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.

[lukaswil]

I think I have found a temporary resolution to this issue. Turn off "Smart Shuffle" then play the songs you cant play. Then turn "Smart Shuffle" back on and the songs should be playable.

If you have shuffle turned off, cycle through the shuffle options then play your song that was unplayable. The app seems to lag or freeze for a second then recover after this action when the issue is present.

[lukaswil]

For me, I found going into your audio settings, clicking on your output device, and disabling any "effects" worked.

[perlesvals]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

Device

(iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy 9, Macbook Pro late 2016)

Operating System

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

I keep recieving a warning that "Spotify can´t play this right now. If you have the file in your computer you can import it". Does this mean that Spotify has erased my programs?

[Kalgi]

i cant play several songs in my desktop account. however, i can play those songs in my phone. 

[SonicTonias]

Sorry for the late reply.

Hey folks, the only thing that helped me so far was resetting the speaker settings to the Windows default (assuming you have Windows). I've tried everything else, including:
1. Reinstalling Spotify
2. Logging in and out several times
3. Setting Spotify settings to "Default"
4. Restarting the device
5. Deleting the local host settings
6. And everything else you can find in support and online on this topic
I hope this helps all of you who have this problem and have a great time with Spotify
Best regards, J.

[31uvw3qywjwhnlgia5cr]

Current version

Spotify for Windows (64 bit) 1.2.71.421.g794ff5e5

Plan

Free

Country

Romania

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I`m using the installer downloaded from your website, and for a week or so i`m getting this error posted in the title. It came with a new update. For now i`m using the web version.

I tried clearing the cache, re-installing the app, i checked the bitdefender, nothing works.

Please don't suggest using the microsoft store version, MSS is blocked.

[Cirrusphere]

Short Version: The MaxxAudioPro application on Dell computers has streaming effects that may be interfering. Disable them.

Thank you fajita_47citronne for providing the clue I needed. I found that on my Dell computer the MaxxAudioPro application _did_ have audio effects, under the Streaming section, which once I disabled them allowed me to hear my music again finally. I've been struggling with this for almost 2 years now!

[defdawk]

I was unable to change anything about the kHZ stuff, as mine only showed 16bit and 24bit only at 48000. However, going to Control Panel->Sound->Speaker->Properties->Spatial Sound and enabled the option to turn it on. It fixed it this way for me. I have a Windows 11 on a Lenon Thinkpad Yoga x1 from like 2018.

[spremuta]

I finally found the solution after digging through all the subreddits and dozens of pages on the Spotify forum. After trying everything, I discovered that all I had to do was reinstall Spotify from the installer downloadable from the website. DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT FROM THE MICROSOFT STORE.

[Horleryeeday]

It works for me too, thank you. 

[vtudor22]

I thought it was mentioned several times by everybody that we tried to reinstall and all that.  Are we talking chinese?  Was it not clear that it is not a solution?

[averagecapybara]

What a great way to shift responsibility on your community! Nothing works and company doesn't want to do anything about it, not to say they don't even have anyone to help you with their junk app and you have to help yourself with other members of community 🤣. If you somehow find a way here. But yeah about the problem, app again doesn't want to play literally anything and I tried literally everything, should I just use web version that is broken and leaks RAM all the time at this point?

[eco_freak20]

Plan

Premium Duo

Country

USA

Device

Dell Latitude 7390

Operating System

Win 11 x64 bit, ver 24H2

My Question or Issue: When using the Windows Spotify application, the error, "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it," shows as seen here:

Solution: I spoke with a representative on 04-OCT-2025 from Spotify to troubleshoot, and this is what ended up working for me.

Context: I installed ver 24H2 Win 11 a week prior and had been unable to play music on my app because of this message. The audio would not play past 0:00.

The rep and I found that my music would play if I used the Spotify webplayer.

For solving this problem as of Oct 2025, the following steps worked for me:

1. Quit out of the Spotify app by clicking File>Quit from the top left corner.
2. Press the Windows key + I to access Settings. Navigate to Apps>Installed apps>Spotify>Uninstall. Select Uninstall and allow any prompts that follow. Exit Settings following Uninstall.
3. Press the Windows key, and in the search bar, query %AppData. Click on the associated file that pops up. This opens the AppData folder within File Explorer.
4. Within the subfolders "Local" and "Roaming," clear any remaining Spotify program files you see. The uninstall should have cleared everything but sometimes artifacts remain.
5. In the address bar, copy (Ctrl + C) and paste (Ctrl + V) the following path: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\ . This will bring you to the DriverStore folder.
6. Find the "FileRepository" folder, right click this. A menu will pop up that begins with "View". Hover your mouse over the option "Properties" and click. A new Properties window will open for the FileRepository folder.
7. In the top part of the window, click on the "Security" tab. Left click on the option "Everyone" in the Group or Usernames window. Click the button just below this window that says "Edit Permissions".
8. Highlight "Everyone," and ensure that all access checkboxes are allowed. Hit Apply. This may not fully execute/succeed. That's okay. If it fails, select Cancel, as this will return you to the Properties window. Hit Okay to close the Security Window, then exit the Properties window.
9. Quit File Explorer.
10. Press the Windows key again, and query Device Manager. Open the program.
11. In Device Manager, navigate to the down arrow to the left of Audio inputs and outputs>Speakers / Headphones. Mine are Realtek Audio. Right click this "Speakers / Headphones" device, and select Uninstall device. Approve any prompts that follow. Quit the Device Manager.
12. For your applicable system (Dell, HP, Logitech, etc), query on Google for "Speakers / Headphones (Realtek Audio) driver download". In this case, I was brought to the Dell Support subsite for the audio driver: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=ddg39
    
    1. IMPERATIVE: Ensure you are downloading the compatible driver for your OS. On the bottom of my laptop I have a service tag barcode. I input that code to the search bar on the Dell Support webpage and selected the applicable, compatible driver based on the new query.
13. When downloading the driver, a popup of File Explorer will appear. Copy and paste this address into the address bar: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository . Press the Save button.
14. When the download completes, again open File Explorer. Copy and paste this address into the address bar: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository . Press the Date Modified button. This will sort your files by most recently modified. Double click and install the audio driver you just downloaded. Mine is named "Realtek-High-Definition-Audio-Driver_88MRG_WIN_6.0.9107.1_A26_01". Follow any applicable prompts from the installer application. You will need to restart your computer, the installer will do this for you.
15. After restarting, the installer will open again on startup. Allow it to finish its install, then exit the installer.
16. Head to a Widevine enabled browser, such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox, and click here: https://www.spotify.com/de-en/download/windows/ . Under the Download from Microsoft Store button, click Download directly from Spotify. A File Explorer window will render with the Spotify Installer being saved to your Downloads folder. Press the Save button. The window will close.
17. Open your Downloads folder from File Explorer. Locate and double-click the Spotify installer application. Log into Spotify on the app once installed.
18. I successfully was able to play my music from here.

Apologies for a lengthy and technically advanced solution, but I hope this helps others experiencing this issue. Thanks for reading, and if anyone has further comments or fixes I'm happy to continue the conversation!

[silvyana]

Buenas tardes.

Me pasa el mismos mensaje; "spotify no puede reproducir esto en este momento. Si tienes el archivo en el ordenador puedes importar”.

Me ocurre con la app de Spotify.

Me ocurre con los archivos locales, la ruta donde se encuentran esta activa en Configuración - Añadir una fuente - ....

Tengo un mac con SO; MacOS Big Sur, versión 11.7.10.

Espero poder seguir oyendo mis archivos locales en Spotify.

Gracias

Muchas gracias

[silvyana]

RESUELTO

He quitado los enlaces o URL´s y las he vuelto a establecer.

[silvyana]

No puedo editar el post anterior, mis disculpas.

NO, NO..., NO ESTA RESUELTO

Ha sido una casualidad, pero se ha detallado el problema, solo funciona si reproduzco en el propio mac, si elijo los altavoces SONOS volvemos al problema.

Saludos

[silvyana]

Aqui se ilustra.

[Andy4kT]

Please help I’m having the same issue but on a windows computer.

[alexgansberg]

This is most definitely not the solution. Even with audio in the correct range, Spotify still wouldn't play. Another user recommended plugging and unplugging the headphones. I can confirm this somehow fixed it, for both playing on speakers and headphones.