Windows 10, Spotify freezes PC randomly after Creators Update

[xamperia]

After I updated to the latest version of Windows 10, namely the creators update, the spotify desktop app completely freezes my PC while playing music (seemigly at random). It makes weird static noises and then everything freezes and I have to hit the reset button. I tried the following:

• disabling Hardware acceleration
• reinstalling the Spotify app
• Reinstalling/updating the video-card ( AMD if that matters)
• Reinstalling/updating the audio-driver

I tried checking the Event log, but except the messages for me restarting the computer, nothing shows up. For now I'm using the web player, but I'd rather use the app. Can anyone help?

BG

[thaddeusmace]

Thank You!!!
Couldn't figure it out so I was using Spotify online for the past month or so.. - and that kinda sucks!
SUPER EASY FIX!! (seems to working so far!)  It just did it all by itself (as good robots should)   My non-techy brain need this along with the superior musical listening experience it had formerly become so well accustomed to..  ❤️ Spotify!!
Here's the link to the app for Windows/PC:y'all. Thanks Again!!
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/spotify-music/9ncbcszsjrsb

[Prydwyn]

Just had an online chat with Spotify. Here is the transcript. They have promised to email me within 24 hours, so we'll see what happens and I'll let you know...

Info: Thanks for choosing to chat with us. An advisor will be with you shortly.
Info: Hey there! Thanks for contacting Spotify Support. You're chatting with Jane N.

NOTE: So we don't get disconnected, please do not navigate away to another browser or app during this chat.
Info: Why does the Spotify app completely lock my PC so that I have to do a hard reboot? This has been going on for months, yet I am still paying premium subscription for this service. Deezer does not have this problem, so why do you, when you have been around for so much longer? I am getting very frustrated with your poor quality software for Windows PC and am very close to cancelling my subscription. Some immediate help would be appreciated. You seem to be ignoring the relevant forum posts on this matter, in which I have made several posts as have others, so I know it is not an isolated issue. If there is a problem, please acknowledge it at least, and let us know an eta on a fix. If it is a compatibility issue then please post an article on how to resolve it.

Info:
You: Is anyone there?
Jane N: Sorry, please bear with me as I read your message. Thanks.
You: ok
Jane N:

Sorry to hear if your Spotify app is acting app on your computer. Let me see what I can do to help.

Jane N:

It would be great of you could provide further information of what's happening.

You: I start the Spotify app. I start listening to music. The app stops responding after a few minutes. I can't pause, or change tracks. Then my whole pc freezes. The clock stops (literally - the second hand stops moving). My mouse freezes. My keyboard doesn't work. I have to power-cycle my PC to recover.
Jane N: Thank you for holding on a few more minutes. Please don't go to another app or browser window or we could become disconnected.
You: ok
You: from past experience, we'll only get disconnected if you ask me to launch the Spotify app..
Jane N: I'm still working on this. Please bear with me a little bit longer, and stay on this screen so we don't get disconnected.
You: what tier are you? If you are first tier, I have gone through this before without resolution. Can you escalate please?
Jane N: I can see that you previously contacted us. Do you mind if I read your previous chats?
You: you'll find that they are incomplete. Each chat the agent asked me to launch the app. I did as they asked, my computer locked and I had to do a hard reboot, thus disconnecting. I uninstalled the app, and went to Deezer as they gave me 3 months for 99p - never had a problem. That offer has now expired. I re-installed he Spotify app a few days ago, (sort of) expecting that it might have been fixed in the last three months, but apparently not.
Jane N: Thanks for sharing this information. Please bear with me for a couple of minutes while I check backstage.
You: ok
Jane N:

Thanks.

You: That's 10 minutes now...
Jane N:

Apologies of the long wait.

Jane N:

Since most of the troubleshooting has been performed, I recommend to clear the cache on your device and reinstall the app.

You: That's ok - just to let you know that I work in IT support so I'd rather you tell me what you are doing. If you need 10 minutes, tell me rather that say "a couple" and make an annoyed customer even more annoyed. It's also why I would rather chat with 2nd or 3ed tier support.
You: Already down that more than once. The last time I went and unnistalled the app, cleared the cahe, went through and deleted all references to Spotify from my registry and deleted all Spotify folders. I re-installed the app and had the same problem immediatley
You: But I'll do it agin if you want me to...
Jane N:

I see. Apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you. What I can do is to make a report about this issue. Someone from our Escalation Team will be in contact via email in the next 24 hours.

You: Ok - the app is uninstalled, and I've cleared the cache. I've never had any email help before. I would prefer to resolve this now, so please escalate to next tier if you cannot help me.
Jane N:

Apologies, however, we currently don't have Escalation Team via chat. In order to escalate this issue, I would have to file a report and you can  expect a response from one of our Escalation folks.

You: Ok - I'll play ball for now. I expect an email within 24 hours from someone who can actually resolve this.
Jane N:

Would there be anything else that I can help you with today?

You: not for now. I will be saving this chat for later reference.
Jane N:

Thanks for your understanding. You can also take of this reference #XXXXXXXXXX. I'll make sure to put this issue as the highest priority.

You: Thank you.
Jane N:

You're welcome. Thanks for getting in touch with us, John. If you need anything else, you know where to find us. We're just one click away!

Take care!

You: I've just posted a transcript o my forum thread, so that other having the same problem can see what you are doing to resolve this.

[St3v3s4n]

The Desktop version of spotify just hangs up on my win 10. Sound continues to play, but no inputs on the ui are accepted any longer.

So I switched to the app from the win 10 store. loads faster, runs smoother. After being happy for 10 mins, the whole thing starts over again. No more user input recognized, and this time I even got a full freeze of my whole computer.

Spotify has those problems for years now... It is really disappointing to see, that such a big company cant solve this problem 😞

Pleas guys, you ahve a fantastic service, which sucks on windows. Please, do something about it. Thx!

[Prydwyn]

Ok, After 22 hours and 45 Minutes, I hadn't received any emails. This is my conversation that I have just had. Just to let you all know, the agent I was chatting with ended the chat from his end - he basically hung up on me.

Info: Thanks for choosing to chat with us. An advisor will be with you shortly.
Info: Hey there! Thanks for contacting Spotify Support. You're chatting with Rhoderick E.

NOTE: So we don't get disconnected, please do not navigate away to another browser or app during this chat.
Info: I refer you to #429551203 from yesterday. I was told I would be contacted via email in the next 24 hours. It is now 22 hours and 45 minutes and I haven't yet been contacted.

Info:
Rhoderick E:

Hi, John. I'm sorry to hear you haven't received any contact from us, so I'll do everything I can to help you out.

Rhoderick E:

Let me just read through your previous interaction. Can you give me 3 to 5 minutes?

You: that's fine.
Rhoderick E:

Thank you.

Rhoderick E:

Thank you for waiting.

Rhoderick E: It seems our app is causing your Windows desktop to lock. I've also seen that you've already tried all the troubleshooting steps that was recommended, concluding in having to refer your case to our Specialty team.
You: That's correct. I was told that I would be contacted by your escalation team via email in the next 24 hours. My chat ended this morning at 00.09 hours, and it is now 22.55 hours. So your escalation team now have 1 hour and 15 minutes (give or take a minute or so) to contact me.
Rhoderick E:

I understand. And I really do apologize that your expectations weren't clearly set, since our Specialty team are operational only during business hours. This means that they'll be contacting you on Monday.

You: Not good enough.
You: From my experience so far, it seems that "Spotify" and "Customer Service" are two mutually exclusive terms.
Rhoderick E:

I'm really very sorry to hear that. I wish there's something we can do for you right now, but I can see that you've already performed all the troubleshooting steps possible to resolve the issue.

You: Now you are repeating yourself. You have already said that. Please escalate this now to your top tier support. I want to chat with someone who can help.
Rhoderick E:

As much as I'd want to, our top team support is our Specialty team, and they can only reach out to you through email (not to mention that they operate during business hours).

Rhoderick E:

If you wish, I can create another report and submit it to them once our chat concludes. Would john-66@gmx.com be a good email address to contact you with?

You: Here is the exact quote from my previous conversation with Jane N yesterday evening, ending 00.
You: ending 00.09 this morning: Jane N: I see. Apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you. What I can do is to make a report about this issue. Someone from our Escalation Team will be in contact via email in the next 24 hours.
You: They now have 1 hour and 1 minute to contact me.
Rhoderick E: Thank you for holding on a few more minutes. Please don't go to another app or browser window or we could become disconnected.
You: Rule 1 of Customer Service: "Don't make promises you cannot keep"
Rhoderick E: I'm still working on this. Please bear with me a little bit longer, and stay on this screen so we don't get disconnected.
You: Don't worry. I am not going anywhere.
You: Your escalation team now has 55 minutes left...
Rhoderick E:

I understand, but I'm trying to set your expectations that they'll be reaching out to you on Monday. For now, would you like me to submit another report?

You: That depends. What benefit would I gain by you doing so?
Rhoderick E:

To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm hoping that by submitting another report, it'd prompt them to contact you as early as possible come Monday.

You: And as for my expectations, I refer you again to my conversation from yesterday: Jane N: I see. Apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you. What I can do is to make a report about this issue. Someone from our Escalation Team will be in contact via email in the next 24 hours. ***Next 24 Hours*** There are now 40 minutes remaining. That is my expectation.
Rhoderick E:

I understand, and I'm sorry to hear it wasn't clarified during that time that our escalation team only operates during business hours.

You: Just as a point of curiosity - do any of you check the forums? I refer you to this thread: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Linux-Windows-Web-Player/Windows-10-Spotify-freezes-PC-rand...
You: But I am at work on Monday. What hours will your team be contacting me?
Rhoderick E:

My apologies. I'm unable to pull up that site right now; I'm getting the message that the forums are currently closed for maintenance. But I get your point.

You: They are not closed. I have gust gone thereto get the URL.
Rhoderick E:

Let me try again.

Rhoderick E:

Okay, that loaded fine this time. And I can see that you've posted your previous chat on that page.

You: And this chat will get posted also.
Rhoderick E:

I understand.

You: If we are paying you, we expect service.
You: 40 minutes left.
Rhoderick E: I understand that. As for the time frame which you'll be contacted on, may I ask when you'd prefer to be contacted? Mind you, by asking this question, I'm not guaranteeing that they will reach out to you on that precise time period; but they'll do their best to accommodate it.
You: I would prefer to be contacted in the next 39 minutes as I was told yesterday.
Rhoderick E:

I see. In that case, is there anything else I can help you with?

You: In other words, you are not going to help me?
Rhoderick E:

The best thing I can do for you right now is to submit another report. Aside from that, I'm afraid I'd have to end this chat as we have other customers waiting.

You: Let me put it another way. No, there is not anything else you can help me with. Just the problem that I am currently experiencing.
You: And I am also waiting.
You: And you now want me to wait until Monday.
You: despite what I was told yesterday: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Linux-Windows-Web-Player/Windows-10-Spotify-freezes-PC-rand...
Rhoderick E:

I'm sorry to hear that, but since there's nothing else I can help you with, thanks for getting in touch. Should you have other questions, feel free to chat with us.

Info: Thank you for chatting with us! You know where to find us the next time you need help.

[St3v3s4n]

I disabled hardware acceleration in the win 10 app. It is running stable for almost half an hour for now. Maybe it really was the hardware acceleration...

[_M-I-K-I_]

@ St3v3s4n 

It doesn't matter whether hardware acceleration is turned off or not. This issue hapens again and again. Sometimes after 20 min. listeing to music, sometimes after 3 hrs.

I've forund temporary solution. Please see attached screenshot. 

If usage of memory RAM is higher than 500 MB, just close app, and restart Spotify.

Yes it's tiring soultion, but Your PC will not freeze.

High Usage of RAM 

[nls123]

Still no solution, right?

darn, Spotify...

(yea yea: reinstalled, cleared caches, tried windows store app, yadda-yadda - it still crashes my pc again and again)

[markojak]

Hi All,

OK So I found the root cause of this problem and a solution

A) First uninstall Spotify and then delete this folder:
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Spotify 

(Also accessible by start -> run -> %appdata%

b) Uninstall any Antivirus you have. I had ESET NOD32 Endpoint security which was causing a problem with the firewall fitltering

C) Reinstall spotify and check

D) Try a different antivirus or one without a firewall

[St3v3s4n]

That I tried already twice and it didnt solve my problem. But thx non the less ofr sharing your solution!

What for now solved my problem was switching to the app from the win10 app store and disable hardware acceleration. Working flawless for days now. Keeping fingers crossed! 🙂

[nls123]

nope, nothing worked. Still crashes the system after five minutes.

You had *one* job, Spotify. darn, how hard can it be. 😞

[JamnJim]

Glad I found this forum. I have been having the same issue since the Windows 10 Creators update and I was thinking Spotify had something to do with it. My PC has crashed at various times - every time the Spotify app was open. I removed it last week and have had no crashes, but now I am left with no option other than to pursue using Deezer, or something else that is reliable. Looks like I'll be cancelling my subscription with Spotify. Sigh...

[Chrissiebondyog]

Glad to hear you had success and thanks for the link. Just tried it, and guess what, my computer crashed before the app fully installed.... 😞

[alexnicacio]

Same here....

[Sci]

The solution solved nothing for me. I launch the app, the front end process and five background process (four labeled spotify and one spotify web helper) start up, the window opens and looks like this for a couple minutes while my disk usage amps up to 100% and most of the time the computer freezes, then the app closes without my input and the computer returns to normal.

Edit: a day later it decided to start working for no apparant reason.

[Kouen]

My problem was fixed when i have done that, and also disabled hardware acceleration.

[casteandres]

At the time of controlling the lists is much better the program, is all organized, but those who have this problem can only use Spotify by google chorome, so they can do the following listen to music by the web browser, and control it from the program

Connect to device
Listen on
Select web browser

I hope it is of help for someone, greetings to all and hope this problem is solved

[doncs]

I was having the same problem. For me it was a combination of having to turn off hardware acceleration and unblocking Spotify in the Windows Firewall.

Even after uninstalling and resinstalling, the Firewall was still blocking. Open Windows Firewall (control panel) -> Advances Settings -> Inbound Rules. I had 2 Spotify Rules that needed to be unblocked (righ click -> properties and 'Allow the connection' under Action). They should look like this afterwards:

[wdylkt]

I've downloaded the app in Windows Store. At first it went well but the next time I used my laptop, it freezes again. Now I have to use Spotify either on my phone or use it via web browser. Please fix this Spotify.. me and everyone are waiting for your answer. I've been using your app since 2015, don't make me go to another streaming service.

[PraiseAssembly7]

Where did you find the App? I am not seeing it in the Windows store. 

[Kouen]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/spotify/9wzdncrfj4wk

Spotify app and url to microsoft store. Microsoft store is sometimes dumb. But if you look forward in google "spotify windows 10 app microsoft store" it'll show up. Kind regards