Spotify has a memory leak [Mac Desktop]

[clubatronic]

Brief description of the issue

Spotify memory usage does not stop increasing until my MacBook runs out of memory/swap (I experienced up to 79 GB (!!!))

Steps to reproduce the issue:

1. Start Spotify and just stream music
2. Wait (do not know how long exactly, but it happend the 4th time today)
3. Fans start running more and more and at some time a warning will pop up that the Mac is out of memory (screenshot is attached)

What steps you’ve tried already

Reinstalled Spotify (completely deleted Spotify with AppCleaner beforehand)

Your device and operating system

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports), macOS 10.15.2, 2.7GHz Quad-Core, 16GB)

Type of Spotify account you have (Free/ Premium)

Premium

The app version of Spotify you’re using

1.1.24.91.g4ca6d5eb

Please let me know if you need any further information

[prsboy]

I'm also experiencing this. I've removed and re-installed Spotify and it has persisted.

[dwr_]

I am experiencing the same issue... anyone knowing if there is a fix any time soon?

[foxtrotwhiskey9]

Me too!

[Mihail]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for getting in touch!

Apologies for the delayed response, we just came across this thread. To everyone experiencing this, have you tried a clean reinstall of the Spotify app on your device? We recommend the steps in that guide, as they’re very thorough and make sure no damaged leftover files remain. These changes tend to solve issues like the one you're experiencing, as it removes all damaged leftover files and downloads the latest app version. Give your device a quick restart as well before you open the newly installed app. 

It's also a good idea to make sure that your OS and all drivers on your system are up to date with the latest version available.

Keep us posted! We'll be happy to lend a hand if you need more help. 

[David250]

Hi, same issue for me, the memory goes up when I switch between list views on a MAC. List views are "Liked songs", Playlists and so on. For every switch the memory goes up and does not completely get cleared when going elsewhere. Maybe your lists leak memory? More memory is leaked when scrolling my 3000 liked songs. Please fix this, reinstalling does NOT help and it's quite annoying.

[Ver]

Hey @David250,

Thanks for posting here.

Could you try running the app as an administrator to see if that helps?

We'd recommend that you also open your Mac in a safe mode to see if that makes a difference.

Just to double-check-are there any changes after the clean reinstall?

Keep us posted.

[bukacdan]

still a problem, spotify has become unusable for me. And no, suggesting clean reinstall is not a solution, even if it helped.

[Huli]

I started getting this problem a few days ago. It coincided with the app prompting me to login when I started it, which it hadn't done before. After some time, whether I've been listening to music or not, I get the Force Quit Applications dialog up (as described above). It turned out Spotify was the culprit, using GBs of memory. This has continued to happen after rebooting the machine and happened several days in a row now.

I'm on a Mac Studio M1 Max.

[Susan_GP]

Hi there folks, 

Thanks for your replies in this thread. 

One thing you can try, if you haven't, is disabling hardware acceleration. To do so, open the Spotify app, go to Settings, scroll down, and uncheck the option Enable hardware acceleration. Restart your device and check if that makes a difference. 

On another note, send over the exact make/model and OS of the device along with the Spotify version you are currently running. 

We'll keep an eye out for your reply!

[miauzka]

Ever since the last update, the app after running for some time uses up to 50 GB of RAM until I get a warning that my system has run out of application memory. When I reopen the app after force closing it, it asks me to log in again, which doesn't happen normally. I tried clearing the cache, even reinstalling the app. Nothing worked.

[lbbo]

I have also started experiencing this a few days ago. Just like Huli, it coincided with login re-prompts, which has never happened before. It started happening around the same time both on my private and my work laptop (one is an M1 Pro 32GB MacBook Pro and I don't have the other specs at hand but it's one of the M1 MacBook Pros with touch bars). To me, this sudden uptick in occurrences suggests an issue in one of your recent updates, so I would expect an update to be able to fix it again. In case it's relevant, I have a lot of music downloaded on both devices (about 5GB). Also, I don't see any option to enable / disable hardware acceleration in the settings.

[Yordan]

Hi there @miauzka!

Does this occur as soon as you launch the app, after performing a specific task like playing a particular song/podcast, or after leaving the app running for a while (10-15 min, for example)? 

I recommend checking if there are any OS updates available and installing them. You can also try freeing up some space on your drive by following the steps here and rebooting your Mac.

Cheers 🤘

[lbbo]

As a further observation: it seems like this tends to occur after the computer has been asleep for a while. When I wake it back up and try to play music, the play button is frozen and nothing happens. I immediately check the activity monitor and can observe many GB of memory being used.

[isquilho]

Plan

Premium

Country

Brazil

Device

Macbook Pro (16-inch, 2021)

Operating System

macOS Monterey 12.7.3

Spotify Version

macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.37.701.ge66eb7bc

Hey guys, same issue as everyone else here on this thread. Started about a week ago or maybe a bit longer, can't recall when exactly.

The clean reinstall didn't work for me, I tried about 3 times before finally giving up. There is also no hardware acceleration option in the Settings, like mentioned by @lbbo.

[isquilho]

This seems to be the same issue as reported on Spotify has a memory leak [Mac Desktop]. A few people have replied on that thread recently, suggesting it's most likely an issue tied with a recent update. I'm also experiencing the exact same thing.

For context, to me it only seems to happen some time after I've played music. If I just open the app and leave it running in the background but without having listened to anything, it doesn't occur.

[miauzka]

Hi Yordan,

the problem occurs after running the app for a while in the background and it doesn't seem to be tied to any specific action. It usually takes a few hours for the memory/swap to fill up. I have an M1 MacBook Pro (2021) with 16 GB of RAM and about 60 GB of free storage left. I don't think freeing up more storage will solve the problem since it'll just keep using up more memory and disk space until the new limit is eventually reached. I've been getting a memory warning when Spotify was already at around 70 GB of usage, which is not appropriate under any circumstances for an application of this kind. My system is up-to-date at macOS version 14.5 (23F79).

[Eni]

Hey folks! 

Thanks for getting in touch about this and for all the info you've sent so far. 

We'd like to investigate this further. That being said, could you provide us with the following info (if you haven't already)?

• Exact Spotify version you're running on your PC
• Exact make/model and OS of your PC
• When did you notice this issue for the first time? Did it start happening after a specific event such as an update?
• Troubleshooting you've already tried

We'll be waiting for your replies. 

[thomaslundstr0m]

MacBook Pro M1 Max, macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.2.38.720.ga4a70a0e

Started a couple weeks ago

Impossible to currently properly use Spotify desktop

[Huli]

Spotify version: macOS (Apple Silicon) 1.2.37.701.ge66eb7bc

Machine: Mac Studio, Apple M1 Max

MacOS: Sonoma 14.4.1

Started a couple of weeks ago.