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.

[fromthedark]

Plan

Premium

Operating System

(Windows)

My Question or Issue

I don't have any words for this atrocity of a new and "improved" layout. If you want to lose a continuous number of users then go ahead, Spotify. I'm using Spotify since 2017 and after many layout changes I thought it couldn't become much worse, but today I was proven wrong. Give people at least the option to decide for them if they want that abomination of an UI or not. And after all that, I don't even have the option to install an older version because it's now forcefully updating on it's own! It is a new rock bottom for Spotify again.

[barnes]

Not only does this new interface make everything more difficult by adding extra steps in order to find some music, but this is the icing on the cake - the 'misaligned' album cover feature. It doesn't make logical or visual sense and there's no seamless flow to the interface - it looks so messy. This is extremely hard for someone with accessibility issues to navigate, which is something the UX/UI team should have carefully considered while designing this!

[alex_445]

The new sidebar may not be as terrible as many users write here, but the way the redesign was forced on us is really havy underground!

I was busy the last 2 weeks to research a setting error. But I had only found references to the redesign of 2021.
After that I tried x-times to uninstall and reinstall the desktop app.  All without success.

Next I wanted to delete my family-account and maybe sign in again…

The Spotify support is really, really well hidden - but when I finally got more than the FAQ and community references, I was able to amuse myself for half an hour with a support bot that really has no AI at all.😓

And then finally there was a human support employee, who after half an hour chat of the always same "problem description" and screenshots could state:

This may be not a bug, this may be a feature!

„We are constantly testing possible improvements, so you or someone else may see something new or temporarily get a limited feature in the app.“

Thanks her for the link to this post by @MattSuda! (and "He is not a Spotify employee"!?!)!

Both "thumbs up" for this blog post!
Now, that I'm not looking for a bug in the app, I can possibly get on board with the redesign . The future will show.

But all my "thumbs down" for the Spotify marketing team, that's no way to treat your customers!

[Ghillied]

Please I beg you give us the option to change it back to the old layout at least I can't stand the new layout, I've been using spotify for so many years this change is awful.

[endosage]

Why remove what I recently listened to though? PLEASE do not **bleep** I'm constantly using! YOU CAN TRACK WHAT PEOPLE DO IN YOUR APP, LISTEN TO THEIR ACTIONS, NOT YOUR NEED FOR PROFIT.

[endosage]

* DO NOT REMOVE THINGS I AM CONSTANTLY USING

[maxartist23]

In the past, when you clicked up/down and selected a playlist, the artwork and tracklist would change accordingly based on what was selected.
Obvious, right?

So why has Spotify gotten rid of this????
There is now an ugly white keyline around your selected playlist, but the right section does not match up with what has been selected.

How can I get this simple feature to function like it should?
I'm often scratching my head at the bizarre and unhelpful design choices Spotify implements...

[Bürgerprollatze]

I want to reinforce your opinion. How does Spotify come to use the interface, which works for a touchscreen device, also one-to-one on the desktop for the PC?
At least give us the opportunity to change the settings?!

And why I cant change the order from my albums? Its so stupid!

a workaround is pressing shift+alt+4, but its not safed for next time....

[saturninesoul]

You are totally right. Although lets not disperse the criticism into several threads. There is one big adressing this desktop update: https://community.spotify.com/t5/App-Features/Revert-the-terrible-new-user-interface-on-Desktops-ASA...

[sgrabek7]

Just needed to add my voice to this chorus- the update is AWFUL. Stop changing things to suit... designers? Certainly not thinking about your users! 

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

After months of seeing users complain about the new UI, I was a little nervous and anxious about when I would receive it.

Finally, I got the update when I restarted Spotify yesterday. So far, I don't mind it. Most of the things people complain about I don't have a problem with. I rarely used the old "Your Library" page, so these pages being accessible only by keyboard shortcut is not a problem for me.

I read this post when it was first released (I actually commented first.) Having a detailed overview of the interface was very useful in learning how to use it. I'm sure I would've figured everything out with no problem, as I'm the type of person who loves to somewhat recklessly play with any software and see what every button, option, and page does.

The redesign looks nice. I'm glad everything is roughly in the same place. It does not very much change how I use Spotify and listen to music. Plus it matches Windows 11's rounded corners, which is a nice touch.

Recently, before my client updated, it had been freezing on me, and I would have to force close Spotify in Task Manager (even after a clean reinstall). Hopefully, since it has been updated I'll no longer have this problem.

Please keep in mind that these are my first impressions. I've used the new UI for less than 24 hours. My opinions are subject to change.

Thanks again @MattSuda and the other Community Stars and Moderators for helping me and others with Spotify's recent changes, as well as allowing mere users like myself to support other Spotify users in the Community!

[saturninesoul]

Please please return the former version! The library is useless now.

[zeyxromione]

this is literally the worst update and the worst interface ever. are you guys bored or something? why do you guys have to make so many horrible changes? nothing was wrong with the old one and this is the most inconvenient interface ever. please change it back. and we should be able to decide how much space does the library sidebar and the friend activity sidebar should take, not you. the new changes made including the notifications thing on phones are all a joke.

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

Hey @zeyxromione

The sizing of the left and right sidebars is still adjustable by the user. You should be able to make these almost any size you want.

[zeyxromione]

it's either big, bigger or only playlist covers. and the friend activity is either big or bigger.

[zeyxromione]

@sgrabek7 agreed! i've been using spotify for 7 years now and i just might change to another app. all these updates and interfaces keep getting worse and worse.

[jonnyitunes]

Custom order in web player not working as advertised in Chrome

 

. No pins, no drag and drop ordering...nothing. Would love to see this corrected and implemented as advertised.

[FaustoRigoni]

I hate it only because I cannot enlarge album covers. Why!? 

[hermetica]

This new layout is awful. It's extremely cluttered, the black lines between each "section" of the playlists menu / what you're actually listening to / friends and everything else are extremely distracting and make it looked cobbled together in a really unpleasant way. While I appreciate being able to change whether I see cover art on playlists on my sidebar, I hate how this was done - now when removing them there's no defined space between each playlist making it more of a mass of text which is also very unpleasant.

Equally, I do not need podcasts to be there at all, even if it's optional. If I wanted to see them, I would go to my podcasts from the homepage.

I agree with the above sentiments, this update is a massive downgrade. Please revert it or allow us to use the old layout.

[Chubby]

@violetcities wrote:

That works for albums but not for playlists. The big tiles looked way more organised than everything being stuffed into the sidebar. I know that I can resize it but it's still a mess.

The way it was before I could see everything at a glance, which is why I always preferred the desktop version to the app. It's like they actually tried to make it worse.

---

That's actually the very same reason I would always use the desktop version if I could avoid using my phone.