This Chrome extension restores the old YouTube behavior where the "Save to playlist" menu stays open, allowing you to add a video to multiple playlists at once.
In recent YouTube updates, when you click to save a video to a playlist, the menu automatically closes after selecting just one playlist. This forces you to reopen the menu each time you want to add the video to another playlist.
This extension keeps the "Save to playlist" menu open after you select a playlist, just like the old behavior. You can select as many playlists as you want before manually closing the menu.
✅ Keeps playlist menu open - Select multiple playlists without the menu closing
✅ Full add/remove functionality - Click to add to a playlist, click again to remove
✅ Manual close options - Click outside the menu or press ESC to close when done
✅ No interference - Doesn't block normal YouTube functionality
-
Download the extension files
- Make sure you have all the files in a folder:
manifest.jsoncontent.jsicon16.png,icon48.png,icon128.png
- Make sure you have all the files in a folder:
-
Open Chrome Extensions Page
- Open Chrome browser
- Go to
chrome://extensions/ - Or click the three dots menu → More Tools → Extensions
-
Enable Developer Mode
- Toggle the "Developer mode" switch in the top-right corner
-
Load the Extension
- Click "Load unpacked" button
- Select the folder containing the extension files
- The extension should now appear in your extensions list
-
Test It Out
- Go to YouTube
- Click the "Save" button under a video
- Try adding the video to multiple playlists
- The menu should stay open!
- Click outside the menu or press ESC when done
The extension intercepts YouTube's automatic close behavior while allowing normal interactions:
- Blocks auto-close: Prevents the menu from closing after clicking a playlist
- Allows playlist clicks: All add/remove functionality works normally
- Manual close: Backdrop clicks and ESC key still close the menu when you want
- Click the "Save" button under any YouTube video
- Click on playlists to add the video to them
- Click again to remove from a playlist (toggle behavior)
- When done, click outside the menu or press ESC to close it
This is Chrome's security feature that periodically disables "unpacked" extensions. Solutions:
-
Quick fix: Just reload the extension each time
- Go to
chrome://extensions/ - Click "Load unpacked" and select the extension folder again
- Go to
-
Better fix: Keep extension in a permanent location
- Create a folder like
C:\ChromeExtensions\YouTubePlaylistFix\(Windows) - Or
~/ChromeExtensions/YouTubePlaylistFix/(Mac/Linux) - Extract extension files there permanently
- Load from this location
- Don't delete or move this folder!
- Create a folder like
-
Re-enable Developer Mode if needed
- Chrome sometimes disables "Developer mode"
- Toggle it back on in
chrome://extensions/
- Make sure the extension is enabled in
chrome://extensions/ - Refresh the YouTube page after installing or re-enabling
- Check the browser console (F12) for green "[Playlist Fix]" messages
- If you don't see the messages, the extension didn't load - try reloading it
- This should now be fixed in v3.1+
- If it still happens, completely remove and reload the extension
- Make sure you're using the latest version (v3.1.0)
- Check console for any error messages
- Make sure you see "[Playlist Fix] V3.1 Loaded" in console (F12)
- Try refreshing the page
- Disable and re-enable the extension
- Make sure no other YouTube extensions are conflicting
- Check that Developer Mode is still enabled
- This is normal YouTube behavior being preserved
- Make sure you're clicking on the playlist name, not outside it
- Check if the video is already in the playlist (toggle behavior)
- This is a known limitation due to YouTube's internal state management
- The video is still being added/removed correctly
- Closing and reopening the menu will show the correct state
- The bookmark icon next to each playlist may not update immediately (visual only, doesn't affect functionality)
- Extension needs to be reloaded if YouTube makes significant code changes
If YouTube changes their code again, this extension may need updates. The extension logs its activity to the browser console (F12) for debugging.
This extension:
- Only runs on YouTube.com
- Does not collect any data
- Does not track your activity
- Only modifies local behavior in your browser
- Does not communicate with any external servers
The extension works by:
- Detecting when YouTube's playlist dropdown appears
- Overriding the automatic close functionality
- Preserving all normal click and interaction behavior
- Allowing manual close via backdrop click or ESC key
Free to use and modify as needed!
- Added: Click outside the menu (backdrop) to close it
- Improved: Dual backdrop detection system (capture phase + global handler)
- Improved: Better event handling with stopImmediatePropagation
- Improved: Multiple backdrop setup attempts at different timing intervals
- Works alongside ESC key for closing
- Fixed: Extension now survives YouTube's client-side navigation
- Fixed: Works persistently across page changes
- Fixed: Watches for YouTube navigation events and re-initializes
- Improved: Better manifest to reduce Chrome warnings
- Improved: Prevents multiple script instances from loading
- Added troubleshooting guide for extension disappearing
- Initial release
- Keeps playlist menu open for multiple selections
- Preserves add/remove toggle functionality
- Manual close via backdrop or ESC key
This extension includes a toggle in content.js:
const ENABLE_ICON_REFRESH_HACK = false;- false (default): keeps the playlist menu open, but YouTube’s playlist icons/checkmarks may not visually update until you close/reopen the menu.
- true: attempts to force a visual refresh by auto-clicking YouTube’s snackbar “Change” button after playlist changes. This is UI-dependent and may break if YouTube updates their layout.