Why are there "duplicate" videos or playlists in my library?

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Brendan O'Driscoll

When you sign in to your Vidyard account, you may notice multiple copies of the same video in your library. You don’t remember duplicating the video, so why are there multiple copies?

Your video library in Vidyard, identifying what looks like multiple copies of 'duplicates' of the same video

These videos are not duplicates. They are playlists used to subscribe you to notifications when your viewer watches a video that you’ve shared through the Vidyard app in Gmail, Outlook, HubSpot (and several other third-party apps).

We recommend that you do not delete these playlists. If you delete a playlist, the link that you shared will no longer work and your recipients won’t be able to watch the video(s).

In the following sections of this article, you’ll learn:

Why Vidyard creates new playlists in your personal folder

When you select and share multiple videos using the Vidyard app in Gmail, Outlook (and other third-party apps), Vidyard automatically creates a new playlist in your personal folder.

The new playlist is created in order to subscribe you to view events for the video(s) you shared. This is how you receive a notification when your viewer watches the video.

When you select a video to share from a shared folder, this approach ensures that you receive notifications specific to your intended viewer, rather than subscribing you to all events for the video from any viewer (remember—the video lives in a shared folder where multiple people might share it). *Applies to Vidyard Business accounts

The Vidyard app in Gmail, Outlook or other third-party tools, where you are selecting a video to share from a shared folder

Your personal folder may also use a different sharing page design and settings than the shared folder where the video is located. The new playlist is created so that the videos you share with the Vidyard app continue to use the intended page experience that you’ve set up for your viewers.

Playlists with 1 video

If you use the Vidyard app in Gmail, Outlook (or other third-party apps) to share a single (1) video from a shared folder, the playlist that gets created in your personal folder contains only 1 video.

The playlist refers back to the video in the shared folder, but uses the sharing page in your personal folder to deliver the video to your viewer. The playlist also subscribes you to view notifications for the specific viewer that you shared the video with.

A playlist in your library that only contains one video. It was created when you shared a single video from a shared folder using the the Vidyard app

Should I delete the playlists added to my personal folder?

When you share videos using the Vidyard app in Gmail, Outlook (or other third-party apps), do not delete the playlists that are added to the library in your personal folder.

If you delete a playlist, the link that you shared will no longer work and your recipient won’t be able to watch the video(s).

How to identify playlists in your library

Playlists live alongside the videos in your library. Whether you create the playlist yourself or it gets added to your personal folder when you share a video, here’s how you can spot a playlist and distinguish it from the rest of your videos.

  • Playlists indicate the # of videos included in the list. Look in the left-hand corner of the thumbnail.
  • You won’t see a “view badge” next to a playlist. Views are associated with each of the videos in the list; not the playlist itself.

Your video library, identifying how to spot the difference between a video and playlist

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