YouTube Playlist Manager
A free Chrome extension that makes any YouTube playlist searchable. Index it once, then search and filter by category, with no API keys, OAuth, or quota limits. Your index lives in your browser, not on a server.
YouTube hands you a playlist, not a way to search it. Past a hundred videos it barely lets you scroll, and the official API means keys, OAuth, and quotas. Playlist Manager skips all of that and just makes the list findable.
No API, no OAuth, no quotas
It reads the playlist straight from the page you’re already looking at, riding your own signed-in session. Nothing to authorize, no API key to manage, no daily quota to hit.
Works everywhere you do
Private and unlisted playlists included. It auto-scrolls past YouTube’s ~100-video first page, so the whole list gets indexed, not just the top.
Search that actually works
Full-text search across every video in a playlist, instantly. Find that one talk you saved six months ago in a list of 800.
Filter by category
Categories are derived locally from each video’s title, channel, and length. You can also add your own tags to organize a playlist however you think about it.
Optional deep index
Opt in to a throttled, resumable pass that pulls richer detail like YouTube’s own category, the uploader’s keywords, and full stats. It sharpens sorting and search.
Two ways in
A floating panel right on the playlist page for quick search, plus a side-panel manager that spans every playlist you’ve indexed.
- 01
Open a playlist
On any YouTube playlist page, hit the floating button and choose “Index this playlist.”
- 02
It scrolls and reads
The extension auto-scrolls so YouTube lazy-loads every item, then reads them right from the rendered page.
- 03
Search, filter, tag
Search instantly, filter by category, and add your own tags. Everything is saved locally for next time.
- 04
Go deeper (optional)
Kick off the deep index to enrich each video with YouTube’s own category, keywords, and full stats.
Everything stays in your browser.
The index lives in your browser’s local storage. No account, no server, no API keys. It’s read-only on YouTube, so it never posts, likes, or changes anything on your account. It just builds a private, searchable copy of a playlist you can already see.
Descriptions and transcripts aren’t part of playlist data, so the first pass categorizes on title, channel, and duration. The optional deep index fills in the rest. And because it reads YouTube’s live page rather than a stable API, a big YouTube change can occasionally call for an update. The parser is built defensively to ride most of them out.
- Do I need a YouTube or Google API key?
- No. There’s no API, no OAuth, and no quota. It reads the playlist from the page you’re viewing, using your own signed-in session.
- Does it work on private or unlisted playlists?
- Yes. As long as you’re signed in and can see the playlist, the extension can index it.
- Where is my data stored?
- In your browser’s local storage, on your machine. Nothing is uploaded to a server, and there’s no account to create.
- Can it change anything on my YouTube account?
- No. It only reads. It never posts, likes, subscribes, or edits anything. It just builds a private index of what’s already there.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It’s completely free and ad-free. If it helps you, you can support the work, but you never have to.
- Which browsers does it work on?
- Any Chromium-based browser. That includes Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, and Opera. It’s a Manifest V3 extension.
Make your playlists searchable.
Free, private, and it stays out of your way.
Free and ad-free. If it helps you, you can support the work.
✦ Built by naxatar · नक्षत्र