Local Files don't stay downloaded

[HarryMate]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Windows PC/Samsung S7

Operating System

Windows 10/Android 8.0.0

My Question or Issue

When I add local files to my playlist on my PC and then download them on my phone, (I'm on the same Wi-Fi and the green arrow is next to the song) when I go onto spotify next without an internet connection, or in offline mode, the song is no longer downloaded.

Is there a way to permanently download the songs to my phone, or add the songs from my phone to my playlist as well so they play locally.

[Peter]

Hey @HarryMate - help's here!

First off, do you mind going here and clicking on Remove All Devices? This will remove all devices which have offline listening enabled on them. After that, try re-downloading your local files and see if that works.

If not, could you let us know where your offline files are being stored on your mobile device? You can check this in the settings within the app itself.

Once we have that info, we'll know what to suggest next.

Thanks! Keep us posted 🙂

[Stacey42]

I began having this problem a month ago.  Up until then my downloaded local files stayed downloaded.  Now they don't.  Nothing has changed on my phone or my computer.  Music is stored on internal storage. I have an  LG V60, android version 10, desktop & phone app are both current versions.

I have done a clean reinstall of the app. My music downloads.  It's good for a day, maybe 2 and then all the music greys out while I am away from the house.

I followed that link & logged out of everything, even though I knew I had nothing set to offline listening.  That made things worse & my library won't even load to show me playlists, the circle thing just spins and spins.... so I uninstalled the app & reinstalled it again, downloaded again and...... nothing changed.  Songs download, I can play them away from home for a day or two and then they all grey out again.

This has been going on since shortly after Xmas.  Before that it all worked fine

[CarlosE]

Hi there @Stacey42,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community and welcome!

We know you've already tried reinstalling the app, but just to be on the same page, did you make sure to follow these specific steps? This can be helpful to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. Make sure to do so on both devices.

After that, try importing your Local Files again by following the steps in this article.

If the issue persists, make sure that there aren't any cache-clearing apps or battery optimization settings enabled on your phone as they can interfere with the app's performance.

Keep us posted. We'll be looking out for your reply.

[Stacey42]

I have followed the steps in both those links.  Believe me, I have spent the past 3 weeks trying everything everyone in the community has suggested.  🙂 I have no battery optimization in place and I had no idea there were such things as cache clearing apps (I'm old) but I checked to make sure & no, I don't have any on my phone.

My first thought when this happened was I accidentally changed something in my phone app settings that caused it, but I'm not seeing anything in there that might suggest "Delete local music files occasionally when not connected to home wifi.".  Is there something?

It's been less than 24 hours since the last time I reinstalled the app & redownloaded the music.  I've turned the wifi off on my phone to simulate not being home so I am now waiting to see what happens because it usually is fine for a day or two, then suddenly BOOM, no music in the middle of my commute to work.  I'll be back in a day or so with an update.

[Ver]

Hey @Stacey42,

Thanks for getting back to us 🙂

In case the issue persists and you're using an SD card, it's also a good idea to remove the SD card, reinstall Spotify and then try running the app without the SD. Sometimes SD card errors can cause issues with the cache.

Keep us posted! We'll be right here if you have any further questions. 

[Stacey42]

The downloads are gone again. On the 21st I downloaded the music on my phone. On the 22nd I never left the house but turned the wifi off on my phone & checked the app several times & the music was still there. (no cell signal where I live). The 23rd I left the house & with no internet or cell signal in the driveway the music was still there. All over town and connected to other people's wifi internet the music was still there. The 24th I never left the house or checked the app at all, though it was connected to our wifi & I had the player open on my laptop for several hours. Today (the 25th) I go get in my car (where there is neither wifi nor cell) and all the music was greyed out & remained greyed out until I got back home & reconnected to my wifi.

I installed spotify to the internal memory & have the music installed there as well. I will take the SD card out and reinstall Spotify & the music, but that is as far as I am willing to go down that path. If you are suggesting that I just go without my SD card, which contains date for nearly every other app I have, just so I can use Spotify's app, that is unsustainable in the long term.

This app was working just fine for months until around the beginning of the year. Never had a single download issue with it. I downloaded the music & it stayed downloaded. Suddenly around the beginning of the year it started having issues.

[Ver]

Hey @Stacey42,

Thanks for keeping us posted 🙂

Could you give these steps a go and delete the locale files cache? Sometimes the cache can lead to different issues. Are there any changes?

Keep us in the loop. We'll be right here if you have any questions.

[Stacey42]

I followed the link, found the folder in question but there was no local-files.bnk file for me to delete.

My personal user file was under com.spotify.music\files\spotifycache\users. Not %appdata%\Spotify\Users\. Not sure if that matters but that was the only stacey42-user folder on the phone

[CarlosE]

Hey there @Stacey42,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

We recommend reaching out to our Support team through any of these channels to check if there's corrupted cache on your account that might be causing this.

We hope it gets sorted out soon. If you have any questions, give us a shout.

Take care.