Any way to restore a lost playlist?

[Dimitri001]

I had an ENORMOUS playlist that was unsaved, I went to media library and created a new playlist. In the media library window I was under playlists and it showed me the list of playlists including the new one (only one) I just created. I double clicked it, thinking I would enter into the new playlist in the media library window, instead it cleared out my active playlist.

Is there any way to get that unsaved playlist back?

[Aminifu]

No.

Get and install this plug-in (https://winampplugins.co.uk/plu.html). It will protect you from this kind of thing in the future.

[Lobsterinho]

I have the same problem. I was working since days building up some playlists on my new computer, and 1 second of unattention and I saved the wrong playlist. Saved a playlist with 10 songs over one with days of music.
Had Clementine music player before. Clementine does not propose ALL your playlists when you save an allready saved one, but just the one you are working on. So this thing never happened to me before...
Is there a way to restoire a just deleted playlist Ctrl Z style?

[Lobsterinho]

OK, I just noticed the "No" from Aminifu. If this is true I go back to Clementine.
Thx for the answer.

[SudenKapala]

Wait!*
If you have such a problem, don't close the program! Go to the settings folder, and make a copy of the default WinAmp.M3U(8) file(s). That will be your playlist at the time of previous program close. So, you'll have lost everything after you last closed wAmp. But not (nearly?) everything!

Edit: Actually, you don't need to copy (but it doesn't hurt to have backups...); you can simply open one of those original files as-are. You can drag either into your regular playlist, or use the manage button to navigate there. (It may open to that default location.)

Of course I'm afraid that the program closing ship may have passed already (and thus your playlist overwritten by the new, empty one), but... for next time...

But/and/or the plugin might be a better plan -- I didn't know about that.

*: However, either of you may not have meant the regular playlist window...?
If my solution would not work because of Media Library functionality, can someone please explain that to me? I've been very old skool, running different wAmp copies to have different playlists... while using only their regular playlists... I'm very new to the media lib, but I've seen hints that I've been missing out (and being blind) for decades! After I get my new computer up and running, I plan to -- slowly -- learn more about it. So if I need to knwo anything, this would be a good start?

[Aminifu]

Everything that Winamp plays must first be added to the list of items (playlist) shown in the playlist editor window. Therefore the playlist and how you manage it is very important. The playlist can contain thousands of items.

When using the media library window to change the playlist, the default commands do different things. The "Play selection" command will take the items selected in the library and use them to replace the items already in the playlist. The "Enqueue selection" and "Enqueue and play selection" commands will take the items selected in the library and add them to the end of the list of items already in the playlist.

When using "drag and drop" from the Windows Explorer, the selected items are added to the list of items already in the playlist. The location of these added items in the playlist depends on what the mouse is pointing to when the button is released. Your Winamp configuration may have added context menu (right click) commands to the Windows Explorer. These commands work the same way as the same commands do in the media library. These enqueue context commands can to configured to add the selected items to the start or end of the playlist or after the item currently selected (or playing) in the playlist.

The plug-in I suggested in reply #2 above will let you decide on when and how many times a copy of the current (active) playlist is automatically saved when any changes to it are detected. This allows you to return to a saved playlist that was active before any changes were made to it. The plug-in also lets you lock the active playlist and prevent certain selected actions from making any changes. The plug-in can also be configured to try to save the active playlist when Winamp crashes or is internally restarted.

Of course it takes a little time to save a playlist containing several hundred thousand items, so the protection this plug-in provides will depend on the size of the playlist and the speed of your computer.

Winamp can work with internal and external playlists. What this means and how to manage them is a different discussion.

[SudenKapala]

Thanks a lot for explaining all that, in depth. Some things I knew; others, I didn't. It's much clearer now!

I regularly make backups of my playlist (as well as all settings), already. And my playlists never get so large. So I don't think I need the plugin.

Winamp can work with internal and external playlists. What this means and how to manage them is a different discussion.

... And I'd gladly like to have that discussion, if you're up for it. If you've time, perhaps you could tell me the difference between int. and ext. playlists? (Or if you think something else is a good place to start, that's fine, too.)

Much obliged.

[Aminifu]

... And I'd gladly like to have that discussion, if you're up for it. If you've time, perhaps you could tell me the difference between int. and ext. playlists? (Or if you think something else is a good place to start, that's fine, too.)

As you probably know, a playlist is a text file. Among other things, it contains character strings that tell where files are stored and their file names. Since Winamp is a 32 bit app, the length of these strings is limited to 255 characters or less. This is important to remember when choosing a scheme to store and name your music files, so that the pathname + filename doesn't exceed the maximum string length. A 64 bit OS tries to internally handle strings (with abbreviation) that are too long for a 32 bit app, with varying degrees of success.

Playlist files can have slightly different formats which are identified by their filename extension. Winamp can understand different formats but mostly uses the .m3u and .m3u8 formats.

Playlists created manually (with a text editor app), with Winamp, or other digital media apps may be referred to as external playlists. When adding (importing) these playlists to Winamp's media library you have the option of letting Winamp manage these external playlists or not. I'm calling a Winamp managed playlist an internal playlist.

When Winamp manages a playlist it makes a copy of the original external playlist, gives it an internally generated alpha-numeric name (that is internally associated with the name of the original external playlist that you see listed in the library), and stores the copy in a subfolder of the Winamp user data folder. Since Winamp then uses this internal copy, any changes to the original external playlist are not detected unless the changed original is imported again.

Having the original external playlist and a Winamp internal copy may be important to you for backup purposes. I choose to not have Winamp manage my playlists and instead work directly with the external playlists.

There are more posts by me and others on this and related stuff that you can search for. Or feel free to post a direct question.


PS
Making regular backups of anything (or everything) is a good habit to have, imo.

[thinktink]

... is limited to 255 characters or less. ...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation?tabs=cmd

[SudenKapala]

It took me a while to process this and react.

I double clicked it, thinking I would enter into the new playlist in the media library window, instead it cleared out my active playlist

I have the same problem

When using the media library window to change the playlist [...] "Play selection" command will take the items selected in the library and use them to replace the items already in the playlist. The "Enqueue selection" [...] add them to the end of the list of items already in the playlist.

Perhap a good tip for the original posters: I've long made it a habit to change this in the preferences. I believe there are two separate settings -- for the playlist in general and for (something in) the Med Lib -- but it seems to work. For a while now, my playlist never gets overwritten if I accidentally double-click. (It has happened to me in the remote past for generic playlist behaviour; and it started happening again when I started toying with Med Lib. But both can be guarded against with those setts, it seems.)

As you probably know, a playlist is a text file.

I knew that, yes (I've sometimes edited the paths of moved files); but an increasing amount of content in your latest post was refreshingly new to me. Thanks again, for taking the time to spell all that out Exactly what I needed to gain the confidence to start experimenting.

feel free to post a direct question.

Yeah... actually... I have a few. If you don't have time, that's fine. But I colour-coded the 'important' ones, to make it a little easier.
(I'm not so good at searching through forums. Answers are great. But if you can point me to the right threads/posts, that's also be greatly appreciated.)

So. One still uses the regular Playlist window. Using 'internal' playlists does not help wAmp remember where, in each of the 'inactive' internal lists, you had stopped listening (i.e., the current/'highlighted' track -- is that correct? That's a shame!

And my main questions: suppose, if I 'open' playlist X from the Media Lib (and listen/change it for a while), but want to switch to int. playlist Y -- (how) can I, first, (automatically) have wAmp "re"-save the edited content (of the Playlist window) into the 'corresponding' internal list, X?
Or is there no 'connection' anymore, now, between Playlist window and int. playlist X?
And, if I must do it*** manually -- how?

***: saving edited Playlist content into playlist X.

When adding (importing) these playlists to Winamp's media library you have the option of letting Winamp manage these external playlists or not.

I've not found this option yet. (But that's not a big deal for me.) If I import (or drag in) ext. lists, they immediately -- without additional options/questions asked -- show up.
Except for one! That one shows up in the Lib's playlist list window, but NOT in the Med Lib tree! (Which, I've seen, makes a huge difference -- from the Lib tree, you can enter edit mode, separate from the main playlist*!) Any idea why this is?**

*: I've noticed afterwards, that right-click > 'view playlist' also does this. And I found the buttons, too. Nice.
**: The list does show up in tree after prog reboot, I found out. But I like to be aware of any reasons for that deviating behaviour. FYI: with 375 files, at 2d 19h, it is the "longest" of my 3 trial lists. But somehow I can't imagine that such a length makes a difference...?

Playlist files can have slightly different formats which are identified by their filename extension. Winamp can understand different formats but mostly uses the .m3u and .m3u8 formats.

I missed the introduction of m3u8; rather, I never understood its importance. I've always kept using m3u exclusively. What is the difference, and/or is there a reason I should switch?

Thanks again, Aminifu; and good luck, Dimitri and Lobster.

[thinktink]

... of m3u8; rather, I never understood its importance. I've always kept using m3u exclusively. What is the difference, and/or is there a reason I should switch?

...

m3u8 has native Unicode support.

[Aminifu]

I've been using Winamp for over 30 years. It is the most powerful desktop digital music app I've ever used, imo (I've tried a lot of them). I say this because of the huge variety of skins (user interfaces) and plug-ins for adding various features, available. Winamp tries to handle digital video also, but other apps do a much better job. I know a lot about how Winamp works from a user's point of view, but more importantly there is a lot I don't know.

Winamp makes extensive use of context menus. Right click on anything and you will likely see a context menu.

This stuff gets complicated depending on the version of Winamp being used, the official and unofficial (3rd party) plug-ins being used, and the errors (bugs) in the app and/or plug-ins.

I no longer use Winamp regularly, since the new owners (accquired in 2014) have not kept their promise of continuing to develop Winamp and fix bugs. I now mostly use WACUP (since 2017), which is being developed by the main Winamp developer (who worked on it during the last decade of AOL ownership or longer). WACUP is trying to maintain what Winamp was and continue to build on it. WACUP is not ready to be a full Winamp replacement at this time.

... I've long made it a habit to change this in the preferences. I believe there are two separate settings -- for the playlist in general and for (something in) the Med Lib -- but it seems to work. For a while now, my playlist never gets overwritten if I accidentally double-click. (It has happened to me in the remote past for generic playlist behaviour; and it started happening again when I started toying with Med Lib. But both can be guarded against with those setts, it seems.)

You have not said which version of Winamp you're using. In the version I'm using (with some 3rd party plug-ins), I see a preference for reacting to double-clicks in the media library, but none for playlists.

Winamp has a ton of preferences, maybe too many. Related preferences are usually grouped together, but over the years due to lack of space in a particular group, a preference could be placed in an unrelated group. Point being to look everywhere until you learn where all the related preferences are.

...I knew that, yes (I've sometimes edited the paths of moved files); but an increasing amount of content in your latest post was refreshingly new to me. Thanks again, for taking the time to spell all that out Exactly what I needed to gain the confidence to start experimenting.

Experimenting is the best way to learn what Winamp can and can't do and what works best for you. Just make backups and keep notes, so that you can get back to a starting point when things go belly up.

... One still uses the regular Playlist window. Using 'internal' playlists does not help wAmp remember where, in each of the 'inactive' internal lists, you had stopped listening (i.e., the current/'highlighted' track -- is that correct? That's a shame!

And my main questions: suppose, if I 'open' playlist X from the Media Lib (and listen/change it for a while), but want to switch to int. playlist Y -- (how) can I, first, (automatically) have wAmp "re"-save the edited content (of the Playlist window) into the 'corresponding' internal list, X?
Or is there no 'connection' anymore, now, between Playlist window and int. playlist X?
And, if I must do it*** manually -- how?

***: saving edited Playlist content into playlist X.

I don't use Winamp managed copies of external playlists (internal playlists), so I don't know the differences in how Winamp treats them. I do know that Winamp only automatically tries to keep track on what is playing in the active playlist between sessions. Changes made to an active playlist must be saved manually before switching to another playlist during a session or the changes are lost. You can save the changed playlist to a new playlist with a new name (and import it to the media library later). You can save the changed playlist (overwrite) using the same name as the original external playlist (and re-import or refresh the playlist in the media library with the same name later). There are probably other ways, experiment. There may also be plug-ins for dealing with this. I don't know of any at this time.

I've not found this option yet. (But that's not a big deal for me.)

In the dialog box for importing a playlist or a folder of playlists in the Winamp version I'm using, there is a check box option for letting Winamp manage the playlist(s) or not.

If I import (or drag in) ext. lists, they immediately -- without additional options/questions asked -- show up.
Except for one! That one shows up in the Lib's playlist list window, but NOT in the Med Lib tree! (Which, I've seen, makes a huge difference -- from the Lib tree, you can enter edit mode, separate from the main playlist*!) Any idea why this is?**

*: I've noticed afterwards, that right-click > 'view playlist' also does this. And I found the buttons, too. Nice.
**: The list does show up in tree after prog reboot, I found out. But I like to be aware of any reasons for that deviating behaviour. FYI: with 375 files, at 2d 19h, it is the "longest" of my 3 trial lists. But somehow I can't imagine that such a length makes a difference...?

As to the playlist that didn't show until you restarted, was it one that you imported or dragged and dropped? In either case, I don't know why it didn't show until you restarted. I don't think the playlist length makes any difference.

I very seldom use drag and drop. The usual number and arrangement of windows on my desktop makes this awkward.



PS
thinktink is a very good Winamp 3rd party plug-in developer. He has a lot of knowledge on how Winamp works.

[SudenKapala]

Sorry again, that it took so long for me to answer your extensive and worthwhile post. I've been working on a major back-up project (read: SNAFUBAR), and that effectively took me off-line except for reading a bit on my phone.
But I was very happy with the info given above. (I also keep a closer eye on ThinkTink, haha!)

... depending on the version of Winamp being used, the official and unofficial (3rd party) plug-ins being used, and the errors (bugs) in the app and/or plug-ins.

I don't use 3rd party, nor "non-pre-packaged", plug-ins. Yet. It's on my list to look at, but life keeps happening.

... which version of Winamp you're using. In the version I'm using (with some 3rd party plug-ins), I see a preference for reacting to double-clicks in the media library, but none for playlists.

As mentioned elsewhere, I use / "experiment" with some 8 or 10 versions of wAmp intermittently. But I've recently been mostly running wAmp 5.52, 5.572 and 5.666 Full Redux.
When I mentioned those setts, it was certainly one of those. Since you don't recognize the setting, I reckon it must be 5v52 or 5v572 -- which are similar in most respects. The setting I mean is in one of the top pages of the prefs menu, and deals with Enqueue-or-Play on double-click in explorer. It's been there since the 90s. Maybe I explained it wrong.

I don't use Winamp managed copies of external playlists (internal playlists), so I don't know the differences in how Winamp treats them. I do know that Winamp only automatically tries to keep track on what is playing in the active playlist between sessions. Changes made to an active playlist must be saved manually before switching to another playlist during a session or the changes are lost...

This was very valuable for me. If not for this, I'd have searched ages for a functionality that I fully expected to be there, but which simply isn't. Thx!

As to the playlist that didn't show until you restarted, was it one that you imported or dragged and dropped?

I don't recall. But if it happens again, I'll be mindfull of this question.

I very seldom use drag and drop. The usual number and arrangement of windows on my desktop makes this awkward.

I used to let wAmp minimize to tray... until I found out that I want to be able, from wExplorer, to drag-then-alt-tab-to-Amp-and-drop. I do that very often now, if not always. Works only, I believe, if wAmp is present on taskbar -- so that's why I allow that now.
But if you have too many windows open, this might be "a drag". (I'm used to it. I guess this doesn't help you, but I'll risk it on the off chance that I can return the favour of helping out. )

[Aminifu]

As mentioned elsewhere, I use / "experiment" with some 8 or 10 versions of wAmp intermittently. But I've recently been mostly running wAmp 5.52, 5.572 and 5.666 Full Redux.

I'm using the fully patched v5.666.3516 (aka 5.666 Full Redux) with the Jump To File Extra v1.33 (Build 1216) plug-in. This plug-in controls the context menus in Explorer (which adds to or overwrites the default actions). This is probably why I don't see a setting for double-click actions in the Playlist Editor.

When AOL owned Winamp, official support was only provided for the latest released version. This is why I only used the latest and deleted older versions. Years ago, I spent a few dollars for the Pro version. None of the few extras it provided are still working.

... I guess this doesn't help you, but I'll risk it on the off chance that I can return the favour of helping out. )

This is one of the reasons I like trying to help others. I usually also learn something in the process.

Don't worry about quick replies. Real life takes priority over a digital music computer app. If I eventually get a reply or not, I don't take it personally.

[SwagLevel]

Actually, I have the same problem. I was working since days building up some playlists on my new computer, and 1 second of unattention and I saved the wrong playlist. Saved a playlist with 10 songs over one with days of music.
Had Clementine music player before. Clementine does not propose ALL your playlists when you save an allready saved one, but just the one you are working on. So this thing never happened to me before... Is there a way to restoire a just deleted playlist Ctrl Z style?