Local Files Become Unavailable in Offline Mode

[Cosmo_Kane]

Plan

Premium

Country

Australia

Device

Legion Y540

Operating System

Windows 10

Version

1.1.62.583.gdac868ed-a

My Question or Issue

I am experiencing an issue where, if the client is set to offline mode, tracks that are stored locally on my computer will become faded out and unplayable in any playlists they have been added to.

Downloaded Playlist, Local Files, Offline Mode

Despite this, the same files are playable from the "Local Files" section of "Your Library"

Your Library, Local Files, Offline Mode

It seems to bug caused by the client trying to treat the local files like Spotify tracks, marking them as unavailable due to them not being "Downloaded" and unable to be streamed due to the lack of internet.

I have contacted support, but they did not seem to understand the issue, recommending that I "Download" the tracks by toggling the download switch on the playlists they're in. I feel this is absurd as the files are already stored locally and the playlists are downloaded anyway.

I have done a clean install of Spotify and this has not corrected the issue.

Another person in chat has experienced this issue: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Chat/Local-files-won-t-play-in-offline-mode/m-p/5214870/highlight/t...

More screenshots:

Baffling advice received from Spotify Support

Another Playlist Not WorkingOnline Mode Playlist behaviourOnline Mode Local Files behaviour

Note: Issue was also present on a different computer, with an additional oddity: the local files DID actually "Download" with the streamable tracks, adopting the little downwards pointing arrow, and Spotify deigned to play them.

Also I have used the Live Chat support window three times, communicating for about two hours total, entered my email address when prompted at the end of each session, and I have NOT received transcripts for any of them.

[Alex]

Hey @drewfussmania88,

Thanks for the post.

Can you provide us with the info requested by @Novy?

The right teams at Spotify are investigating why this is happening, however we don't have official info on an exact fix date yet.

Cheers.

[luna_my]

I have the same problem on Linux (Ubuntu 20.04.02)

[Kiril]

Hey @luna_my,

Thank you for reaching out on the Community!

To be able to report your similar experience with Local files on your Linux, could you also send us the info, that was requested and described in the above-post by @Novy. As soon as we get those details, we'll add them to the report and eventually check for new developments regarding the situation. 

We'll be keeping an eye out for your reply, thanks!

[Faxe315]

Hello I´ve got the same same problem for several months now.
My Device: self built
My OS: Windows 10
Spotify Version: Spotify für Windows
1.1.70.610.g4585142b
Troubleshooting: Basically anything from this thread plus a bit more because my Spotify just wont load up sometimes in offline mode.

[Ver]

Hey @Faxe315,

Thanks for posting here. 

Just to double-check-can you play local files from the folder in Your Library in offline mode? Are you able to play the local files that are added to a playlist?

You mentioned that the app sometimes won't load up in offline mode-are you not able to open the app at all after previously setting it to offline?

Once we have this info, we can investigate this further.

Keep us posted.

[Lucking95]

Hello I´ve got the same same problem for several months now, same as these guys above.
My Device: PC
My OS: Windows 10
Spotify Version: Spotify para Windows
1.1.70.610.g4585142b
Troubleshooting: Basically anything from this thread. It only happens at Spotify's Windows version, it doesn't happen on my Samsung S20FE.

[belghayati]

I've started playback and then went offline to see if I can play the local files even if they're greyed out, just as @Jeremy from Spotify suggested in his message on ‎2021-07-08 01:45 PM. In fact, the song continued playing even when I went into offline mode. As a matter of fact the entire playlist/queue continued playing. However, the app would not allow me to choose a different song from the playlist by double clicking on it as it continued being greyed out.

 

[Alex]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the replies.

Could you try running a clean reinstall of the app, following this Guide and let us know if the issue continues?

Cheers.

[Faxe315]

Hello @Ver,

Yes I can from the folder they are stroed in.
And I can play them in spotify when Im not offline.

In regards to the other prblem, sometimes if I want to start spotify it just says in the app itself  (So yes, the app runs from offline mode) "can not be loaded" or something like that (my spotify runs in german, and I dont recal the exact phrase anymore because I just restart my PC if this happens, which fixes it most of the time)

[Meltan]

Having this issue as well.

Device: MacBook air (2015), MacOS Catalina ver 10.15.7

Spotify version: 1.1.71.560.gc21c3367

[MafeG]

Hi folks,

Thank you for your replies!

@Faxe315 Just to make sure, if you play local files from the folder in Your Library in offline mode, could you explain to us again what's the behavior you present?

About the second issue, please share with us some screenshots or a video showing how the app looks from your end. This will help us keep investigating. 

@Meltan Please let us know if you're able to play your music from the "Local Files" folder on Your Library while being offline, or if you're not able to play them from any section.

Keep us posted.

[James203]

I also have this exact problem. local files work fine on iphone. on desktop(mac) when downloaded they are greyed out and won't play stating "This content is not available" but can still be played by adding to queue.

In searching for a solution it seems many people have this problem on desktop - meaning it is most likely a Spotify side software bug rather than client/user side. Is there any news on an upcoming bug fix for this issue from Spotify support?

[Jeremy]

Hi there @James203,

Thank you for your reply.

It would be great if we can try to troubleshoot this to start with.

Can you perform a clean reinstall of the app? This will make sure there's no old cache files causing this.

Let us know how everything goes 🙂

Take care!

[ArkOne]

I guess they just forgot about this

[Jeremy]

Hi there @ArkOne,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

Can you let us know what troubleshooting you've done that's been provided in this thread so we can help you in the best way?

We'll keep an eye out for your reply

Take care!

[Ashraile]

Same problem here.

[Ver]

Hey @Ashraile,

Thanks for posting here.

Could you share with us if there are any changes after trying the steps mentioned in the thread?

If nothing changes, you can send us a video recording of what you're seeing. That will be very helpful.

Keep us posted.

[TalesRdS]

I am having a similar issue in the last few weeks with content downloaded through spotify.  I am on android and on premium. The songs becomes greyed out when I go to offline mode, it starts in a matter of hours and gets progressively worse, affecting more tracks over time. When I go online almost all songs becomes immediately available again. My guess it that most of the files are still there when in offline mode, spotify just marks them as unavailable for whatever reason.

I tried a few things, including a clean reinstall and even changing the storage space from SD card to internal phone space and nothing seems to work.

Off-topic, but while searching for a fix on the internet I eventually logged out of the app, while in offline mode, running in the problem that the user can't log in, because offline mode prevents the app from using internet connection even for that and there is no way to toggle offline mode while logged out, and guess what? This is a issue that was been around for YEARS with no fix, there are reports dating back from 2017! And the recommended workaround its also a clean reinstall! For something simple as toggling the offline mode on and off.

I hate to be that guy, but sadly, this doesn't seems very promising. I am afraid that finding another app may be the only real fix. As long as we keep paying for a service that doesn't work, they will never going to fix these issues.  😞

[Kiril]

Hey there @TalesRdS,

Thank you for posting and welcome to the Community!

We understand where you are coming from and that such user experiences could be frustrating. It was never our intention to make things difficult for you and we're here to try help out. Could you share with us the complete details of your Android device (also OS version), as well as the version of Spotify you're currently having on your device.

If the clean reinstall didn't resolve the situation, it'd be really helpful for the investigation if you could provide us with a short video of what's happening on your end.

Keep us posted, we'll be on the lookout for your reply.
 

[Hyperlight381]

I've had this same issue and have used both a PC and Chromebook which have never had spotify on it before. Downloaded the CD I wanted to play in a playlist, transfered from a folder in MP3 format and loaded to a new playlist created. Went to offline mode in an attempt to transfer the music to my phone app (Deleted and restarted about 4 times to no avail) and the device will not play the downloaded music in offline mode. As people have stated above, theres no incentive to fix this until they start losing money and after 10 hours i've countless youtube videos and forums on how to fix this, i'm out. Theres no reason to continue when I can go to Itunes and just drag and drop the album into a playlist. Best of luck to everyone else