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Desktop: New Your Library sidebar

Desktop: New Your Library sidebar

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:

 

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.

 

 

Desktop: New Your Library sidebar

 

 

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.

 

Sidebar Tips.png

 

 

  • 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".

 

Desktop Sidebar Compact View.png

 

 

Compact Layout.png

 

 

  • 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.

 

Sidebar List Options.png

 

 

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.

 

 

Expanded Library.png

 

 

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.
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Top Answer
MihailY
Moderator

Hey everyone,

 

Thank you for participating in this thread and sharing your feedback about the new Your Library experience on desktop.

 

Before anything else, we want to assure you that we're reviewing your comments and forwarding each individual user's feedback to the relevant team here at Spotify.

 

We'd also like to address some of the most common issues we've noticed being mentioned here:


My playlists are out of order after the update (mentioned by @Sylis_ca@oauo@sergioro, and others)

  • As outlined in Matt's comment here, you should be able to see the original order by selecting Playlists - Custom Order in the filters section of your sidebar. Once this is selected, you can rearrange your playlists in whatever way you like.
  • Please note that you can't reorder Liked Songs, Your Episodes or Local Files - they will always be at the top.
  • You can "pin" items at the top of the list above these items though - this is currently limited to 4 items.

I'm unable to move playlists/folders out of a folder (pointed out by @RectangleSquare@Hencraft@thisisgok, and others)

  • To move playlists and folders, they don't have to be sorted by Custom Order, but it may make it easier to understand where it's being moved to.
  • You can open a folder using the arrow to the right of the folder. This can make it easier to drag something out into a new location.
  • You can also drag a folder/playlist and hover over the sidebar back button/arrow (at top of Library) and this will update the visible structure, allowing you to place it in the desired position.

The Library sidebar has limited width

  • We're happy to announce that after sharing your feedback, this was changed to make it wider.

Once again, thank you for sharing your constructive criticism and helping to make Spotify better!

1,039 Replies

Since the new UI is unusable even after almost a year (the folders take more than a minute to load), here is a guide on how to revert to the old UI:

https://www.reddit.com/r/truespotify/comments/1329c88/comment/jjw82xw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=w...

Make sure to read the comment slightly below with the slightly different link.

No point, the old interface was just as bad.

Unless there is a mass exodus of paying users, which is not going to happen, they have no reason to do anything

Agreed. Apparently they have 226 million subscribers and 574 million users in total. As far as Spotify is concerned they are getting it right and thirty people on here saying differently doesn't mean anything!


@reg091 wrote:

Agreed. Apparently they have 226 million subscribers and 574 million users in total. As far as Spotify is concerned they are getting it right and thirty people on here saying differently doesn't mean anything!


They had to lay off thousands of employees (including top performing ones), they suffered a lot due to bad bets going all-in on podcasts, number of subscribers is growing on competitors, and most threads talking about Spotify on internet complain that the product isn't good anymore (UI and recommendations which used to be great are now quite bad). So I wouldn't say "they are getting it right".

IT WORKS. Oh my god. Thank you so much! It's reeeaaally easy to install, just Google "git hub spotx" and on the website look for "Usual installation (Old theme)".

Spotx is BRILLIANT! Thank you! I could finally use Spotify desktop again since that**bleep** these **bleep**ing idiots call "update" can't load my profile at all. 

 

 

Thanks, but doesn't make it any better for me. I don't want it making recommendations, pushing playlists on me, wishing me "good morning" FFS!

 

All I need is a search box (that returns ALL albums for an artist, not just three), My Library, play controls. The ability to have the equaliser on the home page would be good to.

 

That's it; i don't care what other people are listening to, I don't care what an algorithm thinks I might like, I don't ever want to make a playlist!

I really hate it! For a while the Alt-Shift-4 shortcut by-passed the Albums in sidebar and put the album display in the main page, but now even that is gone. Sure you could re-size your sidebar but that makes the other aspects of the sidebar look over-grown and ugly. How this passed the test phase I have no idea!
I am off to try SpotX on Github to get my old UI back.

You know what irritates me about this change, is just how much it sucks.
1) Albums/ Artist view cannot be seen in main page view anymore - and resizing the sidebar is ugly and bad to use.
2) The switch between grid view and list view is only accessible during the "show more" option, which resizes the sidebar against your own preferences, which is bonkers! Why not just allow the little drop down to always be there!!!!
3) Opening an album does not open the album's songs in the main view, which is just stupid, if I want to listen to an album, I want to see the songs that are playing and it now requires a separate click to get to that view.

This whole update**bleep** show and I hate it.

It really would be nice to have a stand-alone library. Especially one that had a better organizing functionality. I think I understand the point of the library sidebar, and it's not a terrible idea in itself, it's just that sometimes the quick sidebar is what you want, and other times you need a better way to browse the whole thing.

And the "dynamic filters" just aren't a good way to search. I know that has sort of been the thing lately, but it really doesn't seem better here than the old way of sorting into categories.

It seems like you finally fixed additional text when on the icons going under top bar.

vaajy_0-1707815543753.png

 

So from Profile and Friends it's shown like this, but it's still bug (old way) in Bell icon additional text.

 

vaajy_1-1707815597113.png

 

Can you please fix this as well.

 

 

My version of the desktop application is updated and I am more outraged than I was before.

 

There's a lot of visual information that you don't know where to look. I imagine that's the idea of Spotify, that you see hundreds of covers, that you can't minimise the information too much or choose an order to listen to what you want to listen to, but that you listen to what Spotify wants you to listen to.

 

I don't know.

 

Will it ever be possible to sort the albums in the library by year of release? It would be nice to be able to listen to this year's albums and have a division by previous years.

 

Will it ever be possible to have a record folder that doesn't turn those records into lists? Because then you find that sometimes you listen to the album and sometimes you listen to the list and two duplicate covers appear on the main page.

 

Has anyone thought of being able to click on the record label of the album and see more albums from the same label? Or, for that matter, from the same producer, year, etc.

 

Is it possible that someday the albums and songs will have a unique ID so that favourite songs will remain favourites even if the artist or label or whoever uploads different versions of the albums? I don't understand how it is possible to get to the same album by two different ways and have favourite songs marked on one and not on the other. And if you mark a favourite song (which you already had marked on the other disc) you have the song duplicated. But if you remove the favourite mark on one of them, it disappears from both. I guess I haven't explained myself well, but someone who listens to music with dedication and marks songs as favourites will know what I'm talking about.


I think I only stay on Spotify out of habit, but opening the app every day makes me want to switch to any other app.

You just want the user's attention, to spend as much time as possible listening to WHATEVER.

 

Finally, not to leave anything behind. Just like Apple you could have Spotify Music and Spotify Podcast. Maybe that way you'd gain one more Podcast listener on your app, but having the two together and not being able to turn off podcasts, or podcast recommendations, just pisses me off.

 

Please, is there a site that really listens to the user?

"Will it ever be possible to sort the albums in the library by year of release?" --. When I see how they cut down the library in every aspect, I don't think they will ever introduce features like this. It seems more they want to push people out of using the library at all into just listening to algorithm-playlists.


@saturninesoul wrote:

It seems more they want to push people out of using the library at all into just listening to algorithm-playlists.


That's my impression as well. Why else would they remove notifications? They should have an interest in me finding out asap that an artist I follow has a new release, right? Instead we have to manually check the "what's new" tab in case there is something.

Not pleased that I cannot make the "My Library" bar shrink so I don't have to stare at the covers in my library, along with whatever else you are promoting.  Great that you made it expandable, but what about shrinkable?  Why can't the "Now Playing" bar be expanded to be the entire display?  I do not like the new "sidebar" arrangements.

I generally want my playlists to the left, and I want them as a THIN list in COMPACT mode in a CUSTOM order as TEXT only, while if I want to look at my saved albums I want them in a big and WIDE space as a GRID in ALPHABETICAL order as ALBUM ART, and if I want to see my artists i might want them in another way. This is what we had before when we could get albums, artists etc in the big window to the right where Spotify also saved the different viewing modes for different things.

But no, now we got this shitty thing where everything is bundled up in a stupid way in the panel to the left, where there are SO many people complaining and YOU Spotify is just ignoring people. Why? Don't you want your paying customers to be happy? Do you want them to move to other streaming platforms?

I used to love having the playlist scroll through as it played. It gave me
a chance to spot rogue entries and delete them in advance. Now with the
"new" Spotify view, I can only tolerate shrinking it to invisible. After
almost ten years of loving Spotify, I'm seriously looking at finding a new
streaming service.

Hello,

on my PC I've always had my queue shown in the middle of the screen and the "current song" interface in the sidebar on the right. That was most comfortable for me. Now I can't do that anymore because the queue was put into the sidebar as well, so I have to choose one of these two interfaces. Moreover I can't delete tracks from my queue with the combination ctrl-X which is also a bit unfomfortable. I'd like to have these two changes turned back if that is possible.

Greetings from Germany

This UI is a complete disaster and your refusal to acknowledge it nor give reasonable solutions for improving it is a complete spit in the face of your paying customers. Whoever approved this should be fired purely on the basis of being completely incompetent at their job. My main screen is complete chaos and every feature is completely cumbersome to utilize.

 

The UI of spotify needs to be completely overhauled because this is just unacceptable for a multi-billion dollar company.

Seriously why are is there so much stuff on my main app screen, why is the app so ugly, why does it look like this, why have these 2006 type shitty dollar store looking buttons for the tags and the library and basically everything, and why is the use of bottom left album icon gone. First I could click on it to get to the album, now I have to press on the song, and if I press on the album, I get this shitty third screen on the right with things I am completely disinterested in and I have to remove it to get my friends list back again. And of course it happens everytime I do this with a new album which is just compeltely frustrating. The app is also incredibly slow even though it has to do almost nothing. Why even remove the seperate library screen. Seriously? What is the purpose of that? Force us to use the app in the way you want it even though we are the ones using it? I look at my screen and there are literally around 40 different buttons. Why? Why would I want that on one screen?

 

Everything hurdle, every hoop, **bleep** stained idiotic UI choice I have to go through to do the most menial**bleep** in this app makes me question what kind of people make the decisions in regard to the use of the app. Are they well-meaning people who just had some good ideas that were not executed properly and are now of course hard at work trying to fix this disaster of an UI? Or are they drooling idiots ramming on a keyboard, shitting out some ideas, throwing them at the wall, and seeing what the **bleep** is that sticks so they can scrape it up, repurpose it, and process it into their development team and when done, calling it "a new spotify update". Maybe a combination of both?

 

I think I'm going to assemble a team of monkeys and see if they can't make the next spotify update

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