Hi Spotify Team,
We would like to report what appears to be a serious issue affecting Bluetooth and Wi-Fi stability on Windows devices running the Spotify app installed from the Microsoft Store.
Over the last two weeks, our organization has experienced widespread problems with Bluetooth connectivity. Initially, the issue appeared random and affected multiple Lenovo laptop models, making troubleshooting extremely difficult.
Symptoms observed
- Bluetooth mouse lag and disconnects
- Bluetooth keyboards becoming unresponsive
- Bluetooth headsets losing connection or stuttering
- Wi-Fi connectivity disappearing intermittently
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters unexpectedly restarting
- Device Manager showing temporary adapter issues until the driver recovers
In our environment alone, this has affected approximately 20-30 users, causing significant productivity loss and frustration.
What we discovered
After extensive investigation, we found a strong correlation between the issue and the Spotify application installed from the Microsoft Store.
We were able to identify multiple affected users who had Spotify installed, and the problem disappeared after Spotify was removed or stopped from running.
Based on discussions from other IT professionals and administrators, it appears that Spotify may be aggressively scanning for nearby Bluetooth devices. In dense office environments where hundreds of Bluetooth devices may be present, this seems to overload the Bluetooth stack, eventually causing the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi driver to crash and restart.
This is not limited to our organization. Reports from administrators around the world indicate similar behavior across different hardware vendors and device models, suggesting that this is not a Lenovo-specific issue but potentially an application-related problem. The original discussion can be found here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1vzwvfe/recent_bluetooth_connectivity_issues/
Environment
- Windows 10 and Windows 11
- Primarily Lenovo devices, but reports indicate other hardware vendors may also be affected
- Spotify installed from the Microsoft Store
- Corporate office environments with a large number of Bluetooth devices nearby
Request
We would appreciate if Spotify engineering could investigate:
- Any recent changes related to Bluetooth device discovery or scanning.
- Whether Bluetooth scanning frequency has changed in recent releases.
- Whether Spotify can generate excessive Bluetooth traffic in environments with many nearby devices.
- Whether a fix or mitigation is already being worked on.
We are happy to provide additional information if needed. Given the number of affected users and reports from other organizations, we believe this deserves urgent attention.
