topic Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc in Desktop (Windows)

Video podcasts don't work on pc

banetkaa — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 18:51:17 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

Poland

Device

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I'm trying to listen to the distractible podcast, but there's no sound or video at all. I was listening to it on my phone earlier today, and it worked as it should, but now I'm trying the desktop version and it just does not work.

I have noticed that the episodes that don't have video work as intended.

But episodes that do have video don't play.

When I try to play a video podcast, an error message that says this appears:

I have tried reinstalling, logging out, restarting my pc, cleaning cache, but nothing's worked.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Dian — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 07:05:12 GMT

Hey @banetkaa,

Thanks for posting in the Community and the troubleshooting tried so far.

Are you able to play the podcast with video using a different account on your PC?

Just in case, could you make sure you perform a clean reinstall of the desktop app as described here?

Let us know how that went.

Cheers!

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

banetkaa — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 14:02:13 GMT

Tried it with a new account, then reinstalled again following the recommended steps, and nothing's changed.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

MihailY — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:10:55 GMT

Hey @banetkaa,

Thanks for getting back to us.

As a next step, can you please check your hosts file using this guide? Also, if possible, check if the same happens when connected to your phone's hotspot.

Keep us posted.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

banetkaa — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:27:08 GMT

Checked hosts file, didn't find anything spotify related there, and nothing's changed when I'm connected to my phone's hotspot.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

banetkaa — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:37:22 GMT

I've been using the Microsoft Store version of the app when this issue happened, and thought that maybe installing the desktop version directly from the Spotify website might help, and it did! Now it's working exactly as it should.

If anyone comes across this issue, here are the steps to solving it:

Uninstall the app completely as mentioned in this guide
Download the desktop app from here
Restart your PC

Spotify Video doesn't work.

maro_bishr — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 16:13:09 GMT

hello,
I have Spotify premium and I can never watch a video of the Distractible podcast whether it's on the web app, windows client or on Android.
TIA.

Video Podcast in Desktop App not working

Slaxer — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:39:53 GMT

Plan

Premium

Device

(PC)

Operating System

(Windows 11)

My Question or Issue

My PC is not playing any Videopodcast. The Problem doesn't accure when I use the Webplayer. Did a reinstall and cleaned cache.PC is using Intel UHD Graphics.

Re: Video Podcast in Desktop App not working

Vasil — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 10:49:16 GMT

Hey @Slaxer,

Thanks for posting about your issue on the Community! We moved your post to this thread, hope you don't mind 🙂

What I'd suggest first here is to try the proposed solution from @banetkaa. If you're currently using the app version from our website, try the one from the Microsoft app store instead.

If the issue remains, let us know what happens when you attempt to start the playback of a video podcast - do you get any error messages or does the playback simply not start at all? In addition to that, we'd also like to know if the same error applies to music videos of songs.

Much appreciated! We'll be on the lookout for your response.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Slaxer — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 11:23:23 GMT

I tried both version, Microsoft Store and Spotify homepage download link.

this is what I see:

This content can't be played.

Same error with music videos.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Dessi — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 07:07:05 GMT

Hey @Slaxer,

Thanks for the reply and the screenshot!

Since you mentioned this only happens in the desktop app and not the web player, then we'd recommend following these steps to troubleshoot the app and to see if they make a difference:

Click on the three dots in the upper left corner -> Help -> Troubleshooting -> Disable Hardware Acceleration and Restart
Log out and back in a couple of times in a row to force a sync
Lower the streaming and download quality to low
Ensure Spotify isn't being blocked by your Firewall/antivirus settings
Check the sample rate and if the correct output device is set for Spotify by following the suggestions in this guide

Hope this helps, but let us know if you need any further assistance.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Alexs103 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:45:43 GMT

I have done all of the things above and the issue still remains. Along with cleared the cache, both in spotify and in cmd to clear dns. Reinstalled spotify, restarted computer. Tried to check sound issue, that didn't work either. I still get the same message; "Sorry, we're not able to play this content."

Sitting on windows 11. I do not use a vpn.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Maria — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 12:21:09 GMT

Hey @Alexs103,

Thanks for posting in this thread!

Just to confirm, are you experiencing this issue when using the Web Player? Or does this only happen with the desktop app?

Should this only occur when using the app, it's also worth checking if resetting the app data makes any difference. Just head over to the Troubleshooting menu (3 dots in the upper left corner > Help > Troubleshooting) and select Reset app data and restart.

If possible, we can also suggest trying with another internet connection. For example, if you're currently using WiFi, you can try connecting temporarily to a Hotspot on your phone.

Let us know how you get on!

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Alexs103 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:23:39 GMT

I'm using the desktop app, it's working fine on the browser, phone and all other devices. It's just the desktop app that's not working. I have tried using different types of connection, both wireless and wire. Tried to stream from the phone as well, which caused the same issue on both devices until I stopped trying play to the desktop app. My internet connection is very high so it shouldn't be an issue.

My location is Sweden.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Alexs103 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:27:46 GMT

I have tried resetting the app data and reinstalled the app 8 times yesterday and about 3 today. Also checked out the sound issue. All drivers are up to date too.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Vasil — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:34:04 GMT

Hey @Alexs103,

Thank you for letting us know these details. We did some digging for similar issues in the past and from what we found it's worth trying out the following extra steps:

Disable audio enhancements in the Windows Sound Settings → right-click output device → Properties → Advanced → uncheck "Enable audio enhancements"
Change audio sample rate – in the same Advanced tab, try switching from the default to 48000 Hz / 24-bit (or vice versa)
Set the Proxy to "No Proxy" in the Spotify Settings (instead of Auto-detect)
Try running Spotify in compatibility mode: right-click the Spotify .exe → Properties → Compatibility → try Windows 10 compatibility mode
Make sure to run Spotify as Administrator
See if using a different network would make a difference

Hope these help! Keep us posted on how things go 🙂

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Alexs103 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 15:51:12 GMT

I tried all of these on my computer, none of them worked. I tried to switch to my laptop, which was logged into a different account, which seemed to work fine. It have worked with my account as well on that laptop. But on my stationary computer this issue keeps occurring. I made sure to restart and clear cache on spotify with each new setting I tried as well.
I'm not able to Run compatibility mode since ever since i reinstalled it function it forced me to use it Microsoft store as an app.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Alexs103 — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:52:42 GMT

I don't have compatibility 10 to run, only windows 8 and below.

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Yordan — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 08:23:05 GMT

Hey, @Alexs103,

Could you head to the app's settings > Playback > Output and see if you have "Exclusive mode toggled" on? If you do, try disabling it to see if that helps. It's also worth switching the output device to "System default" & restarting the app.

Cheers 🤘

Re: Video podcasts don't work on pc

Alexs103 — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:55:08 GMT

Exclusive mode is turned off, and I've tried switching between different types of audio system both speakers headsets and default audio before. Didn't do anything, and did reset everything between every try.