Manage playlists

A playlist is a list of dashboards that are displayed in a sequence. You might use a playlist to build situational awareness or to present your metrics to your team or visitors.

Grafana automatically scales dashboards to any resolution, which makes them perfect for big screens.

You can access the Playlist feature from Grafana’s side menu, in the Dashboards submenu.

Access, share, and control a playlist

Use the information in this section to access existing playlists. Start and control the display of a playlist using one of the five available modes.

Access a playlist

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

Start a playlist

You can start a playlist in five different view modes. View modes determine how the menus and navigation bar appear on the dashboards.

By default, each dashboard is displayed for the amount of time entered in the Interval field, which you set when you create or edit a playlist. After you start a playlist, you can control it with the navbar at the top of the page.

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Find the playlist you want to start, then click Start playlist.

  4. In the modal that opens, select one of the five playlist modes available, based on the information in the table below.

  5. Click Start <playlist name>.

The playlist displays each dashboard for the time specified in the Interval field, set when creating or editing a playlist. Once a playlist starts, you can control it using the navbar at the top of your screen.

Mode Description

Normal mode

TV mode

TV mode (with auto fit panels)

Kiosk mode

Kiosk mode (with auto fit panels)

Control a playlist

You can control a playlist in Normal or TV mode after it’s started, using the navigation bar at the top of your screen. Press the Esc key in your keyboard to stop the playlist.

Button Result

Next (double-right arrow)

Advances to the next dashboard.

Back (left arrow)

Returns to the previous dashboard.

Stop (square)

Ends the playlist, and exits to the current dashboard.

Cycle view mode (monitor icon)

Rotates the display of the dashboards in different view modes.

Time range

Displays data within a time range. It can be set to display the last 5 minutes up to 5 years ago, or a custom time range, using the down arrow.

Refresh (circle arrow)

Reloads the dashboard, to display the current data. It can be set to reload automatically every 5 seconds to 1 day, using the drop-down arrow.

Create a playlist

You can create a playlist to present dashboards in a sequence, with a set order and time interval between dashboards.

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Click New playlist. The New playlist page opens.

  4. In the Name text box, enter a descriptive name.

  5. In the Interval text box, enter a time interval. Grafana displays a particular dashboard for the interval of time specified here before moving on to the next dashboard.

  6. In Dashboards, add existing dashboards to the playlist using Add by title and Add by tag drop-down options. The dashboards you add are listed in a sequential order.

  7. If needed:

    • Search for a dashboard by its name, a regular expression, or a tag.

    • Filter your results by starred status or tags.

  8. If needed, rearrange the order of the dashboard you have added using the up and down arrow icon.

  9. Optionally, remove a dashboard from the playlist by clicking the x icon beside dashboard.

  10. Click Save.

Save a playlist

You can save a playlist and add it to your Playlists page, where you can start it. Be sure that all the dashboards you want to appear in your playlist are added when creating or editing the playlist before saving it.

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Click on the playlist.

  4. Edit the playlist.

  5. Ensure that your playlist has a Name, Interval, and at least one Dashboard added to it.

  6. Click Save.

Edit or delete a playlist

You can edit a playlist by updating its name, interval time, and by adding, removing, and rearranging the order of dashboards. On the rare occasion when you no longer need a playlist, you can delete it.

Edit a playlist

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Find the playlist you want to update and click Edit playlist.

  4. Update the name and time interval, then add or remove dashboards from the playlist using instructions in Create a playlist.

  5. Click Save to save your changes.

Delete a playlist

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Find the playlist you want to remove.

  4. Click Delete playlist.

Rearrange dashboard order

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Find the playlist you want to update and click Edit playlist.

  4. Click and drag the dashboards into your desired order.

  5. Click Save to save your changes.

Remove a dashboard

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Find the playlist you want to update and click Edit playlist.

  4. Click [x] on the name of the dashboard you want to remove from the playlist.

  5. Click Save to save your changes.

Share a playlist in a view mode

You can share a playlist by copying the link address on the view mode you prefer, and pasting the URL to your destination.

  1. Click Dashboards in the left-side menu.

  2. Click Playlists to see a list of existing playlists.

  3. Click the share icon of the playlist you want to share.

  4. Select the view mode you prefer.

  5. Click Copy next to the Link URL to copy it to your clipboard.

    For example, the URL for the first playlist on the Grafana Play site in Kiosk mode will look like this:

    https://play.grafana.org/playlists/play/1?kiosk.

  6. Paste the URL to your destination.