Local Files are getting skipped

[OfficialDia]

Plan

Premium

Country

 Germany

Device

Google Pixel 2 XL

Operating System

Android 9

My Question or Issue

 I selected a Folder on my PC for local files. On the PC I sorted out songs into two playlists. Then I went to the Phone App and downloaded the songs. And theres the Problem: like 40% of the songs are getting skipped = cant be played. On the PC every song works. I already reinstalled the app but it didnt seemed to work

[Jemi]

Hey @OfficialDia, help's here.

We first suggest that you do a quick reinstall on both devices for a fresh start and to ensure that you have the latest Spotify version. This means that you'll have to re-download any music you've saved for offline use.

After that, check out this help article to check out the most common criteria for using local files on Spotify.

If that doesn't work, try putting the files in another folder and use that folder as a source for local files from your app's settings. Rename the files if necessary to something that only contains letters and spacing, without any special characters.

Let us know if that works better!

[jr1d3tz7zkayytwehur]

After reinstalling both mobile and desktop, the problem remains, if the problem was solved by the original poster back in 2018, how so?

[CarlosE]

Hey @jr1d3tz7zkayytwehur,

Thanks for your reply in this thread  and welcome to community 🙂

Some other users found a solution in this thread. You can give it a try and tell us how it goes. 

On another tune, can you share with us the exact OS and Spotify version on your computer and on your phone?

Keep in mind to sync local files from one device to another, the user must be actively logged in to both devices with Spotify open and on the same network. Also, Local files can be turned on/off in the Settings menu. That being said, please make sure to turn on local files on settings and to be logged on the same network. 

Note: Take into account files or downloads from illegal sources are not permitted. If your files are from an illegal source, this may be why it isn’t working. Ensure the files aren’t DRM-protected. We’d recommend reading this interesting article to find out how.

Keep us in the loop and don't hesitate to get back to us if you have any other questions.

[nikolaschock]

Hello! Promblem is still present on Android: in playlists local files are being skipped. Although, local files can be played in the app (both desktop and android versions), but only if you open them specifically.

So, I can open local file, I can open this file from the playlist by directly tapping on it, but I cannot play it as next song in playlist (android app skips it, going to the next song instead).

I already tried updating the app.

[OscarDC]

Hey @nikolaschock,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for joining the conversation.

Since the option to add local files has changed in the latest updates, some of the options that you used to have with the previous "syncing" may not work as expected. Previously, local files were synced between devices, making any track available on any device. But now, the local files are discovered within the device storage, this means that a local file added to a playlist from device 1 might not work properly on the device 2 as the audio file is not stored on it.

Just to be on the same page, are you adding the song to the play queue on the same device that has the audio file? If so, is the playback coming from the same device, or are you using an external device? 

Lastly, include in your next response the make, model, and OS version of your device, along with the Spotify version you're currently running to continue investigating the case.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Ptah2016]

Also experiencing same issue as nikolas. 

I can tap on certain files to have them played, and they are on my phone in the same folder as other songs, but they will be skipped over. Said songs also cannot be added to a playlist or added to the queue. 

I am using Android S10+.

Spotify version is 8.8.36.522.

[AlejaR]

Hey @Ptah2016,

Thanks for your reply and for all the info shared.

In this case, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app on your mobile device. By doing that, the app can be up-to-date, and you can make sure the cache is not leading to this inconvenience. You can see the steps for a clean reinstall here.

If the above doesn't do the trick, we'd suggest disabling and enabling local files in the app's settings to force a resync of the files in general terms. No worries; neither the reinstallation of the app nor disabling the local files would remove them from the playlist to which you may have previously added them.

Lastly, if this behavior persists, you can also send us a video recording of what's happening on your side. You can attach the video in your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public so we can visualize it.

Keep us in the loop!

[Landon21m]

Seems me and the OG reply are on the same page. We aren't complaining about local files transferring between devices (how tf would that even work) we are complaining about the fact the app refuses to play local files songs IN ORDER WITH OTHER SONGS. I can listen to a local file song about 10 times then I can't add it to queue or just have it autoplay when it's next. It almost appears the app specifically skips songs I listen to that aren't being tracked plays wise. I've deleted and redownloaded the songs multiple times and it's only a temporary fix.

[Eni]

Hey there @Landon21m, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community. 

First up, we suggest that you try logging out and then logging back in twice in a row. This will trigger a sync between your account and device. 

If this doesn't do the trick, it's well worth running a clean reinstall of the app to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. 

If the issue persists, could you check if the OS of your phone has any pending updates? 

Let us know how it goes. 

[Landon21m]

Clean reinstall worked, though I had to also uninstall my local songs and redownload. Works now though! Will update this if the same issue repeats, though I'll just do this to fix it anyway.