How to Convert M3U8 to MP4 (.m3u8 Folder and Link)

M3U8 files are often seen in apps' downloads (e.g. video downloaded in UC browser) and streaming videos and lives. However, they are not playback-friendly. On occasion, you might be troubled with an M3U8 cannot load error because M3U8 files are not general videos. They are comprised of media list and location and are stored in plain text format.

If you failed to open M3U8 files in a player, you can download or convert M3U8 to MP4, one of the best video formats compatible with all applications. Here we'll show you how to convert M3U8 to MP4 using four M3U8 converters, including a powerful tool that can both convert M3U8 file folder and download M3U8 link to MP4. Let's get started.

What is M3U8?

M3U8 is essencially a playlist encoded in the UTF-8 codec and contains information to source the media streams. The best thing about the M3U8 file is that it is extremely flexible and stores a series of .ts video segments, so that a large video can be retrieved without costing much computation or transferred at various data speeds according to the network connections.

Method 1. Convert M3U8 Folder to MP4 in VideoProc Converter AI

Let's say you have an entire M3U8 file folder, you will find that it contains multiple .ts video clips, each lasting a few seconds. To watch a continuous video without interruptions, you should combine all the .ts video clip into an MP4 file.

In such a case, VideoProc Converter AI is perfect for you. Its powerful built-in video file converter can decode and re-encode all the .ts clips in an M3U8 folder and merge them into an MP4 video. More importantly, it doesn't require much knowledge of video format, codecs, or transcoding stuff. Let's download it and take a look at how to convert M3U8 to MP4 with VideoProc Converter AI.

Step 1. Open VideoProc Converter AI and import the M3U8 file folder to it.

Launch this program, click "Video Converter" and "+Video Folder" to add your M3U8 folder which consists of several .ts files.

Step 2. Choose MP4 as the target format.

Now, click "Video" at the bottom and select "MP4". Alternatively, you can open "Target Format" to find more MP4 profiles.

Step 3. Export the MP4 video from VideoProc Converter AI.

Choose an output folder for your converted video. Tick the box before "Merge" to merge these TS clips in your M3U8 folder into one MP4 video. Ultimately, hit the "RUN" button to export an MP4 file.

Method 2. Download M3U8 Link to MP4 in VideoProc Converter AI

Be it a M3U8 streamed video or a M3U8 broadcasting video stored in a .m3u8 link, VideoProc Converter AI always can read and download the video sources from any website in a click. Another important tidbit to know is that VideoProc Converter AI downloads M3U8 to MP4 directly. That said, you don't have to do conversions because VideoProc Converter AI saves M3U8 files as MP4 automatically.

Free download and install VideoProc Converter AI and follow the steps below to download M3U8 videos easily.

Step 1. Open the M3U8 downloader in VideoProc Converter AI.

Launch VideoProc Converter AI on your Windows or Mac and navigate to the "Downloader" on the homepage.

Step 2. Get the URL of M3U8 video.

Open the live video through a browser like Google Chrome or Firefox. Right-click on the live video (or hit F12 key on the keyboard), and go to Inspect > Network. Find your M3U8 file, and copy the link with a suffix of ".m3u8".

Step 3. Paste the link to the M3U8 downloader in VideoProc Converter AI.

Click "Add Video" at the top ribbon and paste the M3U8 URL from the clipboard. You can also set the location to store downloaded videos on the right side.

Step 4. Start Downloading M3U8 to MP4.

Choose an output folder under the preview window. Hit the "Start Recording" button and you will see a progress bar looping and the duration changing. That means the download works and is in progress. When the television program is done, click the stop recording button.

Method 3. Convert M3U8 to MP4 with VLC

VLC is a popular media player that can also help users in converting videos to accessible formats. A unique thing about VLC is that it is compatible with webcams, discs, files, streams, and devices without any user tracking or pesky advertisement interruptions. Whether you are working on a Mac or Android device, you can use this tool for converting your M3U8 file to MP4 by simply following the steps laid down below.

Step 1. Download and install VLC media player.

You will first have to install VLC media player in your device according to its specific OS and launch the same.

Step 2. Open the Network Stream option.

Navigate to the Media tab and click on the "Open Network Connection" option. This will launch the Open Media window.

Step 3. Add the M3U8 file to convert.

Paste the .m3u8 link to VLC. Switch "Play" to "Convert" in the lower button.

Step 4. Set the output profile to MP4.

Set the Profile to MP4 with H.264 codec. And browse a destination file to put the converted video along with specifying the desired video profile as well as file name.

Step 5. Start the conversion and check the output video.

Ultimately, you will have to click on the "Start" button to activate the conversion.

Note: By default, VLC converts M3U8 to TS, then you need to convert TS files to MP4.

Method 4. Convert M3U8 to MP4 Online

As for online M3U8 to MP4 converters, anyconv.com and video.online-convert.com gain massive popularity among users. Both of them are simple converters with a simple workflow:

Step 1. Upload the M3U8 file to the online converter.

Step 2. Choose MP4 and start converting.

Step 3. Download the converted MP4 file to your computer.

Compared to AnyConv, Video Online Converter has more customizable options such as resolution, file size, bitrate, etc. And you can import M3U8 by uploading from local storage and pasting a URL. In a nutshell, AnyConv for simple conversion of local M3U8 files, while Video Online Converter for advanced conversion of both online and local M3U8.

Method 5. Convert M3U8 to MP4 with FFmpeg

FFmpeg is an open-source multimedia framework compatible with Windows, Linux, macOS, and iOS and Android in mobile devices. It empowers you to download record, stream, edit and convert video/audio files in an efficient way. With an advanced codec library libavcodec, FFmpeg is capable of converting M3U8 files without quality loss.

However, it has no straightforward interface like other common media converter. So be prepared like a tech-savvy to use command lines to convert M3U8 files.

Step 1. Download and install FFmpeg on your PC.

Go to www.ffmpeg.org to download a program package in terms of the operating system. Then create a folder for this program as well as its unpacked files. Finally set the Environmental Variables to C:\FFmpeg\bin.

Step 2. Copy the link of the M3U8 file.

Get the M3U8 link in Inspect > Network on your browser. Then type the command line "ffmpeg -i http://.../playlist.m3u8 -c copy -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc output.mp4 " on a Text Document, and replace http://.../playlist.m3u8 by the link you just copy online.

Step 3. Open Command Prompt.

Search "Command Prompt" in the box of Search Windows and open it. Paste the command line to it, then press Enter.

Step 4. Change the M3U8 file to MP4.

Once the process completes, you can find the MP4 video according to the path before the command line, C:\ffmpeg\>bin, for example.

FAQ about M3U8 Files

1. How Do I Watch M3U8 Videos on My Computer?

You can use online m3u8 players, Chrome extensions, or desktop programs like 5KPlayer, VLC media player to play M3U8 streams directly. After getting the URL of an m3u8 video, paste it to the player, and then you can watch it on your computer.

2. How to Convert M3U8 to MP4 on Android/iPhone/iPad?

Honestly, there is no app that can convert M3U8 to MP4 on iPhone/iPad in the market, but you can install an M3U8 playback app, for instance, M3U8 Stream Player, on your iPhone/iPad, then record the screen while playing it.

On Android, M3U8 to MP4 apps can be downloaded on GooglePlay. Here we take Lj Video Downloader as an example.

1. Paste the link of an online M3U8 video.

2. Select the desired resolution. It auto-converts videos to MP4 format so you don't need to set the output format.

3. Start to download and wait for a while. All videos will be saved in \storage\emulated\0\Download\ on your Android phone.

Note:It is NOT a workable tool to convert local M3U8 files on your phone. In such a case, desktop converters are versatile assistances for your video playback and conversion.

How to convert an M3U8 file and its respective content folder to MP4?

In VideoProc Converter AI, you can download M3U8 files to MP4 directly with its main index URL. If you save M3U8 in several short clips, then you can merge them into an entire MP4 in VideoProc Converter AI as well.

4. How to extract M3U8 file?

Use a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac) to open the M3U8 file. The M3U8 file is a text-based playlist, and it contains references to multimedia files, typically in the form of URLs. Paste the URL to a specialized M3U8 file parser or video downloader tool, you can download and extract the multimedia content referenced in the M3U8 file.

5. What's the difference between MP4 and M3U8 files?

MP4 files are digital multimedia container files that store audio and video content, while M3U8 files are playlist files used for organizing and streaming multimedia content, particularly video.

Wrap-up

M3U8 files conversion involves mainly 2 situations: converting local M3U8 files to MP4 and saving M3U8 stream to local .mp4 videos by downloading. VlC, FFmpeg, online converters, and mobile apps tend to complete either of them. But you can tell from the tutorial above that VideoProc Converter AI performs both M3U8 conversion and download successfully. To prevent tripping up on these issues, try VideoProc Converter AI and solve all your video processing tasks in one-stop.