topic Local/downloaded files grayed out in Your Library

Local/downloaded files grayed out

Dr-ver — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 06:28:40 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

United States of America

Device

Sony Xperia 1 III

Operating System

Android 13

My Question or Issue

Hi friends. I think a couple of us are experiencing this same issue, but I would also like to add my perspective on the issue as well. I have utilized Spotify's "Local files" feature and my home wi-fi to be able to store my local files on my portable 1TB SSD using my laptop and using Spotify's download feature to synchronize the files onto my phone, taking advantage of the SSD's safety and storage. The exact process on how I do this can be found in this guide I posted to Reddit here.

Although this method yields great success, there is an issue that has unfortunately been persistent. Sometimes, for reasons I cannot identify, when I try to listen to one of these songs, I will get an error message saying the song is unavailable. When this happens, the song will be grayed out and the download icon will be replaced with an exclamation point icon. The song will also be skipped if it is next in a playlist, and queuing options become unavailable. Oddly enough, the song can still be played if I tap on it directly.

The only fix I've relied on so far is having to redownload the song when my laptop and phone are connected to my wi-fi network, but I obviously can only do this while at home. All of my files are .mp3 files and have been recently purchased and downloaded from official sources, primarily Bandcamp, Beatport and Traxsource. I think this problem is very annoying, and I would greatly appreciate it if someone has a solution they'd be willing to share with me. Thank you for your time.

Re: Local/downloaded files grayed out

MihailY — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 08:38:03 GMT

Hey @Dr-ver,

Thanks for reaching out.

Please note that the feature allowing you to sync local files between devices is being deprecated and the only supported method of adding and playing them on multiple devices is the one outlined here.

In short, you'll need to copy the files to your phone and add them through the mobile app to your playlists.

We hope this helps.

Re: Local/downloaded files grayed out

Dr-ver — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 20:45:10 GMT

Although I am aware this method exists, the primary purpose of my method is being able to take redownloaded versions of the songs with me on the road while keeping the source files safe at home on my SSD. I'm paranoid of losing my phone and all the music I've downloaded over time with it. I suppose another solution would be to duplicate the files on both my SSD and phone, but I would prefer to keep storage usage to a minimum. Thank you.

Re: Local/downloaded files grayed out

Maria — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 10:41:17 GMT

Hey @Dr-ver,

Thanks for the reply and for sharing some more details with us!

Right now, the best way would be to have them stored on both devices, so you don't lose any of your tunes. However, we'll keep your feedback about Local Files in mind for the future.

Should anything else appear, we're just a post away.

Cheers!

Re: Local/downloaded files grayed out

Dr-ver — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 01:04:29 GMT

I just might have to give that a try. However, I've seen from other users that despite the local files being directly on their phone, the files still gray out sometimes as mentioned above. I will hope that Spotify quickly identifies and resolves this issue that has been plaguing us local file users for so long. Thank you.

Local files are synced, but won’t play.

JBmove — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 01:30:38 GMT

I followed all steps on other solutions, and I have some songs in the spotify folder of my phone’s files, but they wont play. There are some older local files that work, but the ones I just added all won’t play.

(iOS) Some Downloaded Local Files are unplayable outside of the Local Files Playlist.

Lance256 — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 04:58:00 GMT

Plan

Premium

Device

(iPhone 13)

My Question or Issue

Recently, I have been experiencing this issue regarding local files where some downloaded files from downloaded playlists are unplayable, as seen in the screenshot. However, they can still be played in the Local Files playlist. What is the issue here?

Unplayable Downloaded File on its Downloaded PlaylistDuplicate Downloaded Files in the Local Files playlist. The top Special Stage (JP) is unplayable, but the bottom one is perfectly playable.

local files not playing

noorsheikh — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 19:24:27 GMT

the tracks in my local files wont play. they're not greyed out, but when i click it, it says 'song not downloaded' even though it is. it does play on my mac just not on my iphone. I've done a clean reinstall of the app and im using the latest version of spotify.

Certain songs not staying downloaded

KamRundell — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 10:49:52 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

iPhone 12 Pro

Operating System

iOS 18

My Question or Issue

I have a lot of songs/playlists downloaded to listen to offline but there are certain songs that just don’t stay downloaded. I will download these songs and then when I got back onto Spotify after a couple of hours they are greyed out again. When I put Spotify back online they immediately come back again as if they were downloaded the whole time. I have enough storage space on my device so that’s not the problem.

Playlists not sharing all locally stored files across devices

Ghost1123 — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:48:18 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

(iPhone 13, PC)

Operating System

(iOS, Windows 10)

My Question or Issue

Hello!

I am currently experiencing an issue where I have a directory of local files that I added to both a PC and an iPhone, and made playlists on the PC since its easier to batch manage songs on desktop as opposed to mobile. However, when I go to that playlist on the iPhone, three or four songs per album are gray. I can go to the "Local Files" in-app on the iPhone and see the song and even add it to the same playlist where it will show as a new song. The new instance now will be gray on the PC, but the original one will be playable still. The issue is so intermittent I'm curious if anyone has any insight into what might cause this? Out of 2,000 files, this maybe happened to only 100 of them.

Thanks all!