Cannot use Google account with the Spotify Windows app

[PadrePedro]

Hi,

I've installed Spotify on Windows 11 through Microsoft Store 4 times: for 2 accounts on my PC and for 2 accounts on my laptop. Everything works great, except for 1 thing: for 1 account on my PC I can only logon with my normal Spotify account, but not with a linked Google account. I get an error, which also appears if I try to logon with a Facebook or Apple account. Normally when selecting the type of account the default browser (in my case Microsoft Edge) should open for authentication, but for this particular account on my PC this doesn't happen. This leads to a misleading error about possible causes like a blocking firewall or proxy settings.

I've read about someone who has solved this by configuring a default browser in Windows 10, but this is not possible in Windows 11 (although every file type and protocol for Edge has been assigned to Edge, or well, at least the same ones as is the case for my other accounts, where everything works fine).

Anyone who has an idea what's the cause or how to solve this?

Thanks!

Regards,

Pedro

[Jeremy]

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. We'd like to take a closer look into this.

First we'd like you to try some troubleshooting steps. Can you try the following and see if the issue persists after:

• Perform a clean reinstall of the app following these steps.
• Check your firewall and antivirus software or apps to make sure Spotify is whitelisted or set as an exception.
• Remove the entries from your Windows hosts file - make sure you remove all the entries, not just the Spotify ones.
• Uninstall any ad-blocker apps.
• Run Windows in Safe Mode with Networking. If the app works with no issues there, try adjusting different network settings and uninstalling any software that might be conflicting with Spotify's connectivity.
• Try connecting your desktop to the Internet via a mobile hotspot. If the app works through it, get in touch with your router's manufacturer.

Let us know how everything goes.

Take care!

[PadrePedro]

i,

* I had already reinstalled the app, cleared the app's data and deleted the app's folder in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages

* I have the issue on a desktop PC, which has a wired Ethernet connection; I have no other connection possibilities

* It does work on the same desktop PC within another Windows profile (so for another Windows user). It also works on my laptop, for both Windows users

* I had already opened up the firewall completely, so not a single thing would have been blocked

* Etc. etc.

Where the app works with an external auth provider (Google, Facebook or Apple) it goes like this: open the Windows app Spotify, select an external aiuth provider (e.g. Google), the default browser gets opened automatically, authentication occurs with the external (Google) account, I have to click on a button ("go to desktop app") in the browser and then the app appears, logged in successfully.

The one case where it doesn't work with an external auth provider (for 1 Windows user, only on my desktop PC): open the Windows app Spotify, select an external auth provider (e.g. Google), but nothing occurs then, except a few seconds later the app shows an error with technical error code: desktop_login_accounts:5 (does 5 refer to access denied, as is the case in many scenarios?).

AFAIK only Spotify has issues with external/Google accounts. Microsoft Edge is configured for every file type and protocol related to web (I've checked this: exactly the same config as for the profiles where there is no issue). Nonetheless I've tried to set Google chrome as default browser, but to no avail... It's like the app doesn't start the browser (by trying to go to a URL) or does try, but it fails because of an issue with the default browser, although outside Spotify every test has succeeded.

Is it possible to ask the dev team/product team when and why exactly the aforementioned error occurs? gain, it doesn't seem firewall or proxy related at all; I've found a case where the country was configured wrongly, but in my case this wasn't so. Also, I have found one case where the cause was no default browser was configured, but again, this doesn't seem to be the problem with me...

Regards,

Pedro

[Eni]

Hey there @PadrePedro, 

Thanks for all the info you've sent so far. 

Could you let us know if you're able to log in to your account in the web player?

On another note, we suggest that you try restarting your PC in Safe mode and reinstalling the app again while in Safe mode.  

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[PadrePedro]

Hi,

Yes, I can login to the web player, even within the Windows profile where I experience the error in the Spotify app.

I'll try to reinstall in safe mode later today.

Thanks for the help!

Grtz,

Pedro