Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it

[lukaswil]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Desktop

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

When I try to play a song I get the following error message "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it"

I have tried all the fixes I have seen:

Reinstalling app.

Using version from Microsoft store.

Disabled hardware acceleration.

Disabled crossfading.

Changed speaker options.

Deleted local files.

I've had this issue before and it was fixed by using the version from the Microsoft store but this isn't working now.

Spotify works on my phone and my laptop, web player also works only the desktop app doesn't work.

[rgbcmyk]

 

[nl3_wr-nh2gi]

Tried that on all 3 computers.  Doesn't work for me.  Still having the same problem.

[spencer_britton]

Plan

Free

Country

United States

Device

Desktop

Operating System

Windows 10

Issue

Spotify Desktop refuses to play any song, claiming "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer, you can import it."

I have tried:

Change all of my audio output devices settings to be at 44.1 kHz and disabled Spatial Sound.

Reinstalling and updating the drivers, to various different types of drivers compatible with my audio hardware, and using different ports to plug in said hardware.

Lowering the stream quality in Spotify's settings.

Disabling hardware acceleration in Spotify's settings.

Clearing any mention of Spotify from the "host" file, which had none to remove.

Logging out and back in to Spotify.

Completely wiping every file from Program Files, appdata/local, appdata/roaming, and appdata/localow relating to Spotify, if I found them in those locations, and reinstalling Spotify completely.

Yes, using Spotify from the Microsoft Store works, but no, that is not an acceptable solution. I despise using that program for reasons beyond the scope of this post. I was only willing to attempt it to be able to gain further information into this issue and how it was behaving. Spotify also works on all of my other devices without issues.

[Aleop]

Done every suggestion out there in community regarding this question, and yet, the issue isn't solved.

[Aleop]

I've done everything you've mentioned, but the Microsoft Store also doesn't work for me.

[mmxm56]

Hello,

I’ve been experiencing a persistent issue with the Spotify desktop app (Windows) for about a month.

I’m unable to play any songs at all—every attempt triggers the following message:
“Spotify can’t play this content right now. If you have the file on your computer, you can import it.”

For context:

• My account works perfectly on both the iPhone app and the web player.

• I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the desktop app multiple times without success.

• I am not using a VPN, and my internet connection is stable.

• The issue affects the entire Spotify catalog, not just specific tracks.

Could you please advise me on how to resolve this issue and restore normal functionality on the desktop app?

Thank you in advance for your support.

Best regards,

[Malakias]

No it's not a fix: In my Advanced Settings there's only Spatial sound, and it is off, but still Spotify gives the same error.

[Malakias]

I think this is really a bug in Spotify and is somehow related to the way how it fetches the songs from database.

I have got this error message always when I browse discography of some artist and try to play the oldest albums, but now I just noticed that if I start playing from the newest album and proceed slowly to the oldest ones then I can play the oldest album.

I just tested this with David Bowie: I was browsing his discography and wanted to start playing Uncle Arthur from the oldest album, but couldn't. I tried then playing some of the newer albums one by one, but always got the error message.

Then I started playing a song in the newest album, and then quickly clicking songs of older albums so that I skipped always a few albums in between, and when I got to the oldest album, then Uncle Arthur was able to play! This process took me maybe half a minute.
Now, somebody might think that maybe the reason was just that if I waited long enough, it would have played the Uncle Arthur.

So, I did another test, I browsed to Madonna's oldest album and tried to play songs from that. Same error message. Then I just waited for a couple of minutes and tried again. Nope, the same error message. And similarly, when I tried to play a little bit newer albums, the same error message.  Only when I started again playing songs from the newest album, and then started jumping songs toward the oldest album, then the songs in the oldest album started playing !!!

Check the attached demonstration video.

[Eliza1111]

When I choose a certain song to play, that can be any song. I get the "spotify can't play this right now" and then the playlist skips about 6 songs ahead. I have cleared the cached. Checked my internet. Update my firewall and nothing! I play through the web player on my mac laptop. My phone app is fine.

[chuck_daddy]

Neither of the solutions below worked for myself, but I did find a solution that might be helpful for other people.

1) Go into Control Panel / Sound / Playback (tab)

2) Select the speakers that you are using (in my it was the built-in speakers), then Properties

3) Within the Speakers Properties, select the Spatial Sound (tab), there is a drop down menu, if it shows "Off" as selected, pick one of the other options.  I selected Dolby Atmos for Headphones, then hit OK.  Try Spotify again...   should work, if this is your issue.

Hope this helps some other people, it was pretty frustrating it has taken weeks to figure out what was causing the issue for me.

[The_Metal_Mom]

I completely agree with you all, this is a bug issue at Spotify. We had this happen last year sometime and suddenly it was fixed after Spotify took it seriously. I've done a ton to try to fix it on my end, but it doesn't work. This is on the Web Player since I'm not allowed to download the App on my work computer. My Android app is fine, but it's just this freaking Web Player everytime.

[mobilefacta]

It worked!  I chose the "Windows Sonic for Headphones" option, in my Windows 10 Pro situation, instead of your "Dolby Atmos for Headphones" option.  Thanks very much for the advice!  Windows App for Spotify now plays audio from my laptop computer's  speakers.

[soralist]

Are there literally any other proper solutions? Ive been trying to resolve this for over a week now and all the trillion things Ive looked up has not worked. At this point im just ready to cancel my subscription because how has this same issue persisted for what seems to be years but there isnt a solid solution to the error? 

[#15]

When I click on the play icon on the majority of content, it briefly switches to the pause icon, then switches back to the play icon and the content does not play. This happens in the Windows desktop app, in the iOS app, and in the web app, so I don't believe it is an issue with cache or the install of any of the apps. In the Windows desktop app, I get the error "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it." I have been able to find some podcasts that I can play, but so far have been unable to play any music.

[mobilefacta]

It worked for me, chuck_daddy!

In my situation I had chosen "Windows Sonic for Headphones", and the Spotify App for Windows 10 Pro sound played through my Laptop computer's built-in speakers.

Thanks for this advice.

[TheQuincyBleach]

So like many of you, I've been looking for a solution for months and literally just solved it for myself. NONE of the "settings" solutions in this thread have worked for me.

Here's what just worked for me as of 2 minutes ago:

1. I uninstalled the Spotify Desktop app from my computer.

2. Then I went to Spotify website and redownloaded the desktop app by clicking the "Download directly from Spotify" link. NOT the Get it from Microsoft app store download.

3. I signed in using my login credentials, NOT by scanning the QR code that let's you verify using your phone's login.

Once I did the above, I have been able to using my spotify desktop app perfectly normal and play all my music. None of the other suggestions in this thread worked for me until this today.

I can't say if one or a combination of the above caused it to work but its working now. 🙂

Hope this helps someone!

Cheers!

[Elvira7]

Solved!

It helped me to change the frequency to 44.1 Hz

[ranisuraj02]

I have signed in to my account on the Spotify app (downloaded on my computer desktop), but am unable to play any songs I select. There is a pop-up notification that says, "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer, you can import it."

Plan

Family Plan

Country 

Hong Kong

Device

Samsung desktop - downloaded Spotify App

Operating System

Windows

My Question or Issue

I have signed in to my account on the Spotify app (downloaded on my computer desktop), but am unable to play any songs I select. There is a pop-up notification that says, "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer, you can import it."

[yuk2]

TURN OFF SMART SHUFFLE. SPOTIFY IS COOKED 

[dq2sew0qfdkiv58]

computer you can import it.