MEGA File Documentation

Summary

A MEGA (Megacubo Metafile) file is a small XML text file used by Megacubo, a free open-source IPTV player. It stores one TV channel’s details — name, description, and the stream URL — so the station can be saved as a preset. It holds no video, only a pointer to a live stream. Open a .mega in Megacubo (MIME application/xml), or read the raw text in any editor. This is unrelated to the MEGA.nz cloud service.

Technical details

Feature	Value
Full name	Megacubo Metafile
File extension	`.mega`
MIME type	`application/xml`
Format type	Text-based IPTV channel/stream metafile (XML)
Developer	Megacubo (EdenwareApps)
Category	Data / playlist pointer file
Encoding	Plain-text UTF-8 XML
Starts with	An XML declaration `<?xml` or root element (no binary signature)
Contains media?	No — only a channel name, description, and stream URL
Typical contents	Channel title, description, stream URL, source IDs, playback hints
Open standard	No — app-specific schema
Opened by	Megacubo (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android); any text editor to read
Related extensions	`.m3u`, `.m3u8`, `.xml`, `.ts`
Not related to	MEGA.nz cloud storage (different, unrelated meaning)
Project page	`github.com/EdenwareApps/Megacubo`

Structure at a glance

A .mega file is plain UTF-8 XML text with no binary signature. It typically opens with an XML declaration (<?xml version="1.0"?>) or a root element, and the body names one channel: a title, an optional description, and the stream URL Megacubo connects to, plus source identifiers and playback hints such as supported formats or preferred bitrate. Because it is text, any editor (Notepad, TextEdit) shows the channel name and URL directly. The exact element names are app-specific and not formally published, so treat the layout as descriptive rather than a fixed schema.

What is a MEGA file?

A .mega file is a metafile written by Megacubo, a free, open-source, cross-platform IPTV player developed by EdenwareApps (original author Marcelo Lima Vargas). Megacubo runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and TV boxes, and plays M3U playlists, EPG guides, and community channel lists. A .mega file is a small XML text file that describes a single TV channel or stream so it can be stored as a preset: the channel name, a description, the stream URL, source identifiers, and playback hints.

The single most important fact is that a .mega file contains no audio or video. It is metadata that tells Megacubo where to fetch a live stream. That makes it useless without the app and without a working source at the referenced URL. Because it is plain XML, you can open it in any text editor to read the channel name and the stream URL, but to actually watch anything you load it in Megacubo. Modern Megacubo leans on standard M3U/M3U8 playlists, so .mega metafiles are somewhat legacy and app-specific.

Why this is not a MEGA.nz file

The most common confusion is with the MEGA.nz cloud-storage service, which shares the name but not the format. Files downloaded from MEGA.nz keep their original extensions (.zip, .mp4, and so on); MEGA.nz does not hand you .mega files. If you have a .mega file, it is a Megacubo channel pointer, not a cloud download, and you should never enter MEGA.nz account credentials anywhere on its account. A few unrelated programs have also used .mega for small XML config data, and some download managers briefly leave a partial .mega chunk mid-download that is not openable on its own, but the Megacubo metafile is the meaning described here.

What the XML holds

A .mega metafile is a plain-text XML wrapper around one channel definition. The fields it records are the ones Megacubo needs to reconnect to a stream: the channel or program name, an optional description, the network stream URL (the address the player opens), and source identifiers together with playback hints such as which video formats the source supports and a preferred bitrate. Saving these lets a user keep a personal set of station presets that can be reloaded later.

The exact element names are internal to Megacubo and are not formally documented, so the honest description is functional rather than byte-level: it is XML, it names one channel, and the load-bearing value is the URL. Reading the file in an editor is the quickest way to see exactly which stream a given preset points at before you load it.

Loading a channel and moving it to M3U

To use a .mega file, install Megacubo from its official site or app store and open the file from within the app; it loads the saved channel and plays the stream if the source is live. If nothing plays, the usual cause is either that Megacubo is not installed or that the stream URL has expired or gone offline; opening the file as text to check the URL is the first diagnostic step.

The sensible interchange target is a standard M3U playlist. A .mega file holds one channel’s URL, which can be written straight into an .m3u line that most IPTV players accept. There is no automatic converter; you copy the stream URL out of the XML into a text .m3u, or re-add the channel in Megacubo and export. The file cannot be converted to a video such as MP4, because it contains no media; capturing the stream would mean recording it live (for example with VLC or FFmpeg pointed at the URL) while the source is online, which is a different operation.

References

Feedback

Was this page helpful?

Glad to hear it! Please tell us how we can improve.

Sorry to hear that. Please tell us how we can improve.

Table of contents