Local Files Stored on Laptop not downloading to iPhone

[davdav16]

Plan: Family Premium 

Free/Premium: Premium

Country: USA

Device

iPhone X, Macbook Pro

Operating System

iOS 13.6, macOS Catalina 10.15.5

My Question or Issue

I have a playlist of local files on my Macbook, and the playlist exists on my iOS device, but it will not download the songs, and the songs do not even show up on the iOS device. There are no songs on the playlist on my iPhone, and when I click the download icon, it appears to have a loading circle that is infinitely going. 

I've tried all sorts of troubleshooting; the Enable Sync from Desktop switch is flipped, I have downloaded & reinstalled the app (which caused me to lose another playlist of local files that now will not redownload). I have tried moving the files to a new location on my desktop. Really not sure what else to do.

[davdav16 · Accepted solution]

Update: Not sure what changed because I didn't do anything different than closing and reopening the app on my phone, but the files have been downloaded

[MattSuda]

Glad to hear you got it to work.

For anyone else that comes across this thread,

The steps to sync local files from a computer to the iOS Spotify app have recently changed. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

You now need to go into the Spotify iOS app settings and turn on local file sync.

From the help article:

Note: Premium subscription is required

1. On desktop, import your local files (with the "Desktop" steps).
2. Add the files to a new playlist.
3. Log in on your mobile or tablet using the same WiFi as your desktop.
4. Go to Settings --> Local Files and switch on Enable sync from desktop.
   Note: You need to allow Spotify to find devices in the prompt that shows.
5. Download the playlist with your local files.

Didn’t work?

Make sure:

• You're logged in to the same account on both your desktop and mobile
• Your devices are connected to the same WiFi network
• The app is up-to-date on both devices
• Your device is up-to-date

Also, at first the Local Files playlist will show as empty in the iOS app. To be able to see the songs before they are synced over, go to Settings ---> Playback --> and make sure "hide unavailable songs" option is turned off. Now you can still see songs even if they are not available on Spotify or for local files -- not synced over yet.

Let me know how it goes.