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Can only play songs that are in a playlist using the app

Can only play songs that are in a playlist using the app

 

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

PC desktop

Operating System

Windows 10

 

My Question or Issue

As the title states, I can only play songs that are in a playlist. If I go directly to an album and hit play, everything is greyed out. If I put that album into a playlist, I can play it just fine. I have restarted my computer, completely uninstalled and reinstalled the Spotify app, restarted my modem/router, etc. SOMETIMES, I can play one song off an album or maybe even a few seconds before it stops/greys out. If I go to the web version, I can play everything just fine. Using Spotify for Windows
1.1.87.612.gf8d110e2

TIA


**As of 6/23/22 all is working correctly again. I didn't change anything, so I'm not sure what the issue OR the remedy was. 

Reply
15 Replies

Hey there @Riveted1

 

Thanks for reaching out about this and welcome to the Community. 

 

We're glad to hear that now it's working as expected! 

 

If it starts misbehaving again, 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 that doesn't do the trick, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app by following these specific steps. Also, make sure to download the app again from the Microsoft Store

 

If you have any questions or need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

EniModerator
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“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”– Maria von Trapp

Eni, 
Thanks for the reply. As you can see in my original post, I did all of those things to no avail. This was over a period of maybe a week. My last resort was to post here, and magically the next day, the app decided to cooperate. I'll chalk it up to gremlins I suppose.

Annnnnnnd now it's not working again. Works fine if I put the album/song I want to hear into a playlist.

Hi there @Riveted1

 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

 

Could you let us know if the same happens if you try using a different internet connection? 

 

On another note, we suggest that you check your firewall and make sure Spotify is set as an exception. Also, disable any antivirus or ad-blocking software, and turn off any VPNs if in use.

 

Lastly, we'd like to know if this happens on the web player as well. 

 

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

EniModerator
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“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”– Maria von Trapp

I'm having the same issue (since maybe a week ago). Most albums only play if I first create a playlist of them. Otherwise nothing happens if I double click a song from an album. Sometimes the app "remembers" what songs I added to a playlist and they might play straight from the album for a while.

 

Web player works normally.  Tried to log out and back again. Have booted the pc. Tried to reinstall and tried the app from microsoft store as well. Also checked that there aren't any shenanigans going on in the wondows host files (it's in the default state). What could cause such a random bug? The app version is: Spotify for Windows 1.1.88.612.gcc529952

Eni, 
When I opened the app again today, it was working fine. I will do what you asked if/when it stops working correctly again. As noted in my original post, it does not seem to affect the web player. 

Hey folks,


Thank you for keeping in contact and for the info shared.


@Riveted1, we're glad to know that everything seems to be working fine by now. If anything happens, just let us know.


In the case of @UnicornDarkly, would you mind confirming if you checked the Firewall exceptions and Anti-virus as mentioned previously by @Eni?


It would also be great if you could have someone log in with their account on your device - such as a friend or a family member, to see if the issue persists. This will help us understand if it could be account-related or not.

 

Lastly, could you check if it happens using a different WiFi network? In case you don't have one available, you can use a mobile data hotspot to see if it makes any difference.

 

We'll be on the lookout. 

OscarDCModerator
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Hi. I'm also having the same issue on the desktop app. Songs would play only if they are saved on a playlist or in my liked songs, but if I want to play any song I haven't saved anywhere, it doesn't. Nothing happens. Sometimes it works if a press play on the whole album rather than in a specific song, but after three or fours songs, it just stops. 

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app but problem still exists and to make it worst, I lost all my liked songs. Playlists are fine and songs play there, but I have zero songs now on my liked songs after reinstalling the desktop app. 

The mobile app works perfectly fine, I can play any song and I have all my liked songs, but the desktop app for Windows...

Hey @captgeorge7,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and welcome. 

We appreciate the troubleshooting you've done so far, but to be sure that we're on the same page - did you use these steps for a clean reinstall? They are more thorough than a regular one. That way you can make sure the cache is not causing this issue.

Also, could you confirm if you've double-checked the Firewall exceptions and Anti-virus as mentioned previously? This will give us a better look at this issue.

Lastly, would you mind including the OS version of your PC, along with the Spotify version you're currently running?

We'll be on the lookout. 

OscarDCModerator
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It appears related to my Freedome VPN. Spotify seems to work normally when I disable the VPN. Tried a couple of reroute location options but that didn't seem to make a difference (I normally use the same country as my geographical location). As soon as I turn on the VPN Spotify ceases to function normally. I didn't even come to think of the VPN since it has never been a problem before. Hopefully there is a fix for this so I can continue using both the VPN and Spotify.

Mine seems related to my VPN also. If I disconnect the VPN, start Spotify, and then reconnect the VPN, it works fine. This doesn't happen every time, but is happening enough that it seems to be the issue. Like UnicornDarkly stated, it wasn't a problem before. I don't have my Mac set up right now, or I would test it to see if it behaves the same, but my iPhone and Android devices have no issues, even through the VPN.  

 

Hey folks, 

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

Keep in mind that Spotify doesn't officially support VPNs. This means that issues with the app while using a VPN are expected behavior.

 

In this case, we suggest that you disable it while using the app. 

 

Hope this clears things up. If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

EniModerator
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“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”– Maria von Trapp

I was afraid this might be the case. Funny how for many years I experienced the "unexpected" behaviour of everything working normally. What exactly is the reason why a VPN is not supported if it's not even used to circumvent country restrictions (i.e. I'm still accessing the same catalogue of music I would otherwise)? I suppose it has something to do with collecting data of the customers? I'm sure there are a lot of customers who would like to protect their privacy using a VPN, and still be able to listen to music on their computers.

 

By the way, while I've been trying to fix this issue, I found a new bug in the player: the progress bar often stays at 0:00, especially if I rewind the song back to the beginning by dragging the progress marker.

Same thing happening here but with no vpn installed...

Hey @ahgrewadsfxzgda,

 

Thank you for your reply in this thread!

Can you let us know what troubleshooting steps you've tried so far, so that we don't suggest things that you've already tested?

 

On another note, does this happened after a recent update? 

 

If possible please share with us make, model and OS version of the affected device, along with the Spotify version you're currently running. If you don't know how to check it - go to this FAQ

We'll be keeping an eye out for your reply.

LyubkaModerator
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