Spotify Desktop (Windows) won't play any songs, but will play videos. Web player works fine.

[DeanKellham]

Plan

Premium

Country

United Kingdom

Device

Desktop PC

Operating System

Windows 11 22H2

My Question or Issue

Since yesterday my Spotify app will give me the error "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it." for any track I try to play. If I switch the song to a video (for supported songs) it plays fine.

It was working absolutely fine up until yesterday with no changes made.

The web client in a browser on the same PC works fine.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Dean

[DeanKellham]

Additional troubleshooting - I have tried playing using my mobile phone's hotspot instead of my home internet connection - same issue.

I have cleared the cache within the app. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app. I have restarted the PC.

[Yordan]

Hi there @DeanKellham,

Thanks for reaching out!

This error message is usually related to your audio device's settings. This article has some troubleshooting steps like changing the audio output device or updating the sample rate, which may help here, so feel free to check it out and give them a try.

Cheers 🤘

[lordofnoyze]

Hello,

Clean reinstall did not work for me, and I tried it twice. I also have had help to uninstall and reinstall sound drivers since that's what your team suggested on X, I also have tried with another Spotify test account you guys provided which would not play any tracks. The "something went wrong" message keeps displaying whenever I play any track, though Web player works and also syncs with desktop app when I am connected on both. Could you provide any solution or investigate? Thank you. 

[lordofnoyze]

Hello again,

Thanks for moving my thread. I tried all steps in this article ("playback fails to start on all tracks on desktop") and there is no host file relating to Spotify on my computer so I cannot execute third step. I also did a clean reinstall three times, the third time being yesterday. Spotify is set to the correct output device and the sample rate is also set correctly.

Could you assist me with further steps since it definitely seems related to my desktop app?

[Yordan]

Thanks for the reply, @lordofnoyze!

Could you check if Spotify is allowed through your antivirus or the Firewall? You can temporarily toggle off both to see if you'd be able to play tracks then.

Something else you can do is disable the communication settings, as well as Exclusive Mode and audio enhancements in Windows:

Spoiler

1. Go to Start > Settings > System > Sound > Sound Control Panel, switch to the Communications tab and set "When Windows detects communications activity" to Do nothing.
2. Head back to the Playback tab, then right-click your audio output device and select Properties. In the new window that pops up, switch to the Advanced tab and untick "Exclusive Mode" + "Enable audio enhancements".

Keep us posted on this 👍

[lordofnoyze]

Hello,

I deactivated "enable audio enhancements" in the  Windows sound properties and it worked again, thank you so much!

[Yordan]

Awesome! Glad everything looks good on your end now 🙂

The Community is always here if something else comes up.

Cheers 🤘