The fastest way to delete a playlist
Open Apple Music on your device and find the playlist you want to remove. Press and hold the playlist name — on iPhone or iPad, use your finger; on Mac, use your trackpad or mouse. A menu will appear with several options. Tap or click "Delete Playlist" and confirm when prompted.
That's the entire process. The playlist disappears when ready, along with all the songs you added to it. If you created the playlist yourself, you have full permission to delete it at any time. If someone else created it and shared it with you, you can only remove it from your own library — the original playlist remains on their account.
The steps are identical whether you're on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Music on the web. The only difference is how you trigger the menu: a long press on mobile devices, a right-click on Mac or web.
Key Takeaways
- Press and hold a playlist name in Apple Music, then tap or click "Delete Playlist" to remove it permanently from your account.
- Deleting a playlist removes only the playlist itself, not the individual songs — those remain in your library unless you delete them separately.
- If someone shared a playlist with you, deleting it removes it only from your view; the original creator's version stays intact.
- Deleted playlists cannot be recovered, so make sure you don't need the list of songs before you confirm the deletion.
What happens to your songs when you delete a playlist
Deleting a playlist does not delete the songs inside it. If you had 50 songs in a playlist and you delete that playlist, all 50 songs remain in your library. You can still find them by searching, browsing your library, or looking at your "Recently Added" section.
This matters because many people create playlists as temporary collections — a workout mix, songs for a road trip, or music for a specific mood. Once you delete the playlist, the songs don't vanish. They stay where they were before you organized them.
If you want to remove both the playlist and the songs, you'll need to delete the songs separately. Go to your library, find each song, press and hold it, and choose "Remove from Library." This is a different action from deleting the playlist.
Deleting playlists someone shared with you
When another person creates a playlist and shares it with you through Apple Music, you can remove it from your own account by pressing and holding it and selecting "Delete Playlist." However, this only removes it from your view. The original creator still has the playlist, and it remains shared with anyone else they sent it to.
You cannot delete someone else's playlist from their account — you can only stop seeing it on yours. If you want to stop receiving updates when they add new songs to a shared playlist, you can unfollow it instead of deleting it. Unfollowing keeps the playlist in your library but stops notifications about changes.
To unfollow instead of delete, press and hold the playlist and look for an "Unfollow" option. This option appears only for playlists created by other people.
Recovering a deleted playlist
Apple Music does not have a trash bin or recovery feature for deleted playlists. Once you confirm the deletion, the playlist is gone permanently. You cannot undo it through a settings menu or contact Apple Support to restore it.
If you realize you deleted a playlist by mistake, your only option is to recreate it manually. If you remember most of the songs, you can search for them one by one and add them back to a new playlist. If you don't remember what was in it, the playlist is lost.
This is why some people take a screenshot of their playlists before deleting them, or write down the song titles if the playlist is important. It takes a few seconds and can save you the work of rebuilding it later.
Deleting playlists on different devices
You can delete a playlist from any device where you use Apple Music — iPhone, iPad, Mac, or the web. The deletion syncs across all your devices within a few minutes. If you delete a playlist on your iPhone, it will be gone from your iPad and Mac as well.
On iPhone and iPad, press and hold the playlist name. On Mac, right-click the playlist. On the web at music.apple.com, right-click or use the three-dot menu next to the playlist name. All routes lead to the same "Delete Playlist" option.
If you don't see the delete option, make sure you created the playlist yourself. Shared playlists created by other people show different menu options, and you'll see "Delete Playlist" only if you're the original creator.
When you might want to delete a playlist instead of just ignoring it
You don't have to delete a playlist if you're not using it anymore. You can straightforward leave it in your library and never listen to it. However, deleting unused playlists keeps your library organized and makes it easier to find the playlists you actually care about.
If you have dozens of playlists from old projects, past relationships, or moods you no longer experience, deleting them clears visual clutter. Your library becomes shorter and easier to browse. This is purely a matter of preference — Apple Music doesn't charge you for storing playlists, and having old ones doesn't slow down the app.
Some people keep every playlist they've ever made as a record of their listening history. Others delete them regularly to keep only current ones. Neither approach is wrong. Delete a playlist only if you're confident you won't want to reference it again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete a playlist I created if I shared it with other people?
Yes. When you delete a playlist you created, it disappears from your account and from everyone you shared it with. They will no longer see it in their library. If you want to keep the playlist but stop sharing it, you can change the sharing settings instead of deleting it.
What if I accidentally deleted a playlist — can Apple restore it?
No. Apple Music does not keep backups of deleted playlists. Once you confirm the deletion, it cannot be recovered. If the playlist was important, you would need to recreate it by searching for and re-adding the songs manually.
Does deleting a playlist remove the songs from my library?
No. The songs stay in your library. Deleting a playlist only removes the collection itself, not the individual tracks. You can still find and listen to those songs through search or by browsing your library.
Why can't I see the delete option for a playlist?
If you don't see "Delete Playlist," you probably don't own the playlist — someone else created it and shared it with you. You can only delete playlists you created yourself. For shared playlists, you can unfollow them or remove them from your view, but you cannot delete the original.
If I delete a playlist on my iPhone, will it be deleted on my Mac too?
Yes. Apple Music syncs your library across all devices. When you delete a playlist on one device, it disappears from all your other devices within a few minutes. You don't need to delete it separately on each device.