If you’ve noticed that the order of your YouTube playlists has changed recently, you’re not alone. YouTube has been experimenting with automatically changing the order of users’ playlists based on algorithmic predictions of what videos they might want to watch next.
Why Is YouTube Changing Playlist Order?
YouTube is changing the order of playlists in an attempt to improve the user experience by surfacing more relevant and engaging content. The goal is to adapt playlists to each viewer’s evolving interests over time. By analyzing your watch history and other signals, YouTube tries to determine which videos you are most likely to watch at any given moment and reorder your playlist accordingly.
This is part of YouTube’s ongoing efforts to keep viewers watching by serving up recommendations for new videos to watch after each one ends. Changing playlist order allows them to insert recommended videos within your pre-existing playlists, rather than just showing them after the playlist ends.
How Does YouTube Determine the New Playlist Order?
YouTube uses complex machine learning algorithms to analyze each viewer’s watch history, search history, interactions with videos, and other data points. Based on this analysis, it predicts which videos from your playlist you are most likely to watch next.
Factors that influence playlist order include:
- Your recent watch history and previously watched videos in the playlist
- Videos you’ve liked, disliked, or added to your watch later playlist
- Searches you’ve done on YouTube
- Videos watched by other viewers with similar interests
- The age of videos in the playlist
- Your location, device type, time of day, and other contextual signals
By considering all these inputs, YouTube’s AI systems attempt to optimize your playlist order for relevance. However, it doesn’t always get it right. Many users have complained about seemingly odd or irrelevant recommendations inserted into their playlists.
The Pros and Cons of Personalized Playlist Orders
Here are some potential benefits and drawbacks of YouTube’s algorithmic playlist reordering:
Pros
- Surface new relevant videos: The algorithms may identify interesting videos in your playlist you hadn’t previously noticed.
- Adapt to evolving interests: Your tastes likely change over time. Automatic reordering can keep playlists fresh and tailored.
- Reduce repetitiveness: Rearranging can cut down on seeing the same sequences of videos each time you play a playlist.
Cons
- Disrupt order: Altering a playlist’s order can be annoying if you purposely curated it a certain way.
- Odd recommendations: Irrelevant videos inserted into the playlist can create a jarring user experience.
- Lack of control: Some users want full control over their playlist order, not automated changes.
How to Get Notified of Playlist Order Changes
Unfortunately YouTube does not directly notify you when your playlist order has been changed by its algorithms. However, there are a few ways you can monitor changes:
- Periodically review your playlists for unfamiliar or out-of-place videos.
- Use a third party site or app that tracks YouTube playlists like Playlist Buddy.
- Install a YouTube browser extension like Playlist Manager to receive notifications.
- Check the timestamp of videos in your playlist to see if any new ones were added without your knowledge.
Developing an awareness of when playlists change can help you identify unwanted recommendations and other algorithmic tweaks.
How to Restore Your Original YouTube Playlist Order
If YouTube has reordered one of your playlists in a way you don’t like, there are a couple ways to restore your original order:
Rearrange it Manually
The simplest option is to manually drag and drop videos back into your preferred sequence. Just open the playlist, click the three dot “More” menu next to each video, select “Move,” and drag it where you want it. This can be time consuming for long playlists, but gives you total control.
Import a Backup
If you have a backup copy of the playlist from before YouTube changed the order, you can import it to overwrite the algorithmically-sorted version:
- Export your original playlist order as a .CSV file from a tool like Playlist Buddy.
- Delete all the videos in your reordered YouTube playlist.
- Click the “Import” button in the playlist and upload your .CSV file to restore the original.
This restores your playlist instantly while preserving your view counts and other metadata.
How to Prevent YouTube from Reordering Playlists
If you don’t want YouTube messing with your carefully arranged playlists, there are a few precautions you can take:
- Keep playlists private – YouTube seems less likely to reorder private playlists.
- Create a new account just for playlists you want to protect.
- Disable watch history and tracking to prevent YouTube collecting viewing data.
- Use a third party site like Playlist Buddy to backup playlists regularly.
- Install a browser extension to lock playlist orders.
Unfortunately there is no setting within YouTube itself to totally disable algorithmic playlist reordering. The options above offer some workarounds to preserve your own ordering.
Give Feedback to YouTube
If unwanted playlist order changes continue to be an issue, it’s best to provide direct feedback to YouTube:
- Use YouTube Studio analytics to report problems.
- Send feedback via YouTube Studio settings.
- Tweet at @YouTube with your concerns.
- Upvote related complaints on YouTube’s community forums.
If enough users complain about this issue, YouTube may provide an official setting to disable personalized playlist order in the future.
The Future of YouTube Playlists
While YouTube’s attempts to inject more recommendations into playlists has frustrated some users, the company likely views it as crucial to promoting engagement. YouTube is constantly running tests to strike the right balance between relevance and user control.
We can expect more experiments with algorithmic playlist organization in the future. But hopefully YouTube will also give users more visibility into changes and options to preserve hand-crafted playlists. With sufficient feedback, YouTube may develop a smart middle ground that benefits both sides.
