Spotify Desktop Not Recognizing Any Local Files

[Youreausername]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

HP Pavilion

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Hello,

I have a new computer. Spotify will not recognize any of my local files on the desktop version, which are only about a dozen at this point.

Here's what I've tried:

* "clean" reinstall (as I've seen described elsewhere) and reinstalling from Windows Store

* Toggling the "local files" to on in the preferences menu.

* Putting the music in a specific folder and identifying it to Spotify in the preferences menu.  Removing the music files from the folder and putting them back.  Putting them into the default Music folder.

* Turning off local files in preferences, shutting off Spotify, deleting the local-files.bnk file and restarting Spotify.

* Checking my files for DRM, making sure the details in the properties description were correctly filled in, and making sure there's no unusual characters present.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can try, or where I can find a previous version of Spotify where this feature worked.

Thanks.

[Jeremy]

Hey there @,

Thank you for reaching out to us in the Community.

Even though some other file types might work, these are the ones that the feature is designed to work with:

• .mp3
• .m4p (unless it contains video)
• .mp4 (if QuickTime is installed on your computer)
• .m4a (unless it’s an Apple lossless file; ALAC or ALE)

We also suggest that you follow these steps : Uninstall Spotify > create a new folder somewhere else on the pc and move the local files there > install Spotify again > remove any potential source folders and add the new one > download the playlist again.

Keep us posted. We're always one reply away.

Cheers!

[Youreausername]

Hello,

Thank you for your response. I tried the steps you suggested, but still
none of my tracks appear in the local files list.

I verified that the files are in mp3 format. But I also tried adding an
mp3 that I downloaded (a podcast from npr) to the same folder, and that
appears in the local files list so I guess it's a problem with the files
themselves. The details tab in properties says they are not DRM
protected. The general tab in properties says "this file came from another
computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer." I clicked
the "unblock" button, then "apply" and okay. I followed the steps you
suggested again, but only the podcast appears.

I used these files on a previous version of spotify several years ago on my
old computer. They were detected and I was able to make a playlist that I
could initially download and play on my phone. When I went to play those
files on my phone recently though they were all greyed out, even after
downloading them. On my old computer, which I believe is still running the
old version of spotify, I am still able to detect and play the files and
create a playlist, but again, the tracks are greyed out on my phone and new
computer.

I copied these files from a cd a few years ago. Is there possibly some
kind of DRM at work that isn't recognized in the file properties? Are
there some special steps I should be taking when copying the cd to my
computer to make sure the tracks are compatible?

Thanks again.

[Mihail]

Hey @Youreausername,

Thanks for getting back to us and keeping us in the loop.

Keep in mind that only files from official sources can be imported. If that's the case it's a good idea to reach out to the distributor of the CD. They are best suited to answer any questions about copying the data to your PC and possible DRM-protection.

In the meantime there's another troubleshooting step we'd like to suggest - could you delete all the playlists that contain local files and log out and back in two times in a row on your devices? This causes a resynch between your account and our servers. You can then give another go at importing the songs, preferably from a new folder, as tried above. You can consult this guide if you have any questions. 

Keep us posted. We’ll keep an eye out for your reply.