How to Make a Playlist on YouTube (and Why Creators Should)

A playlist takes ten seconds to create. For a viewer it's a list; for a channel it's the difference between one video watched and five.

Updated October 2026

How do you create a playlist on YouTube?

There are two routes, and they end in the same place.

From a video

On a computer, open the video, click the three-dot More button under it, then Save, then Create new playlist. On the phone app, tap Save under the video, then New playlist. Type a name, choose the visibility, and create it. As of October 2026, YouTube's help center lists three settings: public, unlisted, and private, which only you can view.

From YouTube Studio

If you run a channel, Studio is better for building playlists from your own uploads. Open Content, switch to the Playlists tab, and create a new playlist with a title and description. Then add your videos and drag them into order. The description is worth writing properly: a public playlist can show up in search, and the description is what explains it.

How do you add videos and change the order?

Add a video from its watch page with Save, ticking the playlist you want. A video can sit in several playlists at once. If one is later deleted, made private or blocked in a country, the playlist jumps past it; why YouTube skips songs in a playlist lists the causes.

To reorder, open the playlist on a computer, hover over a video and drag the handle, or use Studio, which handles long playlists more comfortably. You can also set a default order, such as by date added or by popularity, from the playlist's settings.

Order matters more than it looks. When a viewer starts from the top, YouTube plays the list in the order you set, so the second video should be the one that naturally follows the first.

How do you share a YouTube playlist?

Open the playlist and choose Share, then copy the link or send it to an app. The link opens the playlist page, or plays from the first video, depending on where the person opens it.

Visibility decides who can use that link. A public playlist can be found by anyone. An unlisted one opens for anyone who has the link but doesn't appear in search or on your channel. A private one only opens for you, so sharing its link does nothing until you change it.

To share a specific starting point, open a video while it's playing inside the playlist and share from there. The link carries the playlist with it, so the viewer continues through the list.

Can other people add videos to your playlist?

Yes, if you invite them. YouTube calls this collaborating on playlists, which is a different thing from collabing on a YouTube video, where channels are credited together. Open the playlist, select Share, then Invite collaborators, and send the invite link to the people you want. Once they accept, they can add videos too.

You keep control as the owner. You can remove a collaborator or take out videos they added, and the playlist stays yours. Collaborative playlists suit a group project or a shared music list. For a channel's own series, it's usually better to keep the list in your hands, because the order is part of the point.

How do you delete a playlist on YouTube?

Open the playlist, click or tap More, choose Delete playlist and confirm. The videos in it aren't affected; only the list is removed.

YouTube's help center notes one consequence for channels: after a playlist is deleted, its URL and title are no longer visible or searchable in YouTube Analytics. The video views it generated stay on each video, but the playlist-level history is harder to read. If you only want the playlist out of sight, setting it to private keeps the data and hides it from everyone else.

Do playlist views count as video views?

Yes. A view that happens inside a playlist is a view of the video, counted under YouTube's normal rules and shown on the video's public counter. The playlist doesn't have a separate public view count that replaces it.

What changes is where you see the source. In YouTube Studio, the video's traffic sources show how much came from playlists, and the playlist's own report shows views from playlist and playlist watch time. What counts as a YouTube view covers the current counting rules, which changed in 2026.

Should a channel organize videos into playlists?

Almost always, and the reason is sessions. A viewer who arrives from search watches one video and leaves unless something gives them a next one. A playlist plays that next one automatically, in an order you chose, so the second and third views happen without the viewer deciding anything.

The playlists that work are specific. A series in episode order, a beginner path, a set of answers to related questions. A playlist called All videos does little, because it's the same as your uploads tab. Put each playlist on your channel page, link to it from video descriptions, and point an end screen at it. How to grow your YouTube channel covers how end screens and playlists work together.

Playlists move views between videos that people have already found. They don't create the first click. A new video with a near-empty counter is a harder first click, which is where YouTube views come in for some channels: they add to the public number on one video and need only its watch link. They don't change how YouTube recommends it. Every YouTube service is listed on the YouTube page, and how to get more views on YouTube covers where views come from for free.

Questions people ask about YouTube playlists