How to Make a YouTube Playlist

What is a YouTube playlist?

Many modern music programs have the capability for users to put together a specific collection of songs, based on some common theme, and arrange them in a particular order.  A YouTube playlist is basically the same thing, except it’s with videos instead of songs.

Some playlists are made by YouTube itself, based on videos that you have watched previously.  Other playlists are put together by YouTube users like you!  Create a collection of videos based on whatever you want: stand-up comedy, sports highlights, cute animals, how-to videos, and more!

Note that you must be logged into YouTube in order to create a playlist.

How to create a playlist in YouTube

1. Go to www.youtube.com in your web browser and log in.

2. There are two ways to create a new playlist.  The first is through your YouTube channel.  Click My Channel in the menu on the left (click the three horizontal bars next to the YouTube logo if you can’t see this menu), then click Playlists, and then click Create New Playlist.

   

3. You can also create a playlist while you’re watching a video.  Simply scroll to the information box under the video player, click Add To, and then click Create New Playlist.

   

4.  Type in a name for your playlist, and then click the audience selector in the bottom-left corner of the box.

   

   Your choices are:

   – Public: Anyone on YouTube can find and view this playlist.
   – Unlisted: Only people who have been given a link to this playlist can see it.
   – Private: Only you can see this playlist.

   Click Create to finish creating the playlist.

5. Now you have a playlist, but you don’t have any (or many) videos in it.  Let’s fix that.  Click Add Videos to the right of your playlist.

   

   A new window will appear.  You can click the options at the top of this window to search for videos on YouTube to add to your playlist by keyword or by Internet address.  You can even add your own videos to the playlist.

   Let’s try the default option of searching for videos to add by keywords.  Click in the search box next to the YouTube logo and type in what you want to look for, and then click the magnifying glass icon.  Then, click the videos that you want to add to your playlist to select them (or click them again to deselect them).  Finally, click Add Videos at the bottom of the window.

6. You can also add a video to a playlist while you’re watching it.  Simply scroll to the information box underneath the video player, click Add To, and then click the playlist that you want to add the video to.

   

7. There is also a special default playlist called “Watch Later” where you can put videos that you don’t want to watch right now.  You can add videos to it using the method in the previous step, or by simply clicking the clock icon while your mouse cursor is over a video thumbnail, or when watching the video in full-screen mode.

   

How to edit or delete a YouTube playlist

1. Click the name of the playlist that you want to edit in the left-hand menu (click the three horizontal bars beside the YouTube logo if you can’t see this menu).

   

2. To change the order of a video in your playlist, move your mouse cursor to the left-hand edge of the video, until your cursor becomes a cross of four arrows.  (It won’t look exactly like this, but you get the idea.)  Click and hold the mouse button down, then drag the video to the position in the list that you want it to be in, and then release the mouse button.

   

3. If you move your mouse cursor over a video, you will see additional options for that video.

   

   Click More for options like adding personal notes to a video, or making it the cover picture for the current playlist.  Or, click the “X” to remove the video from your playlist.

4. In the upper window for the playlist, click the playlist’s name to edit it, or click Add a Description to be able to type in some notes about this playlist that those who can view the playlist can read. 

   

   Or, click Playlist Settings to show extra options for the playlist.  These include:

   – Changing the audience of the playlist (between Public, Unlisted, and Private)
   – Changing the sort order of the playlist (manual, by popularity, by publish date, etc.)
   – Allowing or disallowing videos on this playlist to be posted on other websites
   – Creating rules to automatically add new videos to the playlist

   Click the three dots in the top-right corner for a few more options.  Click Add All To if you want to copy all videos in this playlist to another one, or click Delete Playlist to get rid of this playlist.

 

That’s pretty much everything you need to know about playlists on YouTube!  What kinds of playlists will you create?