Error Code: 18

[alexalexini]

Plan

Free

Country

Australia

Device

Omen 15

Operating System

Windows 10

My Issue

Hello, I've been having this error recently and it is so annoying. I tried to reinstall Spotify from my computer because it was having a problem, however, when I try to reinstall it says: "The installer is unable to install Spotify because the files to be written are in use by another process."

I go to my AppData to see what is going on and the Spotify program is still there with all the files that come along, even though I uninstalled it from the control manager. 

When I press on that Spotify app it says that the files are in use by another process. I checked to see if any of Spotify is running in the background and there are none.

When I try to delete it with a right-click it says that "The action can't be completed because the file is open in System" however there are no Spotify apps open in System!
It is a whole mess!!!!
I am very frustrated by this please help me.

[SimonWalker]

The problem you are running into is that Spotify is running in the background. In the Desktop app, go to Spotify Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Startup and Window Behavior. Select 'No' in the dropdown menu.

Restart the computer, and then try with the reinstall again. If you still run into the same issue, go to Task Manager and select the 'More Details' dropdown button. Scroll down to the 'Background Processes' and then right-click anything with the name 'spotify.exe' and select 'End Task'.

More information: https://www.howtogeek.com/241752/how-to-stop-windows-10-apps-from-running-in-the-background/

[alexalexini]

The thing is that I literally can't open Spotify cause it doesn't exist! However, the files are still there. It doesn't exist anywhere on my task manager and anywhere on my control panel.

[Xenia · Accepted solution]

Hello @alexalexini,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community about this.

We'd recommend restarting your computer in safe mode with networking enabled (usually accessible by pressing F8 during boot-up) and try deleting all files containing Spotify again from there before downloading and installing Spotify from the Windows Apps store.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[alexalexini]

It worked!!! Thank you so much!!

[qty0hl06oa6twm]

Thank you! You fixed my problem after trying to reinstall spotify

[johhnybravo]

In my case, Comodo and iTunes were creating conflicts with Spotify. So, I removed all the traces of Spotify first. Then, I removed the conflicting application and restarted my PC. After that, I reinstalled Spotify and it worked fine.

[devilgaming]

I figured out that my Steam Client Service was using the SpotifyWebHelper and SpotifyHelper files located in my AppData/Roaming folder. I haven't the slightest clue why Steam would be using them but that's what was preventing me from installing the update. If you are running Steam and this occurs, first try shutting steam down and then installing again.

[bebahan]

I was reading all the solutions and they all seemed so complicated. But for me, this technique 👇🏻worked:

1. First I uninstalled Spotify.
2. Then, I disabled all the services and restarted my computer.
3. After that, I re-enabled all the services and restarted the system again.
4. Then, reinstalled Spotify.

Note: Make sure you have Spotify UNCHECKED in the services tab before you reinstall Spotify!!