topic Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W in Desktop (Mac)

[macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

alfokenny — Fri, 02 May 2025 07:44:21 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

MacBook Air M1, 2020

Operating System

macOS Sonoma 14.6.1

My Question or Issue

After hiding / minimizing Spotify using Command+W (on macOS), play/pause functionality with the space bar does not work until clicking on the Spotify UI to fully focus the application. Other Spotify hotkeys such as Command+Left Arrow and Command+Right Arrow still function in this state, but not the space bar for play/pause. A demonstration of the issue can be found below.

Video of the Issue (w/ Audio)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLHL7jwh_7g&ab_channel=AlfoKenny

(This is a bug that I actually reported 3 years ago (here), that has somehow magically returned. I have updated my computer's specifications above to what is current, but everything about the bug is exactly the same. I have included the original video from the first bug report, as it is still accurate in describing the bug's behavior. Please note I have not downgraded anything. I actually just installed the latest Spotify update recently and noticed this bug, since I frequently use the Command+W hotkey to hide Spotify.)

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

Yordan — Sun, 04 May 2025 06:55:41 GMT

Hi, @alfokenny,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

Let's try some troubleshooting to see if that does the trick: I'd recommend kicking things off by disabling/enabling Hardware acceleration from the three dots menu at the top left > Help > Troubleshooting, as well as performing a clean reinstall of the app. It's worth testing on the Web Player to see if the same behavior occurs there as well.

In case the above does not help and the issue persists, feel free to share the exact version of Spotify you're running so we can look further into this.

Let us know how it goes 👍

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

alfokenny — Sun, 04 May 2025 09:37:18 GMT

Sure. I tried:

Disabling/enabling Hardware acceleration - bug persists

Clean reinstall - bug persists

Web Player - bug didn't happen

Spotify app version (it's the latest):

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.62.580.gb27ad23e

Would be great if you guys could look into this! Thank you.

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

Yordan — Sun, 04 May 2025 10:13:54 GMT

Thanks for the quick reply, @alfokenny!

I've forwarded this to the attention of our tech folks who'll investigate further. In the meantime, make sure you're always running the latest version of Spotify so you don't miss out on any updates.

Cheers 🤘

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

ssggg — Fri, 09 May 2025 08:04:38 GMT

I have the same issue.

However, I use the latest version of MacOS: 15.4.1 (24E263)

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

olaalsaker — Tue, 13 May 2025 14:28:54 GMT

This happens to me as well.

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.63.394.g126b0d89

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

nick318 — Wed, 14 May 2025 16:23:13 GMT

I have the same issue

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

MihailY — Thu, 15 May 2025 13:39:21 GMT

Hey folks,

Thanks for joining the thread.

While this is being worked on, we'd suggest using Tab + Space as a workaround to play/pause the music.

Cheers,

Re: SOLVED [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

emsixteen — Wed, 28 May 2025 07:33:38 GMT

Still happens. Cmd+Tab away from the app, then back, and space no longer controls playback.

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

djpowers — Thu, 29 May 2025 21:38:39 GMT

Is there an estimated release date for the fix? I would hope such a bug would be prioritized, especially given this issue has occurred before. Thanks.

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

luddeghost — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 09:42:09 GMT

Happens to me too

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

arvinmi — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 02:18:35 GMT

This is an issue for me as well. I initially thought this had to do something with my mac settings, but it looks to be a bug on Spotify's end. It has been like this for over 2 months on my end and is incredibly frustrating Spotify hasn't done anything to fix it. When will there be a fix for this bug?

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

geekus — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 06:30:56 GMT

Happens to me as well. 😞

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

ninjapenguin1 — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:46:17 GMT

I can also confirm this is a frustrating bug

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

mrdegs — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 02:56:56 GMT

Confirming this is STILL an issue. have tried all troubleshooting.

MAC OS 14.5

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.68.528.g50f97d42

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

VilleG — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 07:05:13 GMT

Hi!

Ended up to this thread for the same issue. I've encountered something similar with overlapping MacOS and shortcuts for Adobe applications. I managed to solve this problem by going to Settings/Keyboard/Keyboard shortcuts and click "Restore defaults". After this I managed to toggle play on and off with spacebar in Spotify and it worked after restarting the program. Give it a try, I hope it works for you as well:)

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

niklaz — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 05:52:54 GMT

So annoying. Little things like this make me wanna switch, so please fix this.

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

DaveJacobson — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:44:53 GMT

I've been having this issue for months on my work and home Macs (M3/M4). Hitting the tab key after un-hiding Spotify works fine as a temporary solution but I hope this gets addressed soon. Thank you.

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

mattaveryca — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:11:16 GMT

Same issue here.

MacOS 26.0.1
Apple M1 Pro

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.73.474.g7b30bb2b

Re: [macOS] Cannot pause or play Spotify using space bar after minimizing using Command+W

alex13july — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 18:45:22 GMT

Same issue here

Mac OS 15.6 (24G84)

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon) 1.2.74.477.g3be53afe