Select Local Files Aren't Registered On a Different Device

[Wolfilly]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

PC/iPhone 12

Operating System

Windows 11/iOS 18

Hello Community!

I've recently been working a lot with local files, but 3 of the almost 300 local files that I've imported from my PC and added to a playlist, have been greyed out on my phone. I sent the exact audio files from my PC to my phone via USB, and have still had the same issue.

I've tried all these things on both devices:

• Re-enabling local files
• Redownloading Spotify
• Restarting the device

But so far, nothing has worked.

Is there possibly any way I could fix this issue? Thanks in advance!

[Yordan]

Hi @Wolfilly,

Welcome to the Spotify Community!

You're using iTunes to upload the files, right? If not, I'd recommend doing so by following the steps in this article. Another method with iTunes is syncing your Music Library instead of manually uploading the files. Check out Apple's guide on how to do that.

Also, make sure that the greyed out files are in the supported format. In my personal experience the app works best with .mp3s, so try converting them, if necessary.

Let us know how it goes. Cheers 🤘

[Wolfilly]

Hey Yordan. Thanks for the reply back!

I sent the files to my phone via the “Apple Devices for Windows” app, which also allows syncing between both devices. From what I’ve seen, iTunes has the same syncing process. I've had trouble with iTunes in the past, which is why I used a different syncing program. Though, if the syncing processes are different, I'll get iTunes working. 

As for what format the files are in, they're all in the .mp3 format. I've double checked each file to make sure none were out of place.

I'll try troubleshooting iTunes, and wait for a response back. Thanks!

[AlejaR]

Hey there @Wolfilly,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

We understand you've already tried reinstalling the app on both your devices, but we'd like you to try a clean (more thorough) reinstall of the Spotify app. If you haven't yet, you can find out the steps to do it here.

If this behavior persists after that, then it'd be awesome if you could double-check the following:

• Does this happen if you log in to another account on your iPhone? You can create a free test account and sync the files there to check if the inconvenience persists there. 
• Does this happen on a different mobile device? If possible, you can ask for the device of a relative or a friend to open your account, transfer the files and check.

Keep us in the loop!

[Wolfilly]

Hey AlejaR, sorry for the wait, but thanks for replying back!

I've redownloaded Spotify on both devices using the steps in the article provided above, and I've still been experiencing the same issue on my phone. I've also re-added the files to my phone, but still had no luck.

After that, I sent the files to someone else, and when they downloaded it, the exact same songs were not working for them.

I'll make sure to keep an eye out for a response. Thanks!

[Joan]

Hi @Wolfilly,

Thanks for the reply. 

Since the same files are having issues on all your devices and on the other person's devices too, the only logical conclusion is that the issue is with the files themselves. While they may be in a supported format, there are many other factors as to why they might not work, ranging from the source of the file to a technical issue or possible corruption of the file. 

You can try obtaining an alternate version of these files if possible or using conversion software to re-convert it back into MP3. 

Hope this clears things up.