How do I create a Playlist in Windows Media Player?

A playlist is a customized list of digital media files that are available to listen to. Playlists help organize music by grouping various audio files together and specifying the order in which you want the files to play.

Note: If video files are in the playlist, Media Center only plays the soundtrack of the video files when the playlist is played in Media Center.

To create a playlist, use the following steps.

  1. From the File menu, click New Now Playing List.

  2. In the List pane, click Now Playing List, point to New List, and then click Playlist.

  3. Drag items from the Contents or Details pane in your library to the List pane to add them to the new playlist.

    Note: You can select several items at once and then drag them to the List pane. To select adjacent items, press and hold the SHIFT key while selecting. To select nonadjacent items, press and hold the CTRL key while selecting.

  4. In the List pane, click New Playlist, and then click Save Playlist As.

  5. In the Save As dialog box, type the playlist name in the File name field.

  6. Your new playlist is added to the My Playlist category in the Contents pane. By default, playlist are saved with a .wpl extension in the My Playlists folder, which is usually located in the My Music folder.