Local files no longer working

mr_snappy_teeth — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:42:19 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

Australia

Device

iphone 13, macbook m1 2020

Operating System

ios 26.3.1, tahoe 26.3.1

My Question or Issue

I'm using premium spotify on a macbook laptop and iphone. More than a year ago I downloaded a handful of indie songs, put them on local files and was able to play them on mac and iphone spotify. I tried to add another song today and realised that the local files functionality had gone. All files are .mp3 or .mp4.

Mac: I have one mp3 and six mp4 files in the correct spotify folder on my mac.
- Mac browser:
  - The songs are listed in the local files playlist on Spotify. All the songs are greyed out and unable to be played.
- Mac app:
  - The songs appear in the local files playlist. Somehow a bunch of other audio files which are not in the spotify folder are also in this playlist, eg lecture recordings. Most of the songs are not greyed out. None of the songs can be played, it states "Spotify can't play this song right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it."
Iphone app: I have all the songs in the correct "On my iPhone" folder. Only the mp3 is showing on spotify local files playlist. I am unable to play it.

Has spotify effectively removed the ability to add and play local files?

Re: Local files no longer working

Amay — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:53:48 GMT

Hey @mr_snappy_teeth, welcome to the Spotify Community! 🎵

There are a few things I'd suggest checking out:

The web player doesn't support local files.
If the folder selected for local files has sub-folders with more files it could scan them and they will show up in your local files playlist as well.
Local files only work with audio at the moment. This means MP4 files most likely won't work and you will need audio formats like MP3 or M4A.
Check out this troubleshooting guide with more steps.

I'd also recommend two basic local files FAQ for iPhones so you can set them up from scratch. Check out:

Local Files | Local Files on iOS

I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. 🙂

topic Local files no longer working in Your Library

Local files no longer working

Re: Local files no longer working