i found my deleted playlist but cant do anything with it, how do i get it back?

[socksss]

okay so i was going through my old messages with a friend and found a link to one of my spotify playlists from around 2019 i think? however i deleted that playlist a few years ago. i know that when you delete a playlist other people can still see it. ive been wanting this playlist back for a while but i couldnt recover it since it was deleted so long ago. i clicked on the link from the messages and it took me to the playlist but i cant do anything? i cant even listen to it. when i try to edit the playlist it says "something went wrong have another go?" but when i press try again it pops up again and clicking cancel doesnt work so i have to refresh the app. theres also no "add to profile" option, only "make private". how can i add it back to my library? i regret deleting it so much. surely theres a way to get it back since its still visible i hope? when i try the link on my laptop it just says "couldnt find that playlist search for something else?" so it only shows on mobile.

sorry if this is long or doesnt make sense i just really need it back

[Bella_K]

Hi @socksss ,

Thanks for reaching out to the Spotify Community! 😄

Currently, the restrictions for recovering playlists is that if you have deleted it within the last 90 Days, it is recoverable - and unfortunately any time further than that, Spotify automatically deletes it for you (from 'recovery'). In regards to your friends still seeing the playlist - due to the way Spotify's system works, when you delete a playlist it won't ever be removed from other accounts who have previously followed the playlist (although they won't be able to access it).

Although it is not possible to recover this playlist - for the benefit of your future use, I suggest having a look at this idea thread (where others have had the same idea) and considering giving it a vote. With enough votes, Spotify will consider implementing the idea!

Hope this clears things up!

Let me know if you have any further questions!

Kind Regards,

BK 🌻

[OscarDC]

Hey @socksss,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community.

The deleted playlists can only be restored within 90 days from the deletion. This means that a playlist deleted long ago cannot be recovered as mentioned in this article.

However, if you have access to the link and you can see the list of tracks, you can make a copy and create a new one with the same songs. This process is easiest and quicker in the desktop app.

In the desktop app:

1. Log in to your account on the desktop app.

2. Create a new blank playlist on the quick menu of the left.

3. Open the link of the old playlist.

4. Select all the songs by clicking the first one and holding shift and the arrow down (you can also use keyboard shortcuts like CTRL + A).

5. Drag all the selected songs to the new blank playlist you made.

Hope this helps. If anything else comes up, the Community will be here.

[floooof]

i wanted to listen to a playlist that ive been following but it says "the owner of this playlist has made it private or removed it from spotify". i wasn't sure if it was which so i used a link that ive copied and pasted somewhere to access the playlist but the same message popped out. now im really confused because i was told that if i used the link to a playlist that was made private i would still be able to see it and ive also read a few community posts about deleted playlists and apparently it stays in the system forever so the the playlist is still visible to the followers but they cant play it? the playlist is really important to me so i would like to know 🙂

[AndresM]

Hey @floooof,

Thanks for posting on the Community and welcome. 

Just to clarify, once a playlist is marked as private, it will no longer be accessible by anyone else other than the playlist owner, regardless which device a user is trying to access it from. Example: If a user clicks on a playlist link from their desktop, they will no longer be able to access it if the playlist has been marked by its owner as private.

Lastly, If a playlist is made private, the followers will see the playlist greyed out on their library on mobile. They will land on an error page upon trying to access the playlist. If the playlist wasn’t cached in the followers library, which might happen if they didn’t open it for a long time, they will only see a placeholder title and image being greyed out, instead of the original playlist title and image. 

We hope this clears things up!

[floooof]

hi! thank you for clarifying that. i have another question, what would be the signs if the playlist was actually deleted? 

[AndresM]

Hey @floooof,

Thanks for your reply,

In relation to your question, you may see different messages when trying to access the desired playlist (e.g. "the owner of this playlist has made it private or removed it from Spotify"). Due to privacy reasons, there's no fully confirmation when a different user deletes a playlist. 

We hope you find this info useful.