There is no limit to the number of videos that can be added to a single YouTube playlist. You can create playlists with as many videos as you want.
What is a YouTube playlist?
A YouTube playlist is a collection of videos that can be played back-to-back in sequence. Playlists allow you to organize and group videos together by topic, theme, or any other criteria. When one video ends, the next one in the playlist will automatically start playing.
Playlists are useful for creating binge-watching sessions, queuing up music videos, compiling tutorials or lessons, and more. They provide an easy way to manage and play a series of videos without having to select each one manually.
Creating playlists
Any YouTube user can create playlists. They are simple to set up.
On desktop:
- Click the “Save” button under any video to add it to a new playlist
- Give the playlist a name and description
- Click “Create” to finish making the playlist
On mobile:
- Tap the “Add to” icon under a video
- Select “Add to playlist”
- Choose to add it to an existing playlist or create a new one
You can also create an empty playlist first and add videos to it later. Just click the “Create playlist” button on your YouTube account.
Adding videos to playlists
Once you’ve made a playlist, you can add more videos by:
- Clicking the “Save” button under any video, then selecting your playlist from the list
- Opening the playlist, then clicking “Add videos” to select videos to add
- Clicking the playlist’s 3-dot menu icon and choosing “Add videos”
Videos can be added from your uploads, your likes, search results, recommendations – basically anywhere on YouTube.
No limits on playlist length
You can add as many videos as you want to a single YouTube playlist. There is no built-in limit.
Playlists can be made as long or short as needed. Some examples of long playlists include:
- Music playlists with every song from a band, genre, or era
- Compilations of an entire TV series or film franchise
- Marathons of gaming livestreams or Let’s Play videos
- Collections of tutorials covering expansive topics or skills
The length of YouTube playlists often depends on their purpose. For example:
- Short entertainment playlists may contain 5-10 viral videos
- Curated music playlists may have anywhere from 25 to 500 songs
- Comprehensive instructional playlists could have 50+ videos
You have complete flexibility when building a playlist. The number of videos you include is up to you.
Maximum playlist lengths
In practice, there are some limitations on how long playlists can get:
- The playlist progress bar and video counters may start to get inaccurate in very long playlists
- Playback issues may occur after hundreds to thousands of queued videos
- Extremely large playlists can become cumbersome to navigate and manage
However, these are not strictly enforced limits. Playlists do not get capped at any specific number of videos.
Here are some ballpark figures on practical playlist lengths based on YouTube community feedback:
- Playlists tend to work smoothly under 1,000 videos
- Issues sometimes emerge in playlists between 1,000 – 5,000 videos
- Major bugs appear more consistently in playlists over 5,000-10,000 videos
So technically, you could have a playlist of say, 50,000 videos, but functionality would likely break down at that point. A few thousand is a good rule of thumb maximum for stable playback.
Tips for managing large playlists
If your playlist idea requires a large number of videos, here are some tips:
- Split your master playlist into smaller themed playlists
- Add videos in batches instead of all at once
- Use auto-generated or smart playlists based on criteria
- Create a playlist playlist to queue up your different playlists
This will help keep each individual playlist focused, organized, and functioning smoothly.
Privacy and publishing settings
Playlists can be public, unlisted, or private. Your privacy setting determines who can view and access the playlist.
- Public: Anyone can see the playlist
- Unlisted: Only people with the link can see the playlist
- Private: Only you can see the playlist
You can publish multiple public playlists to showcase content around specific topics, music genres, and more. Private playlists are useful for temporary organization before publishing a polished playlist publicly.
Who uses lengthy playlists?
Some common users of playlists with large numbers of videos include:
- Music fans creating playlists of full artist discographies or music catalogs
- Superfans compiling all media from a TV show, movie series, or comic book universe
- Gamers curating video archives of playthroughs and speedruns
- Students assembling long study playlists of lectures, lessons, crash courses
- Instructors organizing in-depth training materials for online courses
- Event planners pulling together playlists for conferences and weddings
- Publishers and media outlets creating content collections
Ambitious playlists with hundreds or thousands of videos serve many uses for both casual and professional YouTube users.
Playlist alternatives for large collections
For extremely large video collections, playlists may not always be the best option. Some alternatives include:
- Spreading content across multiple channels instead of one massive playlist
- Using YouTube tools like Shared Playlists for collaborating
- Linking to full playlists from an organized index “playlist of playlists”
- Maintaining playlists of links to external sites hosting videos
This avoids bottlenecks from trying to cram everything into a single playlist.
Customizing playlist settings
There are a few settings available to customize your YouTube playlist experience:
- Autoplay: Choose whether the next video automatically loads when one finishes.
- Loop: Make the playlist start over from the beginning when finished.
- Privacy: Set playlists to public, private, or unlisted.
- End screen: Enable an end screen to link related playlists.
These options can help playlists function smoothly and promote longer continuous watching.
Conclusion
YouTube does not enforce any hard limit on the number of videos allowed in a single playlist. While extremely lengthy playlists can run into issues, generally playlists work fine with hundreds or a few thousand videos.
Focus on organizing your playlist and be selective when adding videos. Splitting up bigger collections into multiple playlists is also an option. With good management practices, you can build playlists tailored for any need or audience.
