Desktop: New Your Library sidebar

[MattSuda]

Spotify is introducing a new Your Library sidebar in the desktop app and Web Player.

The new Your Library sidebar improves navigation and makes it easier and faster to collect and retrieve all types of content, bringing new features to desktop that you're already familiar with in the mobile app. The new sidebar is also more customizable than before to meet different preferences.

You can read more info about the new desktop experience in the Spotify Newsroom post:

➜ Spotify’s Desktop Experience Gets a Brand-New Look With Redesigned ‘Your Library’ and ‘Now Playing’ ...

This thread is your go-to destination for learning what's new, asking questions, getting help for issues you might have, as well as to share your feedback about the new Your Library sidebar for desktop. Also, do you have any tips for other users on how you are using the new Your Library sidebar? We'd love to hear them.

What's new in the Your Library sidebar?

• See your entire collection and all of the content types (not just playlists)
  
  
• Filters for your collection (Playlists, Artists, Albums, Podcasts) that can be combined with other filters (By you, By Spotify, Downloaded)
  
  
• Sort options for your collection (Recents, Recently Added, Alphabetical, Creator, Custom Order)
  
  
• Chosen filters and sort options will be remembered in the sidebar across restarts of the desktop app
  
  
• Search through your collection in the sidebar
  
  
• Pinned library items to find your favorites, faster – current limit is 4 (Playlists, Playlist Folders, Artists, Albums, Podcasts)
  
  
• Art covers are now shown in the sidebar
  
  
• Compact library layout (no art covers) is available as an option in Settings to increase content density
  
  
• Dedicated + (plus) button to create Playlists and Playlist Folders
  
  
• Flexible Sizing: A collapsed library view (with only art covers) to maximize the browsing area, a regular width view, and an expanded view for more focused library management and curation. (you can also drag to customize the size)
  
  
• In the expanded library view, you have options for list view, compact view, and a grid view. The list and compact views show you more details in 2 columns, Date Added and Last Played, and the grid view allows you to see larger art covers.
  
  
• Playlist Folders can still be expanded into the sidebar in a tree view, and now when you click on them, the sidebar only shows the Playlist Folder and what's inside for a more focused view.
  
  
• Menu option to move a playlist to a folder (with search)

Note: The Your Library sidebar experience will be the same for the most part in the Web Player. However, the Web Player does not support all of the features found in the desktop app. To be able to use all of the features, you can download the desktop app right here.

Tips to get started:

If you need a familiar experience to help you get started with the new Your Library sidebar, here's how to get it as close as possible to the old sidebar that previously only showed playlists:

• In the left "Your Library" sidebar, click on the "Playlists" filter at the top.

• Then, in the drop down menu select "Custom Order" under "Sort by". You will then see your previous playlist order and be able to move your playlists and folders like before.

• Your currently chosen filters and sort options will be remembered across restarts of the desktop app.

• If you would like to only see text in the Your Library sidebar (no art covers), go to the drop down menu and at the bottom of the menu click on "Compact" under "View as".

• Flexible Sizing: You can drag the Your Library sidebar to different sizes. Fully expand the sidebar by clicking the arrow button at the top, and fully collapse the sidebar by clicking on the "Your Library" heading to see only art covers.

• At the top, you can scroll through the different filters with your mouse scroll wheel for faster navigation when the sidebar is set to a smaller size. 

Walkthrough of the basics:

Sidebar List:

You can now see your entire collection and all of the content types (not just playlists) in the sidebar list. At the top, click on the filters to filter the content you want to see, and click on the drop down menu to change the sort order or view of the list. To create a new Playlist or Playlist Folder, click on the + (plus) button at the top right corner of the sidebar. To search through your collection, click on the search button.

Filter Options:

At the top, click on the filters to filter the content you want to see. You can scroll through the different filters with your mouse scroll wheel for faster navigation when the sidebar is set to a smaller size. 

To remove the filter, click on the X or the currently selected filter and then choose another filter to see another type of content. Having no filter selected will show all types of content mixed in the list.

• Playlists
• Artists
• Albums
• Podcasts & Shows
• These can be combined with other filters: By you, By Spotify, Downloaded

Sort Options:

At the top, click on the drop down menu to change the sort order of the list under "Sort by".

• Recents
• Recently Added
• Alphabetical
• Creator

When the "Playlists" filter is selected, you have the option to see your playlists in your own custom order.

• Custom Order

When the "Podcasts & Shows" filter is selected, you have the following option:

• Recently Updated

View Options:

At the top, click on the drop down menu to change the view of the list under "View as".

• Compact (view text only without art covers)
• List
• Grid (bigger art covers)

Flexible Sizing:

You can hover over and click on the right edge of the sidebar to drag it to your preferred width. You can also fully expand the sidebar by clicking the arrow button at the top, and fully collapse the sidebar by clicking on the "Your Library" heading to see only art covers.

In the expanded library view, you have options for list view, compact view, and a grid view. The list and compact views show you more details in 2 columns, Date Added and Last Played, and the grid view allows you to see larger art covers.

FAQ:

This section will answer your frequently asked questions and will be updated with the latest answers.

Related help articles on the support website:

• Your Library   • Sort and filter   • Keyboard Shortcuts

Can I view the Your Library page in the main browsing area like before?

• Unfortunately, the old Your Library page in the main browsing area is being discontinued with the release of the new Your Library sidebar. You can adjust the size of the Your Library sidebar to be bigger and you can also enable the "grid view" if you would like to see bigger art covers.

How do I see only my playlists in the sidebar like I used to be able to, I can't drag and move my playlists or folders anymore?

• In the left "Your Library" sidebar, click on the "Playlists" filter at the top.

  
  Then, in the sort options drop down menu select "Custom Order". You will then see your previous playlist order and be able to move your playlists and folders like before.

  
  Your currently chosen filters and sort options will be remembered across restarts of the desktop app.

I don't want to see art cover images in the sidebar, how do I turn them off?

• If you would like to only see text in the Your Library sidebar (no art covers), go to the drop down menu and at the bottom of the menu click on "Compact" under "View as".
  
  

How do I get the album art to expand in the bottom left corner like before? When I try to expand the album art, it opens the Now Playing View sidebar to the right.

• Unfortunately, that is no longer possible. When you expand the album art in the bottom left corner of the app, it will no longer hover over the Your Library sidebar. Instead, the new right sidebar will open up. You can resize the Now Playing View sidebar to your preferred size.
  
  

  You can read more information about this by going here.

How do I play or shuffle play a Playlist Folder now? (I don't see dedicated pages with play / shuffle options anymore)

• Right click on a Playlist Folder and select the "Play" option. To shuffle play, make sure to turn on the shuffle mode first before selecting the "Play" option in the right click menu.

How do I get to my Local Files now?

• In the left "Your Library" sidebar, click on the "Playlists" filter at the top.

  
  Then, in the sort drop down select "Custom Order".
  
  The "Local Files" playlist will be near the top of the list under your pinned items (if any).

Feedback:

Where can I give my feedback about the new Your Library sidebar in the desktop app?

• We welcome your feedback about this change. The best way to share your feedback is to comment here in this thread.

[EdoGracis]

The sidebar looks really messy, counterintuitive and unpleasant to scroll:
• I'm not interested at all to see all the contents in one place, the result is a messy list of elements (attached picture) really hard to surf.

• Even if I use the tags to filter the contents, it's really annoying not having a personalized arrangement of the library!! Folders are fine, but I need to be able to decide the order of my playlist as I want, just like before!

• Top menu has only Home and Search, but it was totally fine to have more elements that allowed to have a tidier library: favorite songs, podcasts and so are useful shortcuts!! Why putting them all together in one chaotic place??

[Kristian_O]

I've been on Spotify for only two years, but this is by far the worst change in that period. Why this urge to annoy the users? Is it because Spotify doesn't really want customers? If so, wouldn't it be easier to just to close down the company? 

[Calicu]

This sidebar layout is something that works fine for mobile/tablet, definitely not for desktop though.

I loved to access my playlists and albums separate, because I tend to navigate my playlists through names and albums through their cover artworks.

All the sidebar update gave me were tons of annoying extra clicks that I have to make in order to toggle between  filters to access either albums or playlists, then expand or collapse the view and change the display mode before I can browse through stuff. And the way the tile display takes up more than half of the screen space anyway I really don't understand why this was moved to the sidebar. All this does is clutter the screen! If I want to browse albums or playlists in tile view I don't need the page I was previously on to my right! And if I do, I could go back with one click the way it was before the update!

I could go on, but to sum it up: this sidebar update is not user friendly at all for desktop users and it annoys me greatly.

[lesquishy]

Every UI update, It gets worse. It always surprises me how they can continuously take 1 step forward and 3 steps back. Blend with another user, Awesome feature. But my word, the features aren't enough to save me from jumping this ship. This barely makes sense as a mobile experience let alone desktop. I don't understand why they feel the need to cram so many filter buttons in one area (all of which are useless, Its not an item you need to have quick access to, its set and forget) Yet have the search under as its own separate menu.

Go back a few years, Yes the UI needed a refresh. But every step of the way, its become a lot more crowded and unintuitive.

Please fix, No one wants this. 

[Chuck2389]

Like almost everyone else in this thread, I too think this was a silly update that wasn't properly tested before being launched. I'm curious, does Spotify ever officially respond to threads like this or are we all just complaining with no chance of anything being done about it?

[FaIsMe]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Windows Desktop

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I'd like to be able to scroll through my library of albums/artists and drag+drop songs into my library of playlists. With the new update, I can only view one thing (albums/artists OR playlists) at a time: I have the sidebar showing artists, I select and artist, view their songs, and then have nowhere to drag the songs to because the sidebar is still showing artists. I have to either go back and forth in the sidebar between artists and playlists, OR use the right-click option. Both take multiple clicks, rather than just a simple drag+drop. Am I the only one who hates this? Any advice? 

[pokemanzz]

This UI change is bizarre. It feels like the mobile layout was 1:1 pasted to desktop with very little critical thought into how the navigation experiences differ. 90% of navigation for me is no shoved into the bottom left 10% of the screen and the rest of the page feels like dead weight. Was the goal here to push more user engagement into curated content? Pushing it in users faces is a big turn off and will probably have the opposite effect. Please remove the merge of playlists and albums into one small filter-able list. Please allow me to navigate *my* library with the larger portion of the screen as was allowed before. 

[MorTex]

I love this new function seriously, cant wait until it relases I really want it back.

[DarthSRN]

A massive downgrade for your desktop users to make things more like mobile. If I wanted something more like the mobile experience I would use mobile (minus the fact you break the Android app with test changes all the time). I loathe these new changes, it is less user-friendly, and the fact that there is now no way to browse my library with anything more than half the screen is just stupid. I would even understand if this was just the change to the sidebar (which I still dislike) but losing any way to just look through my library with the full app is genuinely the first change that has made me consider looking into a different music platform. Terrible changes all around, as usual.

[Scientificmagic]

This is downright awful on desktop. My library once took up the main screen reducing the amount to scroll. Now it's been sidelined and hard maxed to ~35% of my display which is absolutely stupid. Browsing my music shouldn't be this annoying, and the main panel is practically useless now.

[Huothar]

We're past April for you to treat us like fools. Spotify desktop can't even load my profile! Crashes immediately! Well done.

[jdspillsthetea]

I don't have the same complaints about the library as everyone else, I actually quite like that part, but the way the now-playing album art is implemented is truly heinous when it's at full size. The way it grotesquely hovers over library content and the song list and blocks the song names (if the sidebar is collapsed) or if you pull the sidebar out it stays the same size exposing the playlists behind it is just sloppy. Make the album art extend with the size of the sidebar like it did in the prior design and it'd be all good. 

My other complaint is that the option to take Spotify fullscreen seems to be gone with is a shame and I would like to see it back! 

[myxomato]

It would be great if I could sort my saved albums by genre. I do not feel like Spotify makes the album listening experience easy to navigate within the user library. Right now, all my saved albums are an organizational nightmare. 

[vaajy]

jdspillsthetea

Newbie

I still have option to use Spotify full screen with this. Have you tried reinstalling it?

[Glass_hugh]

Wow! Thanks a lot! This is the most helpful answer by far. You're legend, man!

[MaximevanIngen]

So I seem to be the only one that preferred the new Library view, but it has disappeared. I had it for a few days so my podcast would show in the sidebar, but now it's back to playlist. I use the desktop app mostly for podcasts, is there a way I can make it show podcasts instead of playlist. Or a way I can force the new Library view to show for me? Uninstall didn't help

[vincent_the_satanist]

I applied a filter and my library sidebar is stuck like this please god help
Steps to reproduce
1. Go to spotify web app

2. Go to library sidebar

3. Apply a filter

[GrimRepeater]

The library sidebar would be OK if I could make it full screen like the previous Library page. Or if I could still view the full library page. The album cover grid scroll library page is why I've been a Spotify subscriber for almost 10 years, it's my favorite feature. The desktop app now looks like such a mess with the now playing panel taking up so much space, and the album artwork lazily placed over the weirdly small library sidebar. Very disappointed in this UI change, it seems so hastily implemented. 

[gerxi]

This has always been possible with the old desktop app. However, with the latest release its completely removed only allowing you to sort your playlists and folders by Recents, Recently added, Alphabetical and Creator (much like the mobile app). This is sort of combated with being able to "Pin" a folder or a playlist, regardless, its completely useless since you can only pin four at a time. Also, seeing as you can't order your pins, its completely redundant. 

You are still able to use custom order inside a folder, however having it as an option in MY LIBRARY would be perfect.

[username145632]

in my opinion, this update is absolutely horrible, I would really appreciate if there was an option to change it back to the old version.