Can't play folders using the desktop app

[jw231]

It looks like they finally removed the ability to play a folder of playlists from the desktop version. They removed the ability from mobile back in 2017. I think I'm going to revert my current version to the previous one and stop updating. I'd love to understand why it was removed, but have never gotten a great explanation.

Spotify for Windows (64 bit)
1.2.40.599.g606b7f29

[Vasil]

Hey @jw231,

Thanks for reaching out about this! 

We'll take a look at what's going on and let you know if this is expected behaviour. In the meantime though, the 'Play' command is still visible if you open the folder and select the three dots/ if you right-click the folder name:

Hope this helps! We'll keep you posted 🙂

[beatrizmeps]

i found that only works if you don't have sub-folders in that main folder, if you do you can only play from the sub-folder, not the main. so you can't play a "folder of folders" lol ;(

[Vasil]

Hey @beatrizmeps,

I tried it with playlists within a folder within a master folder and it did work for me:

Just click on the three dots of the master folder and select 'Play'. My second playlist started after the first one finished even though they're in different sub-folders 🙂

[fnafcore]

this doesnt work anymore. i have literally no option to play it whatsoever

[iutonin]

Plan

Premium

Country

France

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 11

My Question or Issue

I know we can't play folders on phones anymore, but until now I could still do it on my computer. Was the option removed or can't I just find it ? 

[Deejay_Hazy]

Plan

Premium

Country

Australia

Device

iMac

Operating System

Mac OS Monterey

My Question or Issue

So one of my most used features was right clicking on one of my playlist folders and then playing every song within that folder on a shuffle. I have a LOT of playlists, and a LOT of folders and this was great for getting a reasonably random (as we all know how bad Spotify's shuffle algorithm is) tune selection to work to.

However today that option has gone:

 

Is this just a glitch or has this option gone for good? I can live with Spotify upping its prices, I can even live with the annoying tweaks you keep doing to the UI, but actually REMOVING useful features for no apparent reason whilst upping prices is a little much....

[Joan]

Hi @iutonin,

Thanks for reaching out. Usually, if you right click a folder on the library sidebar, you should have the option to play the whole thing. Do you see this on your end? Alternatively, you can also click a folder to open it in the sidebar and then up top next the title of the folder you should have a three dot menu. This should also give you the option to play the whole thing.

Hope this helps.

[MattSuda]

Hey @Deejay_Hazy

This issue will be fixed in an update soon.

This was not an intentional change.

[sobekmusic]

Since the last update (June 23, 2024), the play option in folders is gone.. I can only play playlists that are inside the folder, but not the entire folder anymore. I reinstalled the app and the issue is still there.

Please fix this, thank you.

[slendermanxxsd]

you had the feature by adding the playlists to folders now its gone... how do you make it worse?

[artakha]

Plan

Premium

Country

Slovakia

Device

Lenovo Legion S7

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I have recently reinstalled the app since it was running real slow for some reason. Since then, the play button has been missing in the drop-down menu for folders. It is still present if I go into the folder and then access the menu through the three dots.

[Joan]

Hi folks,

We've done some work on our end and this should be resolved in the next update. Please make sure your apps are up to date and if necessary, perform a clean reinstall to clear any damaged cache or data. If you face any similar issues, let us know so we can help you further.

Cheers!

[jw231]

Thank you very much Joan. I'm glad to see this was not intentional! I downloaded the latest version and it is definitely back again.

[mgbnet]

Plan

Premium Family

Country

United States

Device

Windows 11 laptop

Operating System

Windows 11 23H2

My Question or Issue

I used to use the feature to play the contents of a Playlist Folder all the time (https://community.spotify.com/t5/Your-Library/Can-I-play-a-Playlist-Folder/td-p/5159689). The app updated this morning, and that feature seems to have disappeared.

Please tell me it has not been removed. It is such a useful feature for shuffling a variety of music from various playlists.

There are numerous threads in the Ideas section where people complained about this feature being removed from the mobile clients. I was disappointed that mobile clients lost the ability, so have up voted them in the past.

Really not happy that the desktop and web apps have lost it now too!!

[mgbnet]

Hmm, this a little weirder. Just discovered that one folder in my library has the play option. My other five folders do not... Maybe it's a bug, not a deliberate choice... Here's hoping!

[mgbnet]

Okay... have kind of solved it myself...

If you have the list on the left of the screen in "Compact" view, you used to be able to right click a folder and select play. That seems unreliable now. After closing an reopening Spotify, it seems random as to whether a playlist folder shows the Play option in the context menu.

However, if you change the view to "List", you can still click on the folder icon and play the folder. I guess that sort of solves my use case.

[fnafcore]

this issue is back

[Irithyl]

I have the same issue, but unfortunatly your solution doesn't seem to work so I am guessing this is a weird bug, but I really hope they sort it out. The play folder option is the one reason I am on a premium plan.

[sobekmusic]

i can confirm that the issue is back. no play button on folders. please solve this as soon as possible as many of us listen to music exclusively this way. thank you.