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Some YouTube Playlist Features to be Removed

Playlists are one of the few features that is still managed in "classic" YouTube, rather than the new YouTube Studio. While playlist management will eventually be available in new Studio, YouTube has announced that a number of playlist features will not be making the transition. 

If you are a YouTube power user, you probably know that playlists go beyond manually adding videos to a list. You can select keywords to add videos to a playlist automatically, set a playlist to be the "official" list for a series, and more. 

Some of those playlist features will not be available when the classic playlist editor is retired: 
  • Set as official series
  • Auto add video rules
  • Video notes
  • Translate playlist information
  • Remove duplicates
YouTube has not given a date this change will happen, so, for now, you can continue to use these features.

Which playlist features will be deprecated?

Set as official series


You can create an official series playlist of your own videos. When someone watches a video in that series, YouTube is more likely to feature and recommend other videos in that playlist.

Auto add video rules
Auto add lets you create filters to automatically add videos to your playlist based on keywords in the title, description or tags.  You can use this to automatically add new video uploads to a playlist by giving them a unique tag.

Video notes
Video notes let you annotate the videos in your playlist.

Translate playlist info

The translate option lets you translate your playlist title and description into other languages. 

Remove duplicate videos

This feature let you automatically remove duplicate videos in a playlist. 

Other playlist features 

The five playlist features listed above were specifically mentioned for deprecation. It is likely that other playlist features will be making the move from classic Studio to new YouTube Studio.
  • Add and remove videos
  • Rearrange the order of the videos in the list
  • Edit the title and description of the playlist
  • Create unlisted and private playlists
  • Collaborate on playlists
  • Embed playlists on your own website or blog

When will this change be made? 

YouTube has not stated when this change will go into effect, but my guess is that it will be fairly soon.  

If you have feedback, you can post a comment on the Creator Insider video that announced this change, or submit feedback in . 

How to edit your playlists

You can currently edit playlists on the web. It takes a few clicks to get to the playlist Settings page. 

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio (studio.youtube.com

2. Click Playlists on the left menu to open the classic Playlists manager (https://www.youtube.com/view_all_playlists)

3. Click the playlist title to open the playlist page

4. Click the 3 dot menu icon under the title

5. Select Playlist Settings

6. On the Settings screen click Advanced Settings

7. On the Advanced Settings page click the Playlist Settings gear icon at the top of the page for most settings. 

There are video settings you an access by clicking More to the right of each video title, and additional playlist settings under the 3 dot menu icon to the right of the playlist title.

Comments

  1. My thinking is "Set as official series" for playlists allows the viewer to easily find the next video in the playlist. But I'm not sure about that. If that is deprecated you will have to find the link to the playlist in order to view the entire playlist?

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    Replies
    1. I think you're right. Now when someone watches a video, it's not clear if YouTube is more likely to recommend a video from the same playlist or not.

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  2. Durring this comment was published, It has been done. The only playlist setting you will see is just "Add Videos to Top" which means that If you added a video to a playlist, It will always be the first video on the playlist. I don't really mind those other features removed. But hearing about the feature of a "Official Siries" I wish it stayed. So, If they want to see a Series/Genre I made spasificly dedicated to a topic, They have to check my channel and go to the "PLAYLIST"

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  3. As of 11/5/2020, Auto-Add is still available.

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  4. Auto add is now disabled too. I used this extensively. I don't understand why they remove useful time-saving features like this.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Max, do send feedback to YouTube from inside your account. Let them know that's an important feature for you.

      Delete
    2. I also use this feature a lot. Any workaround or update on that feature?

      Delete

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