Play "local files" on my mobile device

[politzer]

What's the easiest way to be able to play "local files" that reside on my desktop device on my mobile? After bringing them in to the desktop Spotify client as a playlist I'm able to play them there, and the playlist appears on my mobile client, but the songs are grayed out and say "the track is unavailable".

Thanks

[Sunworshipper]

Hi!

I've recently added like 500 songs as local files. Out of these 500 songs there are like 20 songs, from different "records" that just won't sync from my desktop to my iphone. Even though they are clearly visable/playable on the desktop.

I've added three screenshots as examples. What's interesting is that all three songs that won't sync has previously been on spotify, and I've been listening to them, but is not available anymore. It is as if spotify have a cashe that needs to be emptied, because as you can see it remembers the name of the Candi Staton compilation. 

I've tried to reinstall, and empty the cashe on the mobile, nothing happens.

Any ideas?

Regards,

Emil

[smoran1195]

I have a windows computer and a samsung galaxy s7 and this is what worked for me. 

1. Open spotify on your phone and Laptop

2. Plug in phone to computer

3. Go to Settings: Connections: Mobile Hotspot and Tethering

4. Under Mobile Hotspot and Tethering there is a Mobile Hotspot and a USB Tethering option. For me they were both off. Turn on USB Tethering

5. Go to each playlist and turn on download, or if the download switch is already on, turn it off and then turn it on. 

IDK what to do if you have an IPhone but I'd assume if you find the mobile hotspot in your settings, it would have some sort of USB tethering there. I don't know that for sure though. 

When I did this to each playlist, any songs that were greyed out on my phone started downloading. Once all the songs are downloaded, turn off USB tethering because I think it turns off your WIFI.  

Hopefully that helps everyone as much as it helped me.

[Smarre]

This was the exaxt solution to the issue 😄

[Maefjus]

 Wow, I was looking for this for so long. Thank you, it helped and it's really easy. Spotify should have listed this solution in their Help long time ago, because the Wifi Sync just doesn't work and I wasted lot of time on it. 

[Aziznb]

I’m having exactly the same problem after the recent updates. My Local Files folder disappeared from my iPhone app. So I created a playlist and added the local files to the playlist from my laptop. It works fine when I’m near my laptop and connected to the same WiFi. However, the songs turns grey as soon as I disconnect my iPhone from my laptop or leave the WiFi network that my laptop is connected to.

Please fix this issue. I have so many songs that I’d like to have on my phone.

I’ve attached a screenshot of the playlist.

Note: I’m using Mac not a PC

[Aziznb]

It's working!!
So I did what some users here adviced. If you are a mac user, 

System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Firewall (turn it off)

Once you turn it off, create a playlist on Spotify, add the songs you'd like them to be synced and then on your iphone (make sure you are connected to the same network), go to the new playlist and click on download.

Credit goes to the users who recommended turning off the firewall. 

[Cattrump]

i had this same problem. It was resolved when I changed my network profile from public to private. (which I thought I was already on since its my home network). Which makes sense since public profile prevents other devices from accessing my laptop.

[Katerina · Accepted solution]

Hey there folks,

Thanks for posting about this here in the Community!

If you're having troubles seeing and streaming local files from your mobile device, we'd first recommend making sure of the following:

• Log out and back in your Spotify account on each device.
• You're logged in to the same account on both your desktop and your mobile or tablet.
• The Spotify app is not set to Offine on either device.
• Both your desktop and mobile devices are connected on the same network connection.
• If you're on an iOS device, make sure you've gone to Settings  > Local Files and switched on Local audio files. You'll also need to allow Spotify to find devices in the prompt that shows.
• The file types of your local files are supported by Spotify. You can find more info here.
• In order to download local files to your mobile device, you'll need to have a Premium subscription. Find out how to check your subscription status.
• There’s enough free space on the device’s memory (we recommend at least 1GB).
• You have the latest version of the Spotify app installed (on both devices).
• Your devices' firmware is up-to-date. 
• You can only download music and podcasts to a maximum of 5 separate devices for a maximum of 10,000 songs per device.
• In your router settings, check that UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is enabled.
• Windows shows your network as private and not public.
• Spotify is set as an exception in any firewall or internet security program. 

If none of these do the trick, you can create a mobile hotspot on your mobile and connect your PC to this hotspot via wifi. Syncing the local files should then work.

If you're still having troubles, don't hesitate to let us know by starting a new thread in the related Help Board. We'll be happy to lend a hand.

Have a lovely day 🙂

[spikey1302]

Plan

Premium

Country

England (UK)

Device

iPhone 13

Operating System

Most Recent as of 27/05/22

My Question or Issue

Ever since the Local File update on my iPhone, i am unable to play any songs that i have previously synced from my pc on my iPhone. The old steps no longer work

[tmeffort7]

I am having the same issue with my ipad

[Alex]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the posts.

We'll look further into this. 

Can you let us know the following info:

• Device model and exact OS version
• Spotify version 
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
• After the update, did the old local files become grayed out or are they not displayed at all?

Looking forward to your replies.

[annoyed96]

I have the same problem. I have a new Iphone Pro13 and tried all the trouble shooting tips. Nothing works. 

I can play the local files in my local files folder, but not (the same) local files in the playlists I made months ago (with my previous phone I had no problem with local files). If I add the local files again to the playlist (which is A LOT of work since the playlist is carefully built over the past months/years) it works on my phone, but I can't play them on my desktop. If I do the same thing but on my desktop, I can play them on the desktop but not on my phone. It's working past each other instead of syncing together. 

[Eni]

Hey @annoyed96, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this. 

Could you send us the info @Alex asked for previously? We'd like to investigate this further. 

We'll be on the lookout.

[melannievnl]

Hi,

I'm also having the same problem. I have an iphone 8 iOS 15.5. My spotify version is the latest on a windows 10. I already checked the firewall to be sure it doesn't interfer with the apps.

[Eni]

Hey @melannievnl, 

Thanks for reaching out about this.

Could you let us know which troubleshooting steps have you tried so far? We suggest that you try logging out and then logging back in to your account on your devices twice in a row. 

If this doesn't do the trick, it's well worth running a clean reinstall to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. This one is more thorough than the usual one. 

Also, could you let us know if the old local files become grayed out or are they not displayed at all?

Keep us in the loop.

[melannievnl]

Hi Eni,

I tried what you recommend me but it still does not work 😞

[Eni]

Hey @melannievnl, 

Thanks for getting back in touch.

Could you check this thread for a description of the new things we've implemented on the Local Files functionality? You'll find there steps that might be useful for you.

Let us know how it goes.