Local files not syncing to iphone

[Commander1]

I'm a Spotify Premium user, and I have a playlist with a number of local files on it. These are on my computer, and then I synced them over to my iphone (SE). For months, this had been working fine, but all of a sudden, everything on my iphone undownloaded, just showing greyed out. I tried turning on and off wifi, deleting and reinstalling the app, restarting both my phone and my computer, but nothing worked. I also tried turning off and then back on the local files option on both my computer and phone, and undownloading and redownloading on the computer, but I'm still stumped.

[paofca1959]

Having the same issue and have done all the steps you mentioned - what's the deal, Spotify?

[ianorso1]

Same. I've tried many things to fix it, and all local file songs are still greyed out on my playlist. I'm used to things happening, but it normally redownloads. This has not happened in a while for me, but it worked a day ago. Spotify needs a to fix ts fast imma going to use files on my phone for it.

[sewershyne]

Same thing happening to me, normally is a super easy process but app is just not refusing to even attempt to download/sync, tried every single solution I could find yet nothing works, extremely annoying.

[hotmilk]

Same, I have troubleshooting everything like device/account/network/VPN etc.

Can confirm it was SPOTIFY side who causes this issue.

[hotmilk]

Also, this issue happened on both my iPhone & Android devices.

Was trying to sync local files from my PC to mobile devices.

[vhain]

Same, using Android. And I'm going insane with this issue. Tried legit everything to fix this issue, but it's definitely on Spotify's end.

My playlists are about 80% local files and this is absolutely ruining my music listening experience. Spotify can't be serious changing how local files work YET AGAIN. And not even telling ANYONE about it. Smh, Apple Music might be it after 7 years of Spotify. I'm so done.

[stevengud]

I've done all the searching around I could and even chatted with one of Spotify's chat help agents who was not very helpful. I'm getting the sneaking feeling that Spotify quietly removed this feature without acknowledging it and have no plans to fix it. It's insanely frustrating that they couldn't be more forthright to save all of us the agony of trying to solve the issue when no solution is available. 

[ianorso1]

same also contacted and was given pre-written steps by a human spotify is definitely avoiding it

[PacMusic]

Plan

Premium

Device

iPhone 8

My Issue

Hi, I have been a user of Spotify for a while, and I also have been using the Local Files feature on both my computer and Iphone for a long time without any issues. However just the other day, I noticed it wasn't downloading any of the new music I was adding to my Local Files playlists on my Iphone (it would show up on my computer but wouldn't sync to my phone). I have tried everything, even to the point where I have deleted and reinstalled my Spotify app on my Iphone. Now all of my local files on my Iphone won't redownload and the "Local Files" playlist doesn't even show up anymore. I have turned on the "Show audio files from this device" since reinstalling and now nothing downloads except the music that is actually on Spotify. 
(Keep in mind everything still runs perfectly on my computer)
This has been very annoying and I don't know if this is a bug or an issue on my end.

[vhain]

Known issue, Spotify doesn't give a care though.

They apparently change how local files work but don't care to tell us about it. Might have to cancel my subscription and move on from Spotify.

[Gee-Arr]

Glad to see it's not just me. At first some previously synced local files became grayed out. Now, ALL local files are grayed out including any new local files. Syncing local files have always had problems. But this time, it's worse. I've been a Premium subscriber for about a decade and otherwise love Spotify but I'm frustrated with spending hours of troubleshooting this. I think because it's a feature that most users don't use, Spotify doesn't want to spend any money on fixing it. Do any other music streaming services allow adding local files to playlist? I need to consider making a change.

[Gee-Arr]

Did they document this as known issue somewhere? I can't find that. I've been a premium subscriber for about 10 years now but local files are important to me.

[PacMusic]

I have no idea, this is my first time having or seeing this problem. I have had issues with local files stuff before but I didn't really care about it (small things like certain songs randomly un-downloading themselves). But this is completely ruined Spotify for me especially if it isn't resolved.

[Choekaas]

I'm in the same boat. I have a lot of music from the CD days as well as iTunes that got linked to my iPod. After the iPod broke down (and was no longer sold), I transferred everything to Spotify. Sometimes there were some hiccups, but now nothing works. Tried every trick in the book. Checking the network, turning off/on, uninstall, checking the settings, setting network to private or public. Nothing works anymore.

[AlejaR]

Hey folks,

Thanks for all your replies here and welcome to the Community.

We really appreciate the time you took to let us know about this. Keep in mind that the old Sync local file option is being gradually deprecated. You can try to use it by creating a playlist with files from your desktop app and then downloading it from a mobile using the same network and disabling the firewall while doing this. However, if this option doesn't work for you, then it might not be available for you anymore.

In that sense, and just to confirm, have you stored the files on the affected devices? If you haven't, we'd suggest following these steps to do so. Make sure to switch Show audio files from this device on under settings.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and will make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience.

If you stored the files on the affected device, and even so you encounter issues, please send the following:

• The make/model and OS of the affected device.
• The exact Spotify version you're running there.
• All the troubleshooting steps you've tried so far.

Hope this clears things up. If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you. 

[stevengud]

Unfortunately, for most of us in this thread we have more personal music than we have room for on our phones. On top of that, iPhones seem to make it difficult to easily transfer music from PCs to phones. 

Being able to transfer certain local files by downloading individual playlists was something that set Spotify apart from the other services for those of us who have collected music longer than we've had smartphones. This seems like a decision that above all discourages people from owning music and using Spotify.

[Gee-Arr]

Thanks Aleja. The new method does work. Possibly it will eliminate the issues I had with local files for many years. But it's very time consuming. Also I'm amazed that in the year 2024, I am putting music on my phone by connecting it to iTunes via a USB cable. That's something I haven't done in over 10 years. Feels primitive. That said, I suppose I can live with it. By the way, the support article on the new method isn't clearly written and excludes details. It took some guesswork for me to get it to work.

[Gee-Arr]

Yes, it's a waste of storage to put an entire library of local files on my phone, when I already have them on my PC. A workaround would be to transfer only the files needed for the playlists I'm currently listing to. But that means a lot of time fiddling around in iTunes to add remove files.

[hotmilk]

Still no fix? The method offered above isn't working at all..

If Spotify is permanently removing this function, please let your valuable users know... so they can stop wasting time waiting for the fix and moving to Apple Music...