PostEaseThe short answer
A YouTube playlist is a list of videos that play in order. YouTube’s Help Center defines it plainly: “A playlist is a collection of videos. Anybody can make playlists, share them, and friends can add videos to your playlist.”
For a viewer, a playlist is a way to save videos for later. For a creator, it is a way to arrange your own videos into a series, so one video leads into the next, and it is also how a channel sets up a podcast on YouTube. Playlists have their own title, description, visibility and analytics.
Creating a playlist
From any video or Short, select More, then Save, then Create new playlist, give it a name and choose its privacy; a private playlist is visible only to you. As a creator, you can also create one in YouTube Studio: Create, then New playlist, where you add a title and description, set visibility, choose how videos are arranged and add videos.
YouTube sets a daily limit on how many public playlists a channel can create, counted across the YouTube app, YouTube Music and the YouTube API, and says the limit rises with access to advanced features.
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Title | 150 characters, without the characters < and > |
| Description | 5,000 characters, without the characters < and > |
| Public playlists per day | A daily cap per channel, raised with advanced features |
| Made-for-kids content | Cannot be added to a playlist from the homepage; can be added from search results |
Managing a playlist in YouTube Studio
Under Content, then Playlists, YouTube Studio gives creators these tools:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Details | Edit the title and description |
| Reorder | Drag videos up or down; not available for playlists with only Shorts |
| Collaborate | Invite collaborators to add videos |
| Languages | Add translated titles and descriptions, after a one-time verification |
| Set as podcast | Turns the playlist into a podcast with a square podcast thumbnail |
| Analytics | Overview, Content, Audience and Revenue tabs for all the playlist’s videos together |
Deleting a playlist
You can delete a playlist from its More menu. YouTube notes the old playlist may still appear in viewers’ watch histories, and that afterwards its URL and title no longer show in YouTube Analytics; the watch time it earned stays in broader reports but is no longer attributed to it.
Using playlists as a creator
Because a playlist plays one video after another, it is the simplest way to turn single videos into a series:
- Group videos that answer the same question, in the order a new viewer should watch them.
- Write the playlist title the way people search; it has 150 characters to work with.
- Use the description, up to 5,000 characters, to say what the series covers and who it is for.
- Check playlist analytics to see which series holds viewers, and put the strongest first on your channel.
Questions
How long can a YouTube playlist title be?
150 characters. A playlist description can be up to 5,000 characters. Neither can include the characters < or >.
Is there a limit on how many playlists I can make?
YouTube limits how many public playlists a channel can create each day, across the YouTube app, YouTube Music and the API. The limit rises with access to advanced features.
Can other people add videos to my playlist?
Yes, if you add them as collaborators: in the playlist details, choose More, then Collaborate.
How do I turn a playlist into a podcast on YouTube?
In YouTube Studio, go to Content, then Playlists, open the playlist’s menu and choose Set as podcast. Review the details and add a square podcast thumbnail.
Sources
- YouTube, Create & manage playlists, checked October 2026.
- YouTube, Edit playlists, checked October 2026.
- YouTube, Manage playlists in YouTube Studio, checked October 2026.