Removing offline music doesn't clear space

[yeaber]

I was running out of space due to downloaded/offline music, so I unchecked a bunch of albums/playlists so they would no longer be avaialable offline.  Although the music was no longer available to me offline, it didn't free up any space on my phone.  I had to completely clear out the cache through settings to clear up the space.  I then did it a number of times to test - downloaded one or more playlists, verified the size of the com.spotify.music folder, then deleted the playlist.  The com.spotify.music folder never changed size.  I even tried rebooting with no luck.

This is frustrating because I keep a few of the playlists I follow downloaded for offline use.  Spotify automatically downloads new songs when they get added to the playlist, but when songs get removed from the playlists, the data doesn't get removed from my phone so that floder size stays the same - it doesn't get any smaller when those songs are moved.  The only way to clear out the com.spotify.music folder and get it to resync correctly to only the songs I set it to download is to clear out the cache entirely, and re-download the playlist.

This is on an htc one m7, latest version of spotify.

[Taylor]

Hi,

Interesting!

I don't have an android device myself so I'll escalate it to see if anyone can confirm the issue.

Anthony 🙂

[Joe]

Is that causing you problems? As I recall, the cache doesn't reduce immediately so you you can change your mind without necessarily redownloading but the android OS will reclaim the space as soon as it is required

[yeaber]

I was under the impression that the cache that you're referring to (that gets cleared automatically as needed) is the streaming cache, not previously downloaded and offline music.  It is causing issues, because I was trying to copy other media to my phone, but since spotify wouldn't give up the space i had to remove all downloaded music through settings.   I was trying to copy a video to my phone (over 1.3gb) and didn't have room, so I un-downloaded a few playlists tha should have cleared up a ton of space and it didn't.  That's when I started testing and looking into the size of that folder.  Granted, I didn't give it hours to delete the files by itself, but I shouldn't have to - I needed the space asap, that was the reason I was un-downloading the playlists in the first place. I can't help thinking is is more of a bug - thanks though.

[Peter__]

The cache is maintained for a period after you undownload things in case you ever press the slider by accident (since it would be a huge waste of bandwidth to have to redownload).

[Joe]

Thanks for highlighting this. I'll keep an eye out for similar reports and escalate to staff if it looks like an issue with the new release (don't recall seeing this with previous releases).

You can also get in touch with support here to flag the issue you had. If you get an automated response directing you back to the community or to the help pages, please reply to it to speed things along.

[qwertz182]

I know this thread is a few month old, but I'm having the same issue on my phone.

In my case its getting worse because just a second ago I got a error telling me:

"Syncing Error

Offline syncing has stopped as there's no space left on this device"

Is there already a solution for this problem?

[Yaxierdebherga]

Has anybody tried to remove spiritual from their phone for a day?

I also have an HTC and am running out of space and processing capacity.
It effects my texting and the ability to use my phones keyboard all the time.
I'm thinking if wiping the whole thing...

[Yaxierdebherga]

Sorry that was supposed to say Spotify**

[qwertz182]

There's no need to remove the app. You can also delete everything via the spotify menu and then click on "settings - delete cache and saved data". Unfortunately, this - of course - removes not only your downloaded songs but also your login data. So you have to login again and download everything you want to use offline.

Although this is a workaround for the original problem, this can't be the solution, right?

[KrakEnki]

Hi all,

I have the very same problem, cache NEVER clears (it's not true that waiting for an extended amount of time clears space from the offline cache, the problem has been present for more than a month now and Spotify app reported size never went below its all-time maximum), so my phone nags me constantly about freeing up space, I cannot copy or install stuff on the phone since it believes itself - or is, as a matter of point of view - full. 

Looking for a solution on the web, I found out that there's NONE, and that this problem is even present on Iphones using Spotify - for YEARS.

The only workaround suggested is to clear all app data with the internal command, but that is ridiculous, since I have to reselect and redownload my actual favorites or offline selection over and over again. This is clearly a bug or an architectural-programming disfunction that has never been adressed by the company. It makes me unhappy, since otherwise this is a great service for a good price.

[JohnDoe7]

Posting a follow-up to say this is a real issue that needs to be addressed. Having to clear all the application cache to actually remove undownloaded files is tedious and defeats the point of being able to pick offline playlists.

[No_Queue_No_Way]

Ok has this been solved yet? Most of my use is offline? Having to clear the entire downloaded library because I want to make 1 song not available offline for space saving measures? Really? Is there any Spotify customer service? Or is this just a bling leading the blind thing here. Many answers say space us eventually recovered. THIS IS UNTRUE. Why are we (the community) saying this when its not even close to happening WHERE IS CYSTOMER SERVICE?

[Unclebastard]

I've also discovered this problem recently. I've got a Oneplus One with 64gb storage, and it's almost full because of Spotify doing this!

[Feahnor]

Same problem here. I unsynced a couple of playlists and the space wasn't freed up. I'm using a Moto X 2014 32 GB with Android 5.1.

[Aquasheep]

Same issue. Nexus 6, 5.1.1, latest version of Spotify. My trial is up soon and with the terrible Internet connection I have at my current location and my frequent shifts in musical mood, this could be a deal-breaker.

[realvalvola]

Same problem here

NOKIA Lumia 630 with Samsung EVO 64GB

Even after waiting for weeks, the used space doesn't drop when deleting offline content

[asdfasdfkl]

Same issue. Had to clear 20+ gigs of music to make room since undownloading playlists didn't clear up space.

As most of it had to be re-downloaded again, it would have been better for Spotify as they could save on the bandwidth costs.

[rodrig0lima]

Same problem here, since I've checked my 'discover weekly' to auto download so I can listen anywhere, it is consuming a lot of space in my device, because every week comes new songs, and the old playlist is not deleted. It is still in my device, eventhough it is not available anymore.

[Yaxierdebherga]

I've gone into the settings portion of my phone and cleared all of Spotify's data. That works.