playlist.

Components

Track list — each entry shows the file name, duration, and an indicator for the currently playing track
Drag handle — six-dot icon on the left of each track for reordering
Context menu — right-click any track for Remove, Remove All, Save Playlist, and Copy Path
Header — shows total track count and total duration at the top
Drop zone — drag files from Explorer or from other applications onto the playlist to append them

Working with M3U Playlists

Open an M3U File

Open the file

Press Ctrl + O and select an .m3u or .m3u8 file, or drag the M3U file onto the CineWindows window. The playlist loads and playback begins from the first entry.

Navigate tracks

Use N (next) and P (previous) to move between tracks. The current track is highlighted in the playlist. Tracks play sequentially by default.

Change playback order

Click the shuffle button in the Control Bar (or press Ctrl + R) to toggle between sequential and shuffle modes. Repeat mode cycles the entire playlist.

Create and Save a Playlist

Add files

Drag files from File Explorer onto the CineWindows window, or use Ctrl + O to add individual files. Multiple files opened at once are automatically collected into a playlist.

Rearrange tracks

Click and drag the handle icon on any track to reorder it within the list. A visual separator shows the insertion point as you drag.

Save the playlist

Click the Save button in the playlist header or press Ctrl + S (while the playlist tab is active). Choose a location and filename — CineWindows writes an M3U8 file with UTF-8 encoding and absolute or relative paths.

Drag-and-Drop Reordering

The playlist supports full drag-and-drop reordering:

Hover over the drag handle (six dots) on the left side of a track
Click and hold to begin dragging — the cursor changes to a grab indicator
Drag up or down — a colored insertion line shows where the track will land
Release to place the track in the new position

Reorder operations are instantaneous and do not require saving. Undo is not currently supported, but you can reload the last saved playlist to revert changes.

Track Selection

CineWindows respects the #EXTINF extended M3U metadata. When an M3U file includes #EXTINF tags, CineWindows parses the track title and duration and displays them in the playlist. Files without #EXTINF tags show the file name and retrieve duration from the media headers.

M3U Tag	Parsed Value	Display
`#EXTINF:123,Title Here`	Duration (123s), Title	Track name + duration
`#EXTINF:-1,Title`	Stream (no duration), Title	Track name, “Stream” badge
No `#EXTINF`	—	Filename + detected duration

Session Save and Restore

CineWindows automatically saves the current playlist and playback position when you close the application. On the next launch, the playlist is restored and you are prompted to resume from where you left off.

Behavior

Session file — stored as session.m3u8 in the CineWindows data directory
Resume prompt — a dialog appears on launch asking whether to resume the previous session
Dismiss — selecting No clears the session and starts with an empty playlist
Auto-save timer — the playlist state is persisted every 60 seconds during active playback

Playback Modes

Mode	Description	Shortcut
Sequential	Play tracks in order, stop at end	Default
Repeat All	Loop the entire playlist	Ctrl + R
Repeat One	Repeat the current track	Ctrl + R (cycle)
Shuffle	Play tracks in random order	Ctrl + R (cycle)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
N	Next track
P	Previous track
Ctrl + N	Next playlist (if multiple loaded)
Ctrl + R	Cycle playback mode
Delete	Remove selected track from playlist
Ctrl + Delete	Clear entire playlist
Ctrl + S	Save current playlist
Ctrl + H	Toggle Media Hub (playlist visibility)