Make a Playlist From Video IDs

The address youtube.com/watch_videos?video_ids= followed by video IDs separated by commas opens those videos as a temporary unlisted playlist, with no sign-in. In Vi.ki's test on Nov 11, 2026 it kept the first 50 IDs, and one wrong ID dropped the whole list.

To make a YouTube playlist without signing in, type https://www.youtube.com/watch_videos?video_ids= and then the IDs of the videos, separated by commas with no spaces. For example, https://www.youtube.com/watch_videos?video_ids=jNQXAC9IVRw,0HAETg7L15o,OIuG1bBkfs0 sent Vi.ki, signed out on Nov 11, 2026, to the first video's watch page with a three-video playlist beside it, named "Untitled List" and marked Unlisted. YouTube builds the list on the spot and gives it an address of its own, so the link you were sent to can be passed on to someone else.

Next: every upload of one channel as a ready-made playlist, make a shared video start at a chosen second or show a list of videos on your own website.

Building the address

Open each video and copy its ID: the 11 characters after watch?v= in the address (after shorts/ for a Short, after youtu.be/ in a short link).
Write https://www.youtube.com/watch_videos?video_ids= and add the IDs in the order you want them played, with a comma between each: ID1,ID2,ID3.
Press Enter. YouTube answers with a redirect to youtube.com/watch?v=ID1&list=TLGG..., where the code after list= is the new playlist.
To share the list, copy the address you land on, not the one you typed.

2:58 Hector Mendoza pasted such an address into a fresh browser in a Dec 27, 2023 video: YouTube opened with the list on the right of the player, titled "Untitled list", and moved on to the next video when one ended. He kept his IDs in a document, so that pasting the line again rebuilds the list any day.

What the address accepts

Every row is a request Vi.ki made on Nov 11, 2026, signed out and with no cookies kept between requests.

Tried	What YouTube did
Three valid IDs	A playlist of 3, "Untitled List", Unlisted, the counter reading "1 / 3"
One ID	A playlist of 1
The same ID twice, then another	A playlist of 3: the repeat is kept
A regular video, a Short and a second video	All three in the list
60 IDs	A playlist of 50: the rest were dropped
Three IDs, the middle one invalid (`AAAAAAAAAAA`)	The first video alone, with no playlist (twice in two tries)
`&title=My+list` at the end	The playlist was named "My list"
`&index=1` at the end	Playback started at the second video (the count starts at 0)
The landing address opened again 20 minutes later, from a clean request	The same 3 videos

Two of these matter in practice. A list longer than 50 has to be split across two addresses. And one mistyped ID costs you the whole playlist without an error message, so if the list does not appear, check the IDs one at a time.

How long the list lasts

We do not know, and YouTube does not say. The playlist's ID begins with TL, the list reopened from a second, cookie-free request 20 minutes after it was made, and each new request for the same IDs produced a different ID. Hector Mendoza's understanding in his video was that the list stays until the browser is closed; our reopened link suggests it outlives the tab, but we measured minutes, not days. Keep the watch_videos address itself: it rebuilds the list whenever it is opened.

The official way, for comparison

YouTube Help documents only saved playlists: on a video's watch page, More > Save > Create new playlist, a name, a privacy setting, then Create (Create & manage playlists, read Nov 11, 2026). Those belong to your account, can be edited later, and can be private so that "only you can view the playlist"; Help adds that a channel can create only so many public playlists a day, without giving the number. The watch_videos address appears nowhere in Help, so it may stop working without notice. It suits a one-time list (a set of clips for a class, a meeting or a friend) where nobody should need an account.

What we think

We think YouTube will leave this address alone for at least another year: it has answered the same way since at least 2023, when the video above was recorded, and it costs YouTube nothing while sending people to watch pages.

Confidence: Likely. Check by: Nov 11, 2027.

What would prove us wrong: the example address at the top of this page no longer opening a three-video list on that day.

Sources

Create & manage playlists, YouTube Help, read Nov 11, 2026
How To Make a Playlist on YouTube without logging in on YouTube, Hector Mendoza, Dec 27, 2023 (video)
Vi.ki's requests to youtube.com/watch_videos, signed out, Nov 11, 2026