YouTube guide
How to make a YouTube playlist private and check which ones are public
· 8 min task · Tested
Marta Kowalczyk writes about design and creative apps for Appcyclopedia, working on a MacBook Air, an iPhone 16 Pro and a Galaxy A55.
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Short answer
Each playlist has its own visibility, so you check them one by one. On a computer, open YouTube Studio, then Content and Playlists, and click Details on each playlist to see its Visibility. In the app, tap your profile picture, then Playlists, View all, a playlist and Edit.
The catch: there is no account-wide switch for playlists. Your likes and subscriptions have separate settings of their own, under Settings and Privacy.
Below: the steps on a computer and a phone, what Public, Unlisted and Private each allow, and the older playlists YouTube changed on its own.
How to check and change YouTube playlist privacy, one playlist at a time
To check which YouTube playlists are public, go through the list of your playlists and read the setting on each. The first group finds every playlist, the second changes the ones you want hidden, and the third covers the lists that are not playlists at all.
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Find every playlist and its setting
Open the playlist list in YouTube Studio
On a computer, sign in to YouTube Studio, then select Content in the left menu and Playlists. This lists the playlists on your channel in one place. Click Details on a playlist to open its Playlist details page, where Visibility shows whether it is Public, Unlisted or Private.
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Or check from the You tab on youtube.com
Sign in to YouTube, go to the You tab and then Playlists. Select View full playlist under the playlist you want. The privacy setting sits below the playlist’s title as a drop-down menu, so you can read it and change it on the same page.
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Check on a phone from your profile picture
In the YouTube app, tap your profile picture, then Playlists and View all. Select a playlist, then tap Edit. The Edit playlist section has the privacy menu. The steps are the same on Android, iPhone and iPad.
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Hide the ones you do not want found
Choose Unlisted or Private
Pick Unlisted if people you sent the link to should still be able to open the playlist. Pick Private if nobody else should. A private playlist cannot be shared by URL, so any links you already sent stop working for other people.
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Save the change
In YouTube Studio, select the new setting from the Visibility drop-down and click Save. In the app, select it from the privacy menu and tap Save. On youtube.com, selecting the new value from the drop-down below the title is the whole step.
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Check the lists that are not playlists
Check your likes and saved playlists
On a computer, click your profile picture, then Settings and Privacy in the left menu, and toggle the options next to each activity. On iPhone or iPad, tap your profile picture, Your channel, EDIT CHANNEL, then the options under Privacy. The Liked videos playlist itself is already private for everyone.
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Check whether your subscriptions are public
On a computer, click your profile picture, then Settings, select Privacy in the left menu and look at Keep all my subscriptions private. It is on by default. When it is off, other people can see the channels you subscribe to, and they are listed on your channel homepage.
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Delete playlists you no longer need
On a computer, open the playlist, click More, select Delete playlist and confirm with Delete. In the app, tap your profile picture, tap the playlist under Playlists, then More, Delete playlist and DELETE. A deleted playlist may continue to exist in viewers’ watch histories.
A common case: years ago you made a public playlist of a friend’s wedding videos so relatives could find it, and it still shows in search. Step 1 finds it, step 4 with Unlisted keeps the family’s links working, and step 5 hides it from search and your channel page.
Unlisted is the right default for anything you shared by link, because Private breaks every link you have already sent.
More about YouTube
Google’s video platform, for watching, uploading and live streaming.
Playlist privacy option missing or changed?
- There is no privacy option on the playlist
You can change privacy only on playlists you own. The feature may also not be available on supervised accounts, so a parent or guardian may control it.
- An unlisted playlist turned private without you changing it
YouTube made some older unlisted content private in July 2021 as a security update. Set it back to Unlisted, make it Public, or create the playlist again. See the section on older playlists below.
- People can see you are subscribed to a channel even with subscriptions private
Joining a subscriber-only live chat, or commenting where comments are limited to subscribers and members, shows other viewers that you subscribe to that channel.
What each YouTube playlist setting allows
| Setting | Who can open it | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| Public | Anyone, and they can share it | Search, related videos, recommendations, your channel and the subscriber feed |
| Unlisted | Anyone with the link, who can also share it | Not in search or on your channel, but it can be added to a channel section |
| Private | Only you | Nowhere else, and its link cannot be shared |
The playlist’s setting and the settings of the videos in it are separate. An unlisted video can show up in search results if someone adds it to a public playlist, so a public playlist can surface videos you meant to keep unlisted.
Start with Unlisted for anything you have shared and Private for anything you have not.
When an older playlist changed setting on its own
In July 2021 YouTube made older unlisted videos private unless the owner opted out. Some older unlisted playlists were created in the same old system, and the same options apply to them: keep them private, create the playlist again, or make it public.
The change affected unlisted content from before 1 January 2017. If a playlist from that era now shows Private and you never set it, this is the likely reason. For videos, viewers who had the old link can no longer watch or share it.
If you manage more than one channel, each has its own playlists. Check that YouTube Studio is open on the right channel before deciding a playlist has gone missing.
How to tell the playlist is hidden
After saving, look for these signs:
- YouTube Studio shows the new value under Visibility on the playlist’s Playlist details page.
- A private playlist no longer appears on your channel page, where only public playlists are posted.
- Someone you sent the link to can still open an unlisted playlist, but not a private one.
How quickly a playlist leaves search results after it stops being public is not documented.
Check once, then choose the setting when you create
Going through old playlists takes a few minutes, and after that the decision happens at creation: the box on the create screen asks for the privacy setting each time.
Pick Private unless you have a reason to share, because you can always open a playlist up later.
If you are cleaning up what YouTube knows about you more broadly, the guide to resetting YouTube recommendations covers watch history and feedback.
Private, unlisted or public: playlist questions
- Are YouTube playlists public by default?
- You choose when you create one. YouTube asks for a privacy setting in the box on the create screen, so older playlists carry whatever was picked at the time, which is why checking each one matters.
- Can other people see my Liked videos playlist?
- No. The Liked videos playlist was made private, so only you can see it. Likes still count towards a video’s like total.
- What is the difference between unlisted and private on YouTube?
- Anyone with the link can watch and share an unlisted playlist, but it does not appear in search or on your channel. A private playlist can be seen only by you, and its link cannot be shared.
- Are my YouTube subscriptions public?
- Not unless you changed it. Subscriptions are private by default, and the setting is Keep all my subscriptions private under Settings and Privacy on a computer.
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Test log
Followed the steps? Tell us how it went on your device. Entries appear here after we check them.
- Worked Every step, start to finish · Daniel Okonkwo and Elias Brandt Team
I tested this
Steps performed and confirmed 18 days ago
Changed since publishing
Correction: Corrected the test record to name who performed the steps, with each tester’s platform and device.
Before: Steps performed by Elias Brandt, in YouTube Studio, on youtube.com and in the YouTube app.
Now: Steps performed by Daniel Okonkwo and Elias Brandt. The earlier record named only Elias. Daniel ran the iPhone steps on an iPhone 15; Elias ran the Android and web steps. Each tester is now listed with the platform and device they used.
When you need this
When you have years of YouTube playlists and no idea which ones anybody can find, check and change their visibility one by one. It is set per playlist when you create it, so an old one made public for a friend is still public today.
- Describes
- YouTube and YouTube Studio on the web · YouTube app on Android and iPhone
- Takes
- A minute per playlist
- Platforms
- Web · iOS · Android
- Published
- 4 October 2026
- Facts checked
- 4 October 2026
Steps repeated and verified by 
Daniel Okonkwo and 
Elias Brandt
on
- Daniel Okonkwo: the iPhone steps on an iPhone 15 (iOS 27.0.1).
- Elias Brandt: the Android steps on a Galaxy S25 (Android 17) and the web steps on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Windows 11 Pro).
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