How Do You Delete Playlists on Apple Music?
Deleting a playlist removes the list, not the music. The parts that surprise people are sync, shared playlists and the lack of an undo.
How do you delete playlists on Apple Music? On iPhone, touch and hold the playlist and tap Delete from Library. On a Mac, select it in the sidebar and press Delete. On the web, click the More button and choose Delete From Library. The songs stay in your library, and with Sync Library on, the change reaches your other devices.
That's the whole job for a playlist you made yourself. Shared and collaborative playlists behave differently, there's no built-in undo, and deleting several at once takes a small trick on a computer. All of it is below, following Apple's support guides as of October 2026.
A playlist in Apple Music is a list that points to songs in your library, and deleting it removes the list only. Apple's support guides for iPhone, Mac and the web all say the same thing: if you delete a playlist, the songs in it remain in your library and on your device. Downloads stay downloaded, and anything you added to your library from the catalog stays added.
The second thing to know is that a deletion travels. Apple's Mac guide notes that changes you make to your music library are updated across all your devices when Sync Library is turned on. Delete a playlist on your phone and it disappears from your Mac and the web too.
That's helpful when you're cleaning up and unhelpful when you delete the wrong one, because Apple doesn't describe any way to restore a deleted playlist. The usual advice is simple: if a playlist might matter later, keep it, and if it's the songs you care about, they aren't going anywhere.
For artists, the playlists that matter are other people's, the ones that put a track in front of listeners. What a listener sees there is the song, and the plays it has collected are part of how a release reads. That number is what Apple Music plays adds to, on one track at a time.
How do you delete a playlist on iPhone or iPad?
Two ways, both from Apple's iPhone guide:
- From the Playlists list in your Library, touch and hold the playlist, then tap Delete from Library.
- Or open the playlist, tap the More button, the three dots, then tap Delete from Library.
- Confirm when asked. The playlist leaves your library on every device signed in with Sync Library on.
On Android
Apple's support page on deleting music lists Android alongside iPhone and iPad, with the same touch-and-hold menu and the same Delete from Library wording. Apple's step-by-step playlist guides are written for iPhone, Mac and the web, so if the option looks different on your phone, open the playlist itself and use its More menu.
How do you delete playlists on a Mac or on the web?
On a Mac, open the Music app, select the playlist in the sidebar and press the Delete key, or Control-click it and choose Delete from Library. Click Delete to confirm. Apple's Mac guide adds the same reassurance: the songs remain in your library and on your computer.
On the web, go to music.apple.com, sign in, select the playlist in the sidebar, click the More button at the top of the window and choose Delete From Library. The web guide repeats the rule that matters: the songs remain in your library.
How do you delete multiple playlists on Apple Music at once?
Apple's guides don't describe a multi-select delete for playlists. The workaround uses playlist folders, which exist in Music on iPhone and on a Mac. Apple documents the folder behavior most fully for the Mac:
- In the Music app on a Mac, choose File, then New, then Playlist Folder, and give it a name such as To delete.
- Drag every playlist you want gone into that folder.
- Delete the folder. Apple's Mac guide states that deleting a folder deletes all the playlists and folders inside it, while the songs stay in your library.
- With Sync Library on, the playlists disappear from your other devices as well.
Check the folder before you delete it
Because there's no undo, open the folder once and scan the list. A playlist you dragged in by accident goes with the rest.
Does deleting a playlist on Apple Music delete the songs?
No. This is the question Apple answers most directly: when you delete a playlist, the songs in it remain in your library and on your device. The same applies to removing a single song from a playlist, which doesn't remove it from your library.
If you actually want the songs gone, that's a separate action. Apple's page on deleting music gives two choices: Remove Download frees space on that one device while the song stays in your library, and Delete from Library removes it from your library, including playlists.
None of this touches your subscription. Canceling Apple Music is a different process, covered in how to cancel Apple Music, and it's worth exporting or moving any playlists you care about before you do.
How do you remove a song from a playlist on Apple Music?
On iPhone, Apple's guide puts it inside the playlist's edit mode: tap the playlist, tap the More button, tap Edit, then tap the song and tap the delete button next to it. Apple adds the note people look for: deleting a song from a playlist doesn't delete it from your library.
The same Edit screen lets you drag songs to change the order, rename the playlist, change its cover art and add songs from your library or from the Suggested Songs list at the bottom.
One caution in the other direction. If you delete a song from your library rather than from the playlist, Apple's page on deleting music says it's removed from your music library including playlists, and with Sync Library on, from your other devices too.
Can you delete a shared or collaborative playlist?
It depends on whose playlist it is. Collaborative playlists arrived in Apple Music with iOS 17.3, and Apple's guides describe two cases:
- If you own it and delete it, the collaboration ends and the playlist leaves your library, but it remains in the participants' libraries.
- If you joined someone else's, you don't delete it for everyone. Open it, tap the Manage Collaboration button and tap Leave. Deleting it from your library also ends the collaboration for you.
Playlists shown on your profile
If you only want a playlist off your public Apple Music profile, you don't have to delete it. Open it, tap the More button, tap Edit and turn off Show on My Profile and in Search. The playlist stays in your library and stops appearing to people who visit your profile.
Can you recover a deleted playlist on Apple Music?
Not through any feature Apple documents. There's no Recently Deleted folder for playlists, and Apple's support guides on creating, editing and deleting playlists don't describe a restore option. With Sync Library on, the deletion has also reached your other devices by the time you notice.
What you can still do is rebuild it, because the songs are still in your library.
For next time, the Music app on a Mac has a Save a copy of your playlists option in Apple's guide, which keeps a file of the playlist outside your library before a big cleanup. Moving playlists between services, which some people do before a big cleanup, is covered in how to transfer a Spotify playlist to Apple Music.
If you're an artist rather than a listener, the playlists worth your attention are the ones that send your track to new listeners. The play count those listeners see is what buy Apple Music plays adds to, from the track's Apple Music link; it doesn't place you on any playlist. For the same questions on the biggest streaming service, the Spotify page gathers every guide and service, and how much Apple Music pays per stream covers the money side.
Questions people ask about deleting Apple Music playlists
How do I delete a playlist on Apple Music?
On iPhone, touch and hold the playlist and tap Delete from Library. On a Mac, select it and press Delete. On music.apple.com, click the More button and choose Delete From Library.
If I delete a playlist, do I lose the songs?
No. Apple's support guides say the songs in a deleted playlist remain in your library and on your device.
Does deleting a playlist on my iPhone delete it on my Mac?
Yes, when Sync Library is on. Changes to your library, including deleted playlists, are updated across all devices signed in to the same Apple Account.
Can I delete several Apple Music playlists at once?
On a Mac, put them in a playlist folder and delete the folder. Apple says deleting a folder deletes every playlist inside it, while the songs stay in your library.
Can I get a deleted Apple Music playlist back?
Apple doesn't document a way to restore one. The songs are still in your library, so the playlist has to be rebuilt by hand.
How do I leave a collaborative playlist on Apple Music?
Open the playlist, tap Manage Collaboration and tap Leave. If you're the owner and delete it, it stays in the participants' libraries.
Keep reading
- Apple Music plays — For artists, Apple Music plays adds to one track's play count from its Apple Music link.
- How to cancel Apple Music — Canceling on every device, and what to do with playlists first.
- How to transfer a Spotify playlist to Apple Music — Moving playlists between services, and what doesn't come across.
- How to stop Apple Music from playing automatically — Autoplay, AutoMix and the car.