How do I manage playlists on Android?

What are playlists on Android?

Playlists allow you to organize and listen to collections of songs or audio files on your Android device. With playlists, you can group together music by genre, mood, activity, artist, or any other way you want. This makes it easy to quickly access the right music for any occasion.

For example, you could create a playlist for upbeat pop music to listen to while working out. Or make a relaxation playlist with calm acoustic songs for before bedtime. The key benefit of playlists is putting all the songs you want to hear together in one place, rather than having to search through your entire music library.

On Android devices, you can access your playlist library through apps like YouTube Music, Spotify, Google Play Music (no longer supported), and more. The playlist management features may vary by app, but generally allow you to create, edit, delete and share playlists. Playlists created in one app can also often be exported and accessed in other apps.

Overall, playlists are a handy organizational tool on Android. With just a few taps, you can have the perfect mix of songs ready to listen to whenever you want. Playlists let you customize your music experience and listen to what you like, when you like.

Viewing your playlist library

To view all your existing playlists on an Android device, open the default Music app and navigate to the Library tab. This section of the app shows all of your playlists in one convenient place.

For example, on a Samsung device you would open the Samsung Music app. Tap on the “Library” tab at the bottom of the screen. This will display all of your playlists. You can scroll through to browse them.

Similarly, on a Google Pixel device, open the YouTube Music app. Tap on “Library” at the bottom. This section lists out all of your playlists created in YouTube Music for easy access.

The playlist library allows you to see your full collection of playlists in one place. It’s the starting point for managing your playlists on an Android device.

Creating a new playlist

To create a new playlist on your Android device:

Tap the + icon or New Playlist button, which is usually found on the Playlists tab or section of your music app. This will open a new playlist creation screen.

Name your playlist whatever you want. Be descriptive with the name so you remember what it contains.

Select songs to add to the playlist from your music library. Tap the + icon next to tracks you want to add. You can search for artists or songs to find specific tracks to include.

According to this WikiHow article, when using Google Play Music, you can tap Select All after searching to quickly add an entire album or all songs by an artist to your new playlist.

Adding songs to a playlist

To add songs to an existing playlist on Android:

1. Open the playlist you want to add songs to. Tap on the playlist name from your library to open it.
2. Tap the “Add Songs” button at the bottom of the playlist screen. This will bring up your full music library.
3. Browse your library and tap on songs to select them. Selected songs will have a check mark next to them.
4. Once you have selected all the songs you want to add, tap the “Add” button at the top right to add them to the playlist.

You can also add songs while playing them. Just tap the “Add to playlist” icon in the Now Playing screen to add the current song to any playlist.

Additionally, you can long press on songs, albums or artists in your library and select “Add to playlist” to quickly add them to playlists.

Reordering songs in a playlist

You can easily rearrange the order of songs in your playlists on Android. Here’s how:

Open the playlist you want to edit and tap the 3-dot menu icon in the top right corner. Select “Edit playlist” from the menu.

This will open the playlist in edit mode. Here you can drag and drop songs to rearrange them into your preferred order. Simply press and hold on a song then drag it up or down to the position you want.

According to Spotify’s Android community forum, “On mobile, you can open the playlist > Hit the 3-dot menu > Edit playlist > Drag the songs to their desired position.” (Source)

Once you have your songs ordered how you want, tap “Done” to save the new arrangement. The playlist order will now be updated across all your devices.

Deleting songs from a playlist

To delete a song from a playlist:

1. Open the playlist and tap the 3-dot menu next to the song you want to remove.
2. Select “Remove from playlist” from the menu.

The song will be immediately removed from the playlist. You can delete multiple songs at once by selecting them and tapping the delete icon at the top of the screen.

Note that deleting a song from a playlist does not delete it from your music library or other playlists. It simply removes it from the specific playlist you are editing.

If you accidentally delete the wrong song, you will need to re-add it to the playlist from your library. There is no undo function after deleting a song.

For more information, see the Android developer guide on managing playlists.

Renaming playlists

To rename a playlist on Android, start by opening the Spotify app and tapping on “Your Library” at the bottom of the screen. This will display your full playlist library.

From here, locate the playlist you want to rename and long press on the playlist name or thumbnail. This will open a pop-up menu. Select the “Rename” option from this menu.

You will now be able to enter a new name for the playlist. Delete the current name and type in the name you want to use instead. Tap “OK” when you are finished to save the new playlist name.

That’s all there is to renaming a playlist on Android. This process works the same whether you want to rename a playlist you created yourself or a Spotify curated playlist. You can rename playlists as often as you like to keep your library organized.

For more details, see the Android Police guide on renaming Spotify playlists: How to change your Spotify playlist names

Deleting playlists

To delete a playlist on Android:

1. Open the playlist library and long press on the playlist you want to delete. This will select the playlist.
2. Tap “Delete” in the menu that appears.
3. Confirm the deletion by tapping “Delete” again when prompted.

Once deleted, the playlist will be permanently removed from your library. There is no undo function or trash you can recover deleted playlists from.

If you have the playlist synced to a streaming service like YouTube, deleting it from your Android device will not delete it from YouTube. You’ll need to log into YouTube or use the YouTube app to delete it there as well. As noted on Reddit, deleting a YouTube playlist on Android TV does not delete it from your YouTube account.

Backing up playlists

One of the best ways to back up your playlists on Android is by using a cloud storage service like Google Drive. You can upload your playlist files directly to Google Drive where they will be safely stored and synced across devices. To do this, open the Google Drive app and select the option to upload files. Locate the playlist files, which are usually stored in the Music folder on your device, and upload them to Drive. Your playlists will now be securely backed up to the cloud.

Another option is to sync your Android playlists to your computer using Android File Transfer. Connect your Android device to your computer via USB and open the Android File Transfer app. Browse to the Music folder and find the playlist files, which end in .pls or .m3u. Copy these files over to your computer. Now you have a backup of your playlists on your computer that you can restore from later if needed.

Sharing playlists

Android allows you to easily share your playlists with friends, family and followers on social media. Here’s how to share a playlist from your Android device:

1. Open the playlist you want to share. You can find your playlists by opening the Play Music app.
2. Tap the Share button at the top of the playlist screen. This looks like a box with an arrow pointing upward.
3. Select the sharing method you want to use. Your options may include:
   • Email – Send the playlist link via email
   • Messaging apps – Share via text, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger etc
   • Social media – Post the playlist on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc
   • Copy link – Copy the playlist link to share anywhere

Once you select a sharing method, follow the prompts to complete sending the playlist. The link or playlist will be shared directly from Google Play Music.

Sharing playlists is a great way to recommend music to your friends and followers. It allows them to listen to the playlist from any device or music app.