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.

[terioncalling]

Oh great. I have the Now Playing cluttering sidebar now. Because of how I keep my Spotify to half-size at work, it shrinks my entire library to tiny useless playlist icons if I load it. If I wanted to read the artist info, I'd just go to their dang page. And why is queue there? Underneath everything? Where I can't even see it without scrolling? At least make it VISIBLE if you're going to put it there for the love of everything.

Thanks, I f'ing hate it. Just plowing straight on into worse and worse UX/UI, I see. Business as usual.
(and bring the dang artist column back while we're talking about BS decision making)

[winq]

**bleep** Update... sorry 

i use the App on a vertical Screen. The update doesn't let me use the app properly anymore. There's no point in not just allowing the old option in and hitting that sidebar.
Unfortunately, that makes me think about whether I still want to use spotify and not switch to an alternative.

[lokonji]

I pretty much always want to see one view: playlists, in custom order.

Everytime I open spotify, this preference reverts to the default i.e. unfiltered, and sorted by recents.

Preferences should be set for good.

This was not a problem before.

I'm not against the idea of having the playlist cover art in the sidebar, that's actually quite nice.

[Rimšiakas]

Still didn't get one bit used to this and still hate it. Give us the option to have the old layout.

[mellevdh]

I want to be able to search my playlists/albums on pc.
And see the name of those playlists/albums

[pit1288]

When I add a song by dragging it, this is what the pop up says:

And also, why would I want a Customer order only when I filter? How about ALL the time? I use decades, so naturally 00s will show first and 90s last!

[rupert27]

every time I open my desktop spotify application, the settings I have specified (friend activity is showing, my library is expanded) has reverted back to some other BS. PLEASE STOP MESSING WITH MY SPOTIFY IT IS VERY STUPID. It is obvious you have designed the new update for touch-screen devices, it does not function well on real computers. Perhaps make a separate app for devices and leave the desktop application as is. OH WAIT THAT IS ALREADY A THING. SMH. Also I preferred the old library function. I am not sure what is up with the new one, but it is somehow really hard to look at (font size?) and also doesn't seem to work very well for actually browsing my library. Sorry for disjointed rant but it's not like spotify will read this anyway, am I right? And if they did they would misinterpret it somehow!!!

[Azaret]

I used to think that the mobile app was barely usable, now I can enjoy it on desktop, thanks Spotify.

The first line of this updates stating that this improve navigation just hurt by how false the statement is.

Have been taking in controversial Spotify's decision making for more than 10 years now, this one managed to give my feedback even if I know you won't even acknowledge it.

I'm not even angry, just sad.

[Annihlator]

Edit: I was responding to the following reply:

---

@KatesHere wrote:

Try to be in their shoes for a sec: the company you work for releases sth and it gets huge backlash cause people hate it, but you have to promote it cause that's what your job is. What would you do? Supporting a volunteer who's trying to make the best of it would also be in my to-do list.

---

I'll be frank: You don't make the best of things by quite obviously throwing petrol on an open fire.
This goes double because OP infers they would appreciate and want feedback, yet the feedback is ignored and other questions are answered.

Thats not making the best of it. It just factually isn't. Anyone who ever did any actual type of customer-support KNOWS this and being a volunteer doesnt magically excempt people for taking such things into account.

[Autoplay_is_Trash]

---

@Annihlator wrote:

OP infers they would appreciate and want feedback, yet the feedback is ignored and other questions are answered.

 Forgive me for being a Grammar Nazi, but the word you're looking for there is imply  not infer. The person intending a message for somebody else implies it, while the person interpreting a message infers it.

[Annihlator]

You're correct, I was too heated to not make a mistake there.
I'm honestly at my wit's end if it comes to how to make Spotify take this at least as seriously as OP implied.
Aside from making numerous replies so the number on the topic will tick up to whatever magical threshold to make it so people with actual influence can consider it worth their time.

[bluedragon912]

Given the addition of the Now Playing View on the desktop Spotify application which occupies the same area as the friend activity, I think it would make sense to make them a toggle switch and possibly place that where the Now Playing View button currently is.

Given where each button is in the application right now, it's not clear that the action they do will both occupy the same space, in my opinion a toggle switch would make it clear you can have one open at a time, or maybe even a 3-way toggle switch with OFF on one end, for those that would like to close it.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my idea, hope you have a good day!

[rednblu]

I had to take a sledgehammer to the code of this 1.2.13.661.ga588f749 desktop Spotify for Windows 10 (32 bit) just to get it to display correctly as shown in the screenshot below-- Therefore, I second all of the shouts of "Terrible" in this forum against the truly terrible "New Your Library sidebar."

One huge flaw is that what shows in the left column of the "New Your Library sidebar" in this new and truly terrible Spotify player depends on what order you do things-- so for example the folders within folders sometimes disappear or else the CustomOrder selection refuses to display the FolderNames for folders within folders containing playlists-- and sometimes you cannot move either playlists or folders-- if you do things in the logical order rather than in the cockamamie workaround that we users have to design, draw, and discover in the left column for ourselves from scratch.

But despite that Infuriating-to-Use coding mess behind the unuseful UI of the "New Your Library sidebar," I finally got the Spotify shuffle to work perfectly on my desktop across all 14 playlists containing a total of more than 18,000 tracks within my [...iPhone_ShuffleFolder]-- labeled in green as shown in the screenshot below-- where I can replace any or all of the 14 playlists with any of my other playlists of tracks to get just as well a perfect shuffle through all of up to at least 120,000 tracks that I [drag into or out of] the [...iPhone_ShuffleFolder]-- as long as I reInitialize each new shuffle by that custom stepwise process that we users had to discover for ourselves.

I have verified [perfect play] for shuffling the desktop folder [with zero repeats] using last.fm reports-- as several suggested-- to detect any unwanted repeats-- There were zero unwanted repeats in start-and-stop play of 2306 tracks scattered across 15 days.

I use this same [...iPhone_ShuffleFolder] to hold the individual playlists that I initialize for play in my iPhone Waze GPS for driving anywhere with zero repeats until the end of any trip-- for up to 10 days and sometimes more.

For Windows 10-- but not for Windows 11-- I have to click on the "Maximize" Windows command in the upper right of the Spotify player screen to make visible the bottom row of icons in the screenshot displaying both the "shuffle"  CrossedArrows-- and "queue" LinesOnA_SmallScreen icons.

In summary, I got the Alt-Shift-1 keyboard command to display the PlaylistNames as shown in the screenshot below-- but I could not force this new and truly terrible Spotify player to display a sortable and filterable list of 120,000 tracks in any folder-- the standard display that we all could use in the fully functional Spotify players up until December 2022-- Has anybody figured this out yet?-- how do we get back our listing of all the tracks in all sub-folders of a folder?

Thanks for all of your help here with this new and truly terrible Spotify player . . . .  Amen.

[pit1288]

WHAT IS THIS MESS WHEN SELECTING? DO YOU EVEN TEST BEFORE ROLLING OUT?

[Logandiamond]

Is it possible to move a folder already within a folder, to a different folder?? On Mac OS.

Say,

2022 > Folder A

2023 > Folder B > (desired spot for Folder A)

Seems like this latest UI has made this legitimately impossible. All I need is a right-click option where I can "move to" my desired destination. I use folders within folders to curate my library and this is debilitating. Seriously considering the switch to Apple Music. Worst UI update ever. Please give me my old Spotify back.

[Steve79]

You have now introduced a third column, hoping it will make people happier. Let me share my experience: I do NOT want to see the third column, yet it keeps reappearing. I close it, but the next time I play a playlist, it shows up again. I thought I could somehow get used to this mess (your new desktop app), but this auto-appearing third column is the final straw. I have had enough, and I am currently in the process of migrating to another provider. Once I have replicated my playlists, I will be gone from Spotify.

[RatalieSuggests]

At the very LEAST, give people an option to opt out. These changes are visually overwhelming and don't consider that not everyone wants to have quick access to things like artist bios, their next gigs, or their merchandise. Also, these were already sufficiently accessible as it was. I loved the ability to manipulate the size of the artwork. I like looking at it. I don't like that a bunch of irrelevant information is being pushed on me when I simply want to look at album artwork in closer detail.  Also, don't you think a third panel is too much? 

All the information you're putting on the screen to view at a single time is visually overwhelming and heavily reliant on pictures. I created an account JUST to tell you how much I don't like it. Please reconsider. 

As a side note to this feature specific feedback, in general your recent updates application have required more user intervention on my part. Before these new changes, I never had to go into my user settings to turn features on and off. I am an AVID Spotify user, I have the application open and on every single time I use my computer which is every day. The design direction this application is going in is not doing great things for my customer satisfaction. The launch of smart shuffle recommendations annoyed me so much I left a 1 star review on Spotify and I had to look up how to turn it off. (I was so mad I immediately launched into figuring out how to turn it off. )

[AndrewBlizard]

---

@KatesHere wrote:

Try to be in their shoes for a sec: the company you work for releases sth and it gets huge backlash cause people hate it, but you have to promote it cause that's what your job is. What would you do? Supporting a volunteer who's trying to make the best of it would also be in my to-do list.

---

Lying about being pleased about an update to "support" someone doing their job is somehow better...?

Why ask for feedback if we should not give feedback? This is not the first poorly-received major UX change and certainly not the last. Most users of this forum are not "helper" suck-ups looking for badges to show they are invested in a product that continuously changes its core formula.

Sure, don't shoot the messenger, but there's no need for fake positivity. If you are not passionate about the product your company produces, find a new job.

[vaajy]

I have the same bugs too:

When adding to list even without draggimg:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/159529i36591D40BE778679/image-size/medium...

When selecting.

https://community.spotify.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/159627iCE3D8DB85C15B585/image-size/medium...

My bugs reported long ago still alive. Are you drinking coffee or what?

[saturninesoul]

PLease change it back. Everything is so stupid for weeks now and I will never get used to it. Also the total butchering of cover artwork is unforgivable. I want to see the ****Bleeeping*** (see i just censor myself) cover artwork!!!