# Manage playlists

At the end, you find every playlist again, rename it, duplicate it as a starting point for the next promotion, and delete what nobody needs anymore. And you see in which programs a playlist is the base.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** Anyone who keeps the collection of playlists in order.
> **Prerequisite:** Renaming needs the permission to edit playlists, duplicating the permission to create, and deleting the permission to delete — by default, the roles **Owner** and **Manager** have all three.
> **Where in the portal:** **Playlists**

## Steps

### Find playlists

1. Open **Playlists**. With **View**, you switch between **Grid view** and **List view**. The tile shows a live preview of the item that is currently playing.
2. Search for the name in the **Search playlists** field.
3. Filter by **Source**: **All**, **Manual**, **Folder**, or **Tags**.
4. Under **Sort**, choose for example **Recently updated**, **Name A–Z**, or **Extent (largest first)**.
5. In the list view, **Columns** shows or hides the columns **Source**, **Extent**, **As base**, and **Changed**. The **Playlist** column always stays visible. **Load more** loads further entries.

![The playlists in list view: the search field (1), the Source filter with All, Manual, Folder, and Tags (2), the sort and the view switch (3), the column row with Playlist, Source, Extent, As base, and Changed (4), and a row's menu with Open, Rename, Duplicate, and Delete (5)](/docs/programs/bilder/eabe74f0-playlist-list.png)

*1 Search field · 2 Source filter · 3 View switch · 4 Column row · 5 Row menu*

### Rename and duplicate

6. Open the menu on the entry. It offers **Open**, **Rename**, **Duplicate**, and **Delete**. A right-click on a tile or row opens the same menu.
7. **Rename** opens the **Rename playlist** dialog. Enter 1 to 200 characters and confirm with **Rename**. The portal reports **Playlist renamed**.
8. **Duplicate** immediately creates a copy named after the pattern “Name (copy)”. The portal reports **Playlist duplicated**. The copy is a convenient starting point for a variation.

### Delete

9. **Delete** in the menu opens the prompt **Delete playlist permanently?** with the name and the note: “The playlist will be removed permanently. It cannot be deleted while a program still uses it.” **Delete** confirms, and **Cancel** aborts.
10. For a playlist from a cloud folder, it also says: “The folder sync and the imported media stay — only the playing sequence is deleted.”
11. To delete several at once, check the boxes on the entries. The bar shows **3 selected** and offers **Select all**, **Clear selection**, and **Delete selection**. The prompt then reads **Delete 3 playlists?**.

### See where a playlist runs

12. The **As base** column and the tile say **Base in 2 programs** — that is, the programs in which this playlist is the base program.
13. Open the playlist: in its header, the same note leads to the **Programs using this playlist as base** popover with the names as links.
14. Next to it, **Add to program** leads to the program picker, with this playlist preselected as the content.

This number deliberately does not say whether a playlist is also scheduled as an individual program entry or assigned directly to a display. The full picture comes from the program itself and the display's **Playback** tab. For deleting, all three uses count.

## Check the result

- The new name appears in the list, and the **Changed** column carries the current time.
- A deleted playlist has disappeared from the list. The portal reports **Playlist deleted**.
- After a bulk delete, the message names the partial result, for example **4 deleted, 1 skipped (scheduled)**.

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Meaning | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| An entry could not be deleted, and the message counts “skipped (scheduled)” | The playlist is still in use: as the base or as a program entry of a program, or assigned directly to a display | In the **Programs using this playlist as base** popover, open the programs and set a different base there, see [Manage programs: rename, delete, check assignments](/docs/programs/manage-programs). If the popover is empty, the playlist is scheduled as a program entry or assigned directly to a display: delete the entry in the program's **Weekly plan**, see [Create, edit, pause, or delete a program entry](/docs/programs/create-program-entry), or assign something else at the display, see [Assign a program to a display](/docs/displays/assign-program). |
| **Rename**, **Duplicate**, or **Delete** is missing from the menu | You lack the matching permission | Check the permissions, see [Permissions by role and by area](/docs/organization/permissions-by-role). |
| **Rename failed** or **Duplicate failed** | The change was not accepted | Try again. When renaming, check that the name has 1 to 200 characters. |
| **No playlists for this selection.** | Search or source filter rule everything out | Clear the search and set the **Source** filter to **All**. |
| **Playlists could not be loaded.** | The list could not be loaded | Click **Try again**. |
| The **Extent** column shows **Content from the source** instead of a number | The resolution of the source is not yet available for the list | Open the playlist. Its **Sequence** gives the number and total duration. |

## Related

- [Manage programs: rename, delete, check assignments](/docs/programs/manage-programs)
- [Create a program and choose the base program](/docs/programs/create-program)
- [Permissions by role and by area](/docs/organization/permissions-by-role)