Bluetooth speakers and spotify

[marc-cor]

Hi all,

I wanted to just let you know about an error/bug when streaming Spotify to Bluetooth speakers from my laptop. 

Basically, when spotify is running and I then connect my bluetooth speakers Music wont play at all. The "play" button will indicate music is playing but nothing is playing, and the track stays at 0:00. 

To fix this I need to restart Spotify and it will then work without any problems and play through the speakers. 

This doesn't happen with any other programs, such as iTunes or VLC player, so my guess is that it is to do with Spotify. 

Also, this only happens from the Desktop version, the Webplayer works fine too. 

Please fix this, as it is rather annoying. 

Thanks,

Marc

[Spotpain]

Refer to chrome book or your headphone bluetooth troubleshooting help as
it's not directly related to Spotify

[magpie3]

Hey Marc...my problem is that when I select "deviced available" a pop up appears that wants to help me set it up. I'm already set up; but the pop up won't let me get to the device to select. Annoying!

[rScottyG]

After years of flawless audio to my bluetooth speaker using Google Play music/YouTube music. Spotify is terrible from my laptop. It works better off my phone to the same bluetooth speaker.

I don't see any solutions here - just commiseration.

Time to look at Apple for music and podcasts.

[President_Butthead]

Still experiencing this issue December 2023 - at least there is an explanation and well If I'd been holding my breath, I'd be dead a long time

[james061]

I am having trouble playing music from Spotify to Bluetooth speakers on Windows 11. The speakers are connected properly to the system, sound comes through from all other apps, but I can't hear anything except Spotify. Has anyone encountered this issue? If there's a solution, it would be great to know. help me.

[dentoll]

That Bluetooth playback issue is actually a known Spotify Desktop bug. What’s happening is that when you connect your Bluetooth speakers after Spotify is already open, the app doesn’t properly refresh its audio output device — so it “thinks” it’s still sending sound to the previous device, even though the system switched to Bluetooth.

Here’s how to fix or avoid it:

1. Connect Bluetooth first, then open Spotify.
   Spotify locks onto the active output device at launch, so pairing your speakers before opening the app prevents the freeze.

2. If it happens again:

   • Click the three-dot menu → View → Hardware Acceleration, turn it off, restart Spotify, and test again.

   • Or go to Windows Sound Settings → Advanced sound options → App volume and device preferences, and manually select your Bluetooth device for Spotify.

3. Permanent fix (workaround):If you often switch between devices, use the Spotify Web Player it updates the output instantly when you change audio devices, without needing restarts.

Spotify is aware of this issue on Windows desktop builds hopefully they’ll patch it soon.