topic Playing stops in Desktop (Mac)

Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

greecelander — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 02:21:25 GMT

I start Spotify and go to play any song but within a few seconds Spotify will glitch and stop playing. The song's progress bar will continue to move forward but no sound will come out of my computer.

My problem is on an M1 MacBook Pro hooked up to a Studio Display.

So far I have tried the following but _none_ resolved the issue:
>Restarted Spotify.
>Restarted Spotify and my MacBook Pro.
>Deleted and re-downloaded the Mac desktop app.
>Tried to play via the Spotify WebApp on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.
>Toggled "Hardware Acceleration" Off and On and tried it on both "on" and "off" states.
>I closed ALL other apps and tried to play again.

iPhone Spotify App works fine. My issue is specifically with the Mac Desktop App.

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

Joan — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 08:46:47 GMT

Hi there @greecelander,

Thanks for reaching out. Try performing a clean reinstall of the app to clear all data and cache that might be causing an issue. Make sure to also double check your firewall and antivirus settings and see if Spotify has the right permissions. If you use a VPN, disable it and try again.

Hope this helps.

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

papkuss — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 17:04:20 GMT

Hi team, I’m facing the same issue again. I had it before, then it stopped, but now it’s back—Spotify keeps stopping music after a few seconds on my Mac. It’s really frustrating

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

Yordan — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 06:32:05 GMT

Welcome to the Spotify Community @papkuss!

Are you also using the same setup as OP? Have you checked if the issue occurs on the Web Player as well? If possible, try connecting another audio device to see if the issue would still occur. I'd also recommend updating your Mac's sound drivers.

There are some additional troubleshooting steps in this article, feel free to try them out as well.

Let us know how it goes. Cheers 🤘

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

papkuss — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:56:49 GMT

Actually connecting to another audio device helped. The easiest solution 😄 many thanks

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

whizzter — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 14:33:20 GMT

This just started happening on one of my Windows machines also, never had anything alike happen before.

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

whizzter — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 14:36:49 GMT

And then of course it fixed itself as soon as I've replied.. ugh

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

kellizer — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 08:45:53 GMT

Me as well - i think its to do when you are swapping devices and there is a bug in spotify that can't hand-off correctly.

Playback stops after 2 seconds

Demrayhalen — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 15:03:25 GMT

Songs stop after 2 seconds and I have to continually shut down & restart Spotify. It has actually gotten worse since I first reported it 2 weeks ago. Now when I play (for example) Release Radar, instead of songs stopping once or twice, now it's happening every 3 or 4 songs. Mac iOs Monterrey 12.7.6 / Spotify for macOS (Intel) 1.2.49.439.gfae492c7

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

SuperVitamine — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:30:41 GMT

Same for me with Macbook pro & Sonoma 14.4.1 (23E224)

Re: Spotify stops playing after a few seconds...

npc_2319 — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 18:52:31 GMT

Same issue, I've re-installed, cleared cache, selected diff devices, downloaded music - still every song only plays 3 seconds before pausing. Windows Application, Android app on phone works great.

Playing stops

CharPatton — Sat, 03 May 2025 14:31:44 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

MacBook Pro 14-Inch, 2021

Operating System

macOS Sequoia 15.3.2|

My Question or Issue

Hi:

For the last week or so, I cannot get Spotify to play continually like it used to (Hania Rani Radio). It starts, plays for about a minute or so, then the audio stops but the progress bar at the bottom of the screen keeps moving. This cycle repeats when I reload/restart my browser (Microsoft Edge Version 135.0.3179.85). I can't find a Spotify e-mail to reach out to, so before switching back to Pandora I figured I'd reach out here first.

Thanks!

Desktop Spotify not working

salangner — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:13:07 GMT

I listen to Spotify on my desktop. I'm logged into my account. It plays one song and then forces me to refresh. Ideas on how to troubleshoot this. Computer is updated just recently.