How to Create and Use Playlists on iPhone

Keep your iPhone music organized with playlists for every occasion

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Updated on February 16, 2021

Switching from Android

What to Know

Open the Music app and tap Library > Playlists > New Playlist. Give it a name, a description, and a photo.
Tap Add Music to add songs to the playlist. Tap each song to place a checkmark next to it and add it. Tap Done to save the list.
To edit a playlist, tap the playlist and select Edit. To delete it, hard press the playlist and select Delete from Library > Delete Playlist.

This article explains how to create and manage music playlists on the iPhone. Instructions apply to iOS 12 and include a few minor changes from iOS 11 and iOS 10.

Make Playlists on iPhone

To make a playlist on an iPhone or iPod Touch:

Tap the Music app to open it.
Tap Library.
Tap Playlists.
Select New Playlist.
Tap Playlist Name and enter a name.
Tap Description and enter information about the playlist.
To add a photo to the playlist, tap the camera icon and choose Take Photo or Choose Photo. Then, follow the on-screen prompts.

If you don't take a photo or link to one, the Music app makes a collage from the album art of music you include and assigns it to the playlist.
To add music to the playlist, tap Add Music.
Search for music. If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can choose from the entire Apple Music catalog. You can also browse your library or select from Artists, Albums, Songs, Compilations, and Downloaded Music.
When you find a song you want to add to the playlist, tap it to place a check mark next to it.
When you've checked all the songs you want, tap Done to save the playlist.

Edit and Delete Playlists on the iPhone

To edit or delete existing playlists on an iPhone:

On the Playlist screen, tap the playlist you want to change to open it.
To rearrange the order of the songs in the playlist, tap Edit.
Drag the three-line icon to the right of a song to move it to a different location.
When the songs are in the order you want, tap Done to save the changes.
To delete an individual song from a playlist, tap Edit, tap the red button to the left of the song, then tap Delete. When you're done editing the playlist, tap Done to save the changes.
To delete a playlist, hard press (Apple calls this 3D Touch) the name of the playlist, select Delete from Library, then tap Delete Playlist to confirm.
Here's another way to delete a playlist. Open the playlist, tap the menu button (the ... icon), select Remove, then tap Delete from Library.

Add Songs to Playlists

There are two ways to add songs to existing playlists:

Open a playlist, tap Edit, tap Add Music, then select music from any of the sections of your library. To add a song to the playlist, tap the song title to place a check mark next to it. Tap Done when you're finished.
If you're listening to a song that you want to add to a playlist, display the song in full-screen mode, tap the menu button (the ... icon), tap Add to a Playlist, then tap the playlist.

Make Smart Playlists in iTunes

In standard playlists, you choose the songs to include and the order of the songs. If you want something a little smarter—for example, a playlist that includes all the songs by an artist or composer or all songs with a certain star rating—and something that automatically updates when new songs are added, create a Smart Playlist.

With Smart Playlists, you set the criteria and iTunes automatically creates a list of songs that match and updates it with new songs every time you add one that matches its parameters.

Smart Playlists can only be created in the desktop version of iTunes, but after you create them there, sync them to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

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