Can't play local file songs on mobile.

[albertus50]

Plan

Premium

Country: Switzerland

Device

Samsung galaxy S20

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

Whenever i try to play songs that i uploaded from my local files from my computer on my phone, there is an exclamation mark under them, they're greyed out and i can't click on them. I have tried most solutions online, reinstalling the app, restarting the device, redownloading the playlist, connecting to the same wifi, nothing works. Does anyone know what i could do? Thanks in advance!

[Elena]

Hey there @albertus50 and thanks for reaching out to us!

Great troubleshooting so far but there are a few other things that we can check to make sure we've covered all basic steps.

First, could you'll need to make sure that the files can be played on your PC, so that you'd be able to successfully sync them to mobile?

You can begin by performing a clean reinstall of the app (instead of a regular one) on both your phone and computer. If you have a Windows 10 OS on your computer, we'd recommend that you download the app from the Microsoft store.

Then, it will be a good idea to remove all the local files you've uploaded on the app and try syncing them again. It might be good to create new folders with the files and connect those.

Make sure that your firewall doesn't block Spotify, or give this a try on a different network.

Keep us in the loop here. We'll be here if you need us.

[albertus50]

Hello! Thanks a lot for your answer!

I have just checked, and all the files can be played on my pc without issue. 

I tried performing a clean reinstall, unfortunately the same problem still shows up. 

I deleted the local files from my computer and then downloaded them from youtube again, which didn't solve it. I switched networks and turned my antivirus off. unfortunately, none of this fixed the problem 😞

[Jeremy]

Hey @albertus50,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation,

Can you do the following to see if it helps:

• Add some songs from our catalogue to the playlist as well as the local file/s and make sure you have ‘Show unavailable songs in playlists’ turned on in Settings
• Play some music on the device that has the local files to see if it shows via Connect on the other device
• Make sure the user’s router supports the Bonjour protocol. If the router is made after 2005, it will likely have this protocol. The best way to handle this is to check the router make/model and Google it
• Create a hotspot with the phone and connect the desktop to it

Keep us posted 🙂

Cheers!

[albertus50]

Hello! I tried adding other songs to it and i had that turned on already but unfortunately that didn't change anything. It used to work but i haven't changed routers since so i doubt that'd be the problem. I can also fully control both devices with the other (rewind, pause etc...) The hotspot didnt help either 😞

But thanks a lot for your answers and help!!

[Jeremy · Accepted solution]

Hey again @albertus50

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Can you change the source folder of the local files on the pc? The steps are:

1. Uninstall Spotify on both devices
2. Create a new folder somewhere else on the pc and move the local files there
3.  Install Spotify again
4. Remove any potential source folders and add the new one
5. Download the playlist again and see if it works better.

Keep us posted 🙂

Cheers!

[albertus50]

Hello, Thanks for your answer!

I tried that, it did not work so i tried chaging computers and installing spotify on a whole different one but the problem remains 😞

[albertus50]

Nevermind! I reinstalled and tried on another computer and it works now! Not from my PC but from my mac. Thanks a lot for all the help!

[Ver]

Hey @albertus50,

Thanks for keeping us posted 🙂

Glad to heat it worked out on your Mac. If the issue on the PC persists, you can try these steps and run a clean reinstall. This one is more thorough than the usual one.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'll be happy to help.

[oyvindpe]

It amazes med that spotify in stead of fixing a huge and annoying problem, tells their paying customers (yes paying) to go throuh numerous steps like reinstalling the app on both mobile device and pc/mac, deactivating firewall, changing the source of local files etc. In stead of fixing the problem, the same answer with the same steps keep coming up. 

I have the same exact problem. The local files play fine on mye desktop app, but will not play on my mobile app. It shows a exclamation mark and is greyd out, but not able to play. I have officially given up.

I have reinstalled the app numerous times. I have moved the source folder, I have changed the names of the local files, deactivated my firewall. I have done every single step explained. Over and over again. Nothing works. Nothing.

This have been working seamlessly for years. All of a sudden it stops working, and there is no fix coming for spotify.

My message to spotify is: Please resolve this issue and give your premium customers the product they are paying for.

[albertus50]

If you have Access to another Computer, even one belonging to someone in your Family or in a library or School you could try with that, that’s what made it for me. I agree with you on the issue though, i couldn’t fix it no matter how many reinstalls and source Folder changes i did 😕

[Jeremy]

Hey there @oyvindpe,

Thank you for your post and feedback. 

Can you try with another internet connection to see if the issue persists?

Also - If you have an SD card we suggest that you uninstall the app > turn off your phone > take out your SD card > turn on the phone again (without the SD card) > reinstall the app.

If that doesn't do the trick - can you let us know which version of the app you have?

Keep us posted 🙂 We're always one reply away.

[rideofyourlife]

The same problem and opinion here.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @rideofyourlife,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

Can you let us know if you tried all of the troubleshooting steps that's been provided in this thread?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Take care!

[rideofyourlife]

Unfortunately the problem still persists. I have this exclamation marks in my mobile app when I try to download local files from the desktop computer. Btw, I think a good Spotify update would be for the user to be able to see a code of the error when one presses the exclamation mark. It would most certainly help because now we actually do not know what this exclamation mark means except that it appears.

[CarlosE]

Hey @rideofyourlife,

Thanks for your reply.

Can you let us know where you obtained the Local files from?

Additionally and to be on the same page, can you let us know which specific troubleshooting steps you've tried so far?

We'll be on the lookout.

[smileangel]

I have the exact same issue. Have done 3 clean reinstalls on my laptop and android with no luck. The playlist with the local files shows on my phone but it is empty, and the playlist on my laptop shows the local files (the download option is on the playlist so they should have auto-downloaded onto my phone's playlist). 

So I then added a random song on spotify to that playlist and it does not even show on the playlist on the laptop, so it's as if the playlists are not syncing at all. I also tried it the other way, added a random song on spotify from my laptop to the playlist and even then that does not show on the playlist on my phone.

I have also moved the local files around to different folders to try and see if that works, it did not.

I'm on the same private WiFi network and have the latest app versions installed on each device and my firewall allows sharing. I've been at this for 6 hours with no luck.

I do not have the luxury of having another laptop/pc/mac to try this with. However, I have a playlist with local files on that I did last month and it's perfect - the problem is trying to add new local files. The files are from a Patreon subscription so I can legally have them and listen to them.

[MafeG]

Hi @smileangel,

Thank you for posting on this thread. 

Your troubleshooting so far has been great and there are other things we can try here. 

First up, please make sure Spotify is whitelisted on your firewall, since sometimes it can cause issues with the app. 

If it's all clear, then try to create an internet hotspot with your phone (while connected to mobile data), connect your computer to it and check if you're able to synchronize the playlist now.

Let us know how this goes.

[smileangel]

Hey MafeG,

Spotify is approved for both private and public networks on my firewall, and hotspotting does not work either.

Thanks!

[MafeG]

Hey @smileangel,

Thank you for your reply and running those tests.

Could you make sure the router supports the Bonjour protocol? Routers made after 2005 usually have the protocol. The best way to find it out is to check the router make/model and Google it.

Also, in your router settings, check that UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is enabled.

It's also worth trying to connect to a whole different private internet network and check if the tracks are able to synchronize.

Keep us posted.