local files no longer downloading?

[Faatima601]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Windows 10 PC

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I've never had this issue before, so I'm assuming it has to do with some new update or something. Basically, I can't download local files to my playlists anymore, before I used to just have all of my local files in my playlist and then I would switch to offline mode and be able to play my music fine, but now I'm not able to because going to offline mode just disables all of the local files that I PREVIOUSLY had downloaded, and worked fine when offline. Thoughts? Is this intended? It's just even more strange because SOME of my local files remain downloaded and playable when offline, but most of them just aren't? And there isn't any way to manually select something to download. Undownloading and redownloading my playlist doesn't work either

[Alex]

Hey @Faatima601,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

We'd recommend you try running a clean reinstall of the app on both your phone and PC. Please follow the exact instructions here.

This should assure that there is no old/corrupted cache that could be causing this issue.

Let us know how you get on.

[cfsayreville]

this doesnt work for Mac. i still cant get local files to reappear

[cfsayreville]

I am having the same issue. I will let you know when/If i get more info about it. 

[Alex]

Hey @cfsayreville,

Thanks for the post.

Could you give us more info about your exact issue, like what devices you're trying to load local files on and what troubleshooting you've done so far.

Cheers.

[cfsayreville]

I used to be able to upload local files to my playlists before the update a
week or so ago. Now the Local FIles option is gone. I uninstalled the old
files and redownloaded spotify and it still doesn't work. I am using a Mac
Computer.

[cfsayreville]

I used to be able to upload local files to my playlists before the update a week or so ago. Now the Local FIles option is gone. I uninstalled the old files and redownloaded spotify and it still doesn't work. I am using a Mac Computer. 

[cfsayreville]

Go to preferences and make sure local files is checked on. 

Then go to your library and you can see the local files album. 

I add new songs to these via adding the songs to my iTunes library and then it pops up here. 

[cfsayreville]

see comment above

[Alex]

Hi @cfsayreville,

Thanks for the info and the screenshots.

What happens with the local songs you add to playlists now? If they're grayed out and unplayable - try downloading the playlist and check if that makes a difference.

In case that doesn't help, try changing the location of your local files on the hard drive.

Keep us posted.

[brettsporify]

So my playlists have been D-loaded over wifi as (usual) on my phone (android) multiple times a day but if I close the app & go to my playlists the app displays message "you're offline download music and podcasts to listen offline" Premium is active the app was logged out of & uninstalled & re-installed. Also they keep messing around with library. ...leave it be....was better b4.

[Ivan]

Hey @brettsporify,

Thanks for posting on the Community about this. 

If you still experience the issue after logging out everywhere and a clean reinstall it's also a good idea to make sure that no battery optimization settings or data cleaning apps run active on your mobile device. Such features can often prevent the app from operating at full capacity. We also suggest accessing the app settings and making sure all Permissions are enabled for Spotify. 

We also recommend restarting the network device (router or modem) and trying again. You can also check if you observe this after downloading the files once you've switched to a different network. 

Keep us in the loop here. 

[Faatima601]

Still seem to be having the same issue. Some local files are for some downloading and some are not? I can play these local files normally from the local files folder that exists on Spotify even when in offlline mode, but when I try to play them when they already exist in my playlists, Spotify needs to be in online mode? This makes no sense. They're all coming from the same place (my downloads folder) so why would only some of them download and most of them not?

[Faatima601]

Also FYI, there was something that happened after I made my initial post where I went back to an older version of spotify from the windows store and didn't have this issue at all, then after updating my nvidia drivers, it forced the new version of spotify on me where this issue exists.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @Faatima601,

Thank you for your reply.

Another useful step in is to change the source folder of the local files on the pc. The steps are: Uninstall Spotify on both devices > create a new folder somewhere else on the pc and move the local files there > install Spotify again > remove any potential source folders and add the new one > download the playlist again.

Note: the files need to be on stored on the computer for this to work.

Keep us posted 🙂

Take care! 

[Faatima601]

this isn't an issue on mobile btw, its exclusive to the PC app, and it only happens on this new version of spotify that I'm forced to use. 

[CarlosE]

Hey @Faatima601,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

We'd like to confirm if you followed the instructions that @Jeremy shared above. Did that make any difference?

Keep us posted.

[Faatima601]

I'm yet to do this because it requires a lot of work that I really don't intend on doing, sorry. I can't imagine it would work though, because I know there isn't an issue with spotify finding my local files because I can play them all fine through the local files folder that spotify has made. 

[guilleblando]

I have the exact same issue ! And I have tried everything it has been suggested here: clean installation, creation of new folders, etc. Nothing works. I'm able to see my local files when I'm online, but then as soon as I go offline, they grey out and Spotify can't find them anymore.
I had no problems before the last update of the Spotify app. They have really **bleep** up this one.

[Ivan]

Hey @guilleblando, 

Thanks for posting - we’re here to help!        
 

First thing worth checking here is whether this is happening only when connected to a certain Internet connection. If possible, we'd suggest connecting to a different network or trying out a mobile device as a hotspot. If it works with another connection, it’d be a good idea troubleshooting further the original one (for example, by restarting your router or modem). 

Could you also confirm if you've downloaded the Microsoft version of the Spotify app? We recommend it for being the most suitable for PC and you can find it here. 

Also, let us know if this happens only on your PC or you observe it on a mobile device as well. This will help us have a closer look at what's going on. 

Hope this helps. Keep us in the loop here.