Local files not syncing on android

[Didichan]

Plan

Premium

Country

Romania

Device

Samsung Z Flip

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

Hello,

Every new upgrade Spotify deletes my local files from the mobile app. Usually I just sync it again. My songs were again deleted, but now that I cannot sync them again.I changed my phone recently, but they were deleted before this change. on my new phone I did a clean install (on laptop also), I made sure that my phone and my laptop are on the same network, I made sure that the firewall is ok and I tried using my phone as a hotspot. Nothing works. The files are ok on my laptop, but on mobile it refuses to download them. When trying to download it simply says downloaded but the songs are greyed out and have an exclamation mark.

Can you please help me?

[Didichan]

Hi @Didichan,

Thanks for the reply.

As the local files used to download without issue on your previous phone, there must be a difference in the phone settings.

If your phone has an SD card, could you try removing it. After that change the download location from the Spotify app and then try downloading the local files playlist again.

Let us know if that makes a difference.

[Novy]

Hey there @Didichan, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community, and welcome 🙂

Just to confirm, have you made sure to have enough storage space available on your phone? 

You could also give it a try using another internet connection on both devices to see if you notice anything new.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[Didichan]

Hello,

There is enough space on the phone, it's only 18% used.

I tried on both my internet connections and with my mobile data. It still did not work.

[CarlosE]

Hey @Didichan,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

Just to confirm, did you make sure to follow all the steps in this article?

If possible, could you try using a different mobile device to see if your Local files are synced correctly there?

Keep us posted.

[Didichan]

Hello,

Yes the steps are followed properly. I did this many times, as I said my files just get randomly deleted, so it would not be the first time.

I do not have another mobile device to try.

[Eni]

Hey @Didichan, 

Thanks for getting back in touch. 

In this case, would you mind performing a clean reinstall on both devices following these specific steps? We know that you've already reinstalled the app, but this process is more thorough than a normal one. 

If this doesn't do the trick, another useful step in is to change the source folder of the local files on the PC. The steps are: Uninstall Spotify on both devices > create a new folder somewhere else on the pc and move the local files there > install Spotify again > remove any potential source folders and add the new one > download the playlist again.

Let us know how it goes 🙂

[Didichan]

Hello,
Did the clean reinstall again and also moved the local files in another folder. Still cannot download them on my phone.

[Eni]

Hi @Didichan, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. 

Would you mind checking if the OS of your phone has any pending updates?

On another note, in case you're using a VPN, we'd suggest you turn it off to check if anything changes.

It's also a good idea to double-check that the firewall isn't blocking Spotify.

Lastly, you can try deleting the playlist with the local files from your library and creating a new one.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply. 

[Didichan]

Hello,

No pending updates. Both my VPN (on phone and on laptop) and my firewall are closed.
Created a new test playlist and it does not download.

[Eni]

Hey there @Didichan, 

Thanks for your quick reply. 

Would you mind checking if you've already tried all the steps mentioned here?

Also, could you let us know the exact make/model, operating system and Spotify version of your devices (both PC and phone)?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply. 

[Didichan]

Hello,
I followed all the steps.
My phone is Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G with Android version 11. On it I have Spotify version 8.6.32.925.
My laptop is a HP Pavilion 15-ec0051nq with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. On it I have Spotify version 1.1.60.672.g6ad9c215-a.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @Didichan,

Thank you for your reply and for the troubleshooting you've done so far.

Can you check if Spotify has all the correct permissions to access the phone's storage?

Also, does other playlists download normally?

Keep us posted 🙂

Cheers!

[Didichan]

Hello,
Spotify has access to storage, I rechecked it now.
If I try to download spotify playlists (I tried now with one of my daily mixes) it works. Only the playlists that I created with my local files do not download.

[CarlosE]

Hi again @Didichan,

Thanks for bearing with us.

Can you check the if the Local files have any non-unicode characters in their names or in their Metadata, which should be visible in the details when opening the files' properties? Those can cause trouble with some networking protocols, so make sure to remove any of them.

Also, a good way to check if everything is good on the network end is to play something on the laptop and then pause the playback, then open the app on the your phone, go to Settings > Devices and enable Show local devices only. Then, try from the phone to start the playback in your laptop. If the laptop doesn't show up, then there's something wrong with the network setup. Check the permissions and ensure network discoverability is enabled and overall try and enable all sharing options available.

Keep us in the loop.

[Didichan]

Hello,
The playlists and the songs inside have been downloaded multiple times on the spotify app. There is no problem with them.
I can control the local files on my laptop from my phone. I can play them, and change the songs from my phone and listen on my laptop.

[Alex]

Hi @Didichan,

Thanks for the reply.

As the local files used to download without issue on your previous phone, there must be a difference in the phone settings.

If your phone has an SD card, could you try removing it. After that change the download location from the Spotify app and then try downloading the local files playlist again.

Let us know if that makes a difference.

[Didichan]

Hello,
I do not have an SD card.

[Alex]

Hey there @Didichan,

Thanks for the reply.

Could you try deleting the playlist with local files from your PC, after that change the location of the local files to another folder. Next, reupload them and add them to a new playlist. Check if they become downloadable on your phone then.

You can try this by creating a folder with 1-2 song in it, so it will be quicker. 

Make sure both apps are open at the same time.

It's also worth checking if your router supports the Bonjour protocol. There’s no good way to check this, but 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.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[Didichan]

Hello,
I created a new folder in another part of my laptop with 1 local file. I also deleted the playlist it was in and disabled all the other local files except the newly created folder. It still did not work.
I am not sure about the Bonjour protocol, but I can say that I did use this wifi with this router before to download my local files and it worked.

Tried now to create a new premium account and download a file. Still did not work.

[Alex]

Hey @Didichan,

Thanks for the reply.

In order to check whether this issue is isolated to your phone in particular, could you try logging in with your account on another mobile device, like the phone/tablet of a family member or friend.

Also, could you try to download local file playlists, which are not located in a folder, as there are some technical issues going on with these currently.

Keep us posted 🙂