Preview doesn´t play audio

[Faith_Of_Sin]

Device

PC - Desktop App

Operating System

Windows 10 Pro

My Question or Issue

Since a while when I click on the preview button in playlists there is no audio being played any more. The window opens and the little sound symbol is going off on the upper right, but the playbar in the middle doesn´t fill at all as well. If I play a song it works completely fine, it is only the preview function. It also works in browser, but not in the app.
I already checked all the settings in spotify (like for example hardware accelleration, norm. audio, etc.) as well as all my windows settings. I didn´t change anything, it just doesn´t work any more suddenly.
I even tried downloading different versions of the desktop app, from 2.5x up to the newest one 2.81, but everywhere it´s the same

[Eni]

Hey there @Faith_Of_Sin, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this and welcome to the Community.

Kudos for the troubleshooting steps you've tried! As a next step, we suggest that you perform a clean reinstall of the app by following these specific steps to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. 

If the issue persists, we suggest that you disable any antivirus or ad-blocking software that might be active on your PC, and turn off any VPNs if in use.

Additionally, make sure to remove the host files by following the steps here.

Lastly, it's also worth checking if the drivers are up to date. 

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[Faith_Of_Sin]

Sadly I already did a clean reinstall several times - every time I installed another version. Removed all the files after the deinstallation in appdata, restarted my pc, and so on.
The link for deleting the host files you sent doesn´t work. "Access denied. You do not have sufficient privileges for this resource or its parent to perform this action."

[Faith_Of_Sin]

edit: if you mean entries in the host file in system32/etc, there is nothing with spotify in it

[Yordan]

Hey, @Faith_Of_Sin,

Yeah, exactly. Thanks for checking and for the heads up. I've updated the link just in case so it should work now.

Anyway, you mentioned using another version, but have you tried installing Spotify from another source? For example, if you downloaded the app directly from our website, try installing it from the Microsoft Store instead and vice versa.

Something else that comes to mind is flushing the DNS cache for your PC to see if that helps:

1. In Windows’ search bar, type “Command Prompt” and run it as an administrator.
2. Enter the following command: ipconfig /flushdns.
3. Restart the Spotify app.

Let us know how it goes 👍

[epoch1]

I'm experiencing the same issue on Windows 11 x64 with Spotify Desktop 1.2.96.518. Regular Spotify music playback works normally, but track previews opened from playlists or albums have no audio and the preview progress indicator remains at 0.

The same behavior was previously captured on Spotify Desktop 1.2.95.453.

Checks already completed:
- Windows audio settings and hardware output are working normally.
- Spotify and the Windows volume mixer are not muted.
- Spotify output is set to System Default.
- Exclusive Mode is disabled.
- A clean reinstall and a refresh/restoration of Spotify's official Widevine component did not resolve the issue.
- While the issue is present, track preview playback does not appear to create an audio session or output signal.

Errors captured during diagnosis:
- PlaybackError: No supported keysystem was found.
- PlaybackError: CreateCdmFunc not available.

These errors appear to come from the Chromium EME/CDM initialization path. This may indicate an issue with the Spotify desktop app's embedded Chromium/CDM playback-session initialization rather than normal Windows audio routing.

Could this additional diagnostic information be forwarded to the Windows desktop playback/DRM team for investigation?

[AlejaR]

Hey there @epoch1,

Thanks for your reply here and for the info shared.

Kudos for all the troubleshooting you've tried! Would you mind running the app in Safe Mode to rule out any issues with your default Windows settings and basic device drivers?

We'd also like to gather some additional info. Please send us:

• Does this happen when using the Web Player?
• Does the same happen if you open your account on a different device? You can ask for the computer of a relative or a friend to open your account there and check.
• A video recording. You can attach the video in your next reply in MP4 format, or upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public.

Note: Be aware this is a public space, so please don't share any personal info on the video.

Keep us in the loop!

[epoch1]

Hi, thanks for following up.

Here are the results of the additional tests:

• Web Player on the affected Windows PC: Track previews play normally.
• Another Windows laptop using the same Spotify account: Track previews also play normally.
• Spotify desktop app on the affected PC: Regular full-track playback works normally, but track previews do not. The preview opens, the progress bar never advances, and no audio from the selected track can be heard. The same problem occurs with multiple tracks.

I attempted to test the Spotify desktop app in Windows Safe Mode several times. Windows started in Safe Mode and Chrome could be opened, but the Spotify desktop app would not launch, so I was unable to test track previews in that environment.

I’ve attached a short MP4 recording showing the preview behavior.

For additional technical context, I previously found Chromium/media CDM-related messages in the desktop app logs, including CreateCdmFunc not available and No supported keysystem. I understand that these messages may not be the confirmed cause, but I’m including them in case they are relevant.

Since track previews work with the same account in the Web Player and on another laptop, while regular track playback also works in the affected desktop app, the issue appears to be limited to the Spotify desktop app environment on this particular Windows PC.

Please let me know if there are any additional logs or diagnostic steps I can provide.