Backing up your playlists

M3U.Click keeps your playlists in your browser, on your device. That keeps them private: they never reach our servers. It also means that if the browser deletes them, we can’t bring them back. A backup file you keep yourself is your safety net.

Why browsers delete website data

• You clear it, for example with “Clear browsing data” or a cleaner app.
• Storage runs low. Browsers can remove data from websites that haven’t asked to keep it.
• Safari’s 7-day rule. Safari deletes the storage of a website after seven days of Safari use without visiting it, unless the site was added to the Home Screen.
• Private windows delete everything when you close them.

Protect your data in the browser

The first time you save something, M3U.Click offers Protect my data. This asks your browser to keep M3U.Click’s data unless you delete it yourself. Browsers decide differently: Chrome and Edge usually agree for sites you use often or have installed, Firefox asks you, and Safari decides for itself. The editor shows the result under Storage on this device.

Installing M3U.Click as an app helps too:

• iPhone and iPad: in Safari, use the Share button and choose Add to Home Screen. Data of Home Screen web apps is not removed by the 7-day rule.
• Chrome and Edge on a computer: use the install icon in the address bar.

Make a backup

1. Open the editor and go to Backups.
2. Under Back up, tick Lock the backup with a password (recommended) and choose a password of at least 12 characters. A short sentence is easy to remember and hard to guess.
3. Choose Download backup.

The file is called m3u-click-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.m3ucb. It contains all your playlists and settings. Keep copies in at least two places, for example on your computer and in your own cloud storage.

About the password: it never leaves your device and we never see it. If you forget it, nobody can open the backup: not even us. Keep it in a password manager.

Why a password is a good idea

Playlists often contain addresses with user names, passwords or access tokens from your providers or your own media server. A password-locked backup is encrypted on your device (AES-256-GCM, with the key derived from your password), so the file is useless to anyone who finds it without the password.

Restore a backup

1. In the editor, go to Backups → Restore and choose Choose a backup file.
2. If the backup is locked, enter its password and choose Unlock.
3. Check the preview: the date, how many playlists and entries it contains.
4. Choose how to restore:
   • Merge adds the backup to what’s already in this browser and keeps both;
   • Replace deletes what’s here first.
5. Choose Restore.

You can restore on any device and browser, so a backup is also how you move your playlists to a new computer or phone.

Automatic backups and reminders

• Reminders: M3U.Click reminds you when it’s time for a new backup. You can change how often under Backup reminders, or turn them off.
• Automatic backup folder: in browsers that can save to a folder (Chrome and Edge on a computer), choose a folder and M3U.Click saves a backup there after changes, keeping the five most recent files. These automatic backups are not password-locked, so choose a private folder.

If your playlists disappear

If the editor notices that its saved playlists are gone, it shows Your saved playlists are missing and offers to restore from a backup file straight away.

A simple habit

• Make a backup after any big change.
• Keep two copies in different places.
• Every few months, restore a backup in a private window to check that it opens.