Users getting a black screen when trying to watch music videos on full screen

[Yordan]

We've received reports from Windows users who are getting a black screen when trying to watch videos in full screen mode on the desktop app.

[Yordan]

Hi everyone,

Our tech team is currently looking into this. In the meantime, you can try the following workaround discovered by our fellow Community members @dagermohamed and @twisted2777 - that should do the trick:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. In the new window that shows up, type the following: SystemPropertiesAdvanced and press Enter.
3. Under "Performance", make sure Animate controls and elements inside windows is switched on.
   
   

As always, we'll keep you folks posted as soon as we have any updates, so make sure to add your vote and Subscribe to the thread from the three dots menu to stay tuned 👍

[sbrockway]

Plan

Free

Country

U.S.A.

Device

Laptop

Operating System

Windows 11

My Question or Issue

A couple weeks ago I noticed that the Expand Now Playing view button resulted in a black/absent/missing video, where it used to expand the video for the video podcasts I listen to. The video plays fine in the embedded/standard Now Playing window, but expanded or full screen do not show anything. Screenshots below.
There are 2 Expand buttons (top of view, and overlain on video), but both result in the same outcome.
I did try the reinstall directions found here: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Windows/Troubleshooting-Windows/td-p/532796

[dagermohamed]

I had the same problem, and I have solved it.

Steps: 

1. Type "edit the system environment variables" in the search bar, then click on it
2. Below the Performance tab click on Settings
3. Click on "Let Windows choose what's best for your computer", then click apply

[AlejaR]

Hey there @sbrockway,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

We understand you performed a clean reinstall of the app, but we'd like to check, have you followed these steps? If you haven't, give it a try.

If that doesn’t do the trick, keep in mind it's possible to download the app from both the Microsoft Store and our web page here. So, in this case, if you installed the desktop app from the web page, try to uninstall that version and try installing the one from the Microsoft one or vice versa.

Now, if the issue persists, we'd like to gather some additional info. Please send us:

• The exact Spotify version you're running on your computer.
• Does this happen when playing a specific show? If yes, share with us the link to it.
• Is this happening over WiFi? Ethernet? Both? Does this happen if you change the internet connection you're using? If possible, you can create a hotspot on your phone and connect your computer to it, to see if you notice any difference.

Keep us in the loop!

[dfaskjlsdfjkalfjadk]

THANK YOU

[Thoemsi]

I have the same problem, on laptop and desktop (Windows 11). Clean install from different sources didn't help.

- Spotify for Windows (64 bit) 1.2.62.580.gb27ad23e

- It happens with all video podcasts.

- Both, wifi and ethernet.

- Mobile hotspot too.

Thanks for fixing.

[AlejaR]

Hey there @Thoemsi,

Thanks for your reply here and welcome.

You can also try the following to see if you notice any difference:

• Clearing the host files. You can follow these steps for that.
• Try running the app in Safe Mode with Networking to rule out any issues with your default Windows settings and basic device drivers. Follow this guide to do it.

If the above doesn't do the trick, we'd like to gather some additional info:

• Do you use a VPN service? If yes, try setting Spotify as an exception. Keep in mind Spotify doesn't officially support VPN. This means that issues with the app while using VPN are expected behavior.
• Does this happen when using the web player?
• Does this happen on a different computer? You can ask for the computer of a relative or a friend to open your account there and check.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply!

[Thoemsi]

• No relevant host entries
• I'm unable to start the laptop in safe mode with networking.
• No VPN
• No, web player works fine. (It's also way faster when playing music, but unfortunately lacks some features.)
  • Also, Miniplayer works fine. (But it's very unusable. Resizing nightmare.)
• Yes, as mentioned it happens on laptop and desktop.

[AlejaR]

Hey there @Thoemsi,

Thanks for all the info you've shared with us.

We really appreciate all the steps you've followed so far. As the next step, we'd recommend trying to flush your DNS cache. To do it, you can follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows key + r.
2. Type CMD, or command prompt, in the Windows search bar.
3. Now run the command prompt with administrative rights.
4. Next, type ipconfig/flushDNS and run the command by pressing the Enter key.
5. Wait for the DNS cache to be flushed and exit the command prompt.
6. Afterward, open Spotify and verify if this behavior persists.

If this behavior persists, we'd like to continue isolating this behavior, so please send us the following:

• Does this happen if you open a different account on the affected devices to see if you can replicate it? You can also create a free test account to check if the issue persists there.
• Did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event such as an OS update?
• Send us a video recording of what's happening on your side. You can attach the video to your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public, so we can visualize it.

We'll be arround!

[Thoemsi]

DNS flushed, nothing changed.

But it works with a different account!

Video of the problem with my premium account attached.

[MihailY]

Hey @Thoemsi,

Thanks for your response and the video.

Can you also try disabling hardware acceleration, running the app as administrator and in compatibility mode with Windows 10?

@sbrockway, are you still experiencing the issue?

Keep us posted.