Local Files not appearing on iOS

[minagi]

Hi I need help!

I have Spotify Premium, I'm in Canada and my desktop device is an hp laptop, and my mobile device is a iPhone 7. My laptop runs on Windows 11, and my iPhone is up to date (iOS 15).

So, I have downloaded songs onto spotify via local files before, and I have listened to them from both my laptop and phone, and it always works perfectly fine. However, today I put a song into my local files and when I put it in my playlists I could listen to it only on my laptop, and it did not allow me to listen to it on my phone. This was weird because all of my other local file songs are downloaded and work perfectly fine on both my laptop and phone. Also no matter what I do it won't let me download that specific song on my phone. 

I saw that people have posted about this happening with their Android devices but it happened to me as well but I have iOS. Please help!Mobile ScreenshotLaptop Screenshot

[Yordan]

Hi @minagi!

In order for the local files to sync to your phone, you'll have to redownload the playlist. In case you've already tried redownloading it and the issue persists, it's best you reinstall the apps by following the steps in this article, which would remove the downloads and reset the app's settings to the default.

Once you reinstall Spotify, head to your iPhone's settings Privacy > Local Network and make sure Spotify is allowed to access local network. Open the app afterwards, go to the app's settings > Local Files and switch on Enable sync from desktop (feel free to adjust your other preferences as well while you're at it), then reboot your phone. Download the playlist once your phone boots back up.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Cheers!

[minagi]

Yay! It worked! Thank you so much!! 

[Nashasaurus]

I tried this, but Spotify isn't listed under apps that have requested to access the local network, so can't turn it on. Any solution to that?

Thanks so much!

[Dian]

Hey there,

Thanks for posting in the Community.

There has been a change in how the Local Files function works recently. There is no syncing between devices anymore, but there is Local Files discovery instead.

You can find out how to make use of the new implementation on this page. 

Hope this clears things a bit,

Cheers!

[tnilfirot]

Any solution on how to make my mp3 downloads show up in local files on iphone then? All my local files just show up as old itunes purchases not all my mp3 downloads.

[Chaseyboi1]

When I turn on my local files it says it’s been added to my library but when I go to my library there’s no playlist 

[OscarDC]

Hey @Chaseyboi1,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for joining the conversation.

When you activate the local files discovery on your phone, the music will be automatically added to a special playlist called Local Files and it has all the supported audio files you've available in your storage. You can find it in Your Library > Playlists > Local Files.

In case you've already checked and the playlist is not there, just to make sure we're on the same page, would you mind confirming the troubleshooting you've tried so far? This will be helpful to avoid repeating steps you've already done.

Also, include in your next response the make, model, and OS version of your device, along with the Spotify version you're currently running to continue investigating the case.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Chaseyboi1]

The local files playlist is not appearing in my library I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling Spotify and clearing my cache. I have a iPhone 11 on iOS 16.4.1 and am using Spotify premium 

[Alex]

Hi there @Chaseyboi1,

Thanks for the post.

Can you confirm you've followed this process in order to upload local files to your phone? You also need to enable Local files from the Spotify app settings in order to see the Local Files playlist in your library. 

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[Saintzu]

same thing has been happening to me i lick the option for local files it says it has been added to my library but it doesn’t show up on my library

[AlejaR]

Hey @Saintzu,

Thanks for your reply in this thread.

Just to confirm, are you able to see the Local Files on your library but it appears empty, or are you unable to see said folder at all? It'd be awesome if you could send us more info. Keep in mind that you'll need to have the files locally stored on your mobile device. Then, make sure to switch Show audio files from this device on in your Spotify app settings.

On another note, would you mind sharing with us the make/model and OS of the affected device, along with the Spotify version you're running there? 

Lastly, would you mind sending us the troubleshooting steps you've tried so far? If you haven't yet, we'd recommend cleanly reinstalling the app on the affected device to see if you notice any difference.

Keep us in the loop!

[testickleson]

the same thing is happening to me I have an iphone 11 I've tried every possible troubleshoot I could find or think of and the local files folder doesnt show up at all its on the computer but not on the phone the songs look exactly like the first picture greyed out and they wont download

[HarrySan_qWp]

same problem here. The local files folder doesn't come out at all and I've tried all the methods mentioned. It works on my laptop. 

[Alex]

Hi folks,

Thanks for your posts. 

Can you let us know if you have the local files stored on your phone? If not, try uploading them following the steps listed in this FAQ Guide. 

Let us know if that helps.

[Fin27]

I've been having the same problem mentioned above; local files not appearing on my iPhone after trying all available methods, although they do appear on my computer. Now that I know that many people are experiencing the same problem within the same month, I think it's gotta be a problem with the system or something. Nothing I've tried has worked yet, so if anyone could direct me to an easy and quick solution, that would be really swell!

[Dian]

Hey @Fin27,

Thanks for the reply.

Could you go over the steps in this FAQ and let us know how that went for you? The files should be stored on the device you want to play them on.

Keep us posted,

Cheers!

[Fin27]

Thanks for being so polite, but I'm still a little confused about the instructions in that FAQ. It says "A pop-up will ask permission to access your local network" once you switch on local files on mobile, but that never appeared. Is there maybe a problem with my plan on spotify or model of phone (premium, SE)? I don't think it's a problem with the computer because the local files play just fine on the desktop app (Windows 11). I really appreciate all of the efforts thus far to solve my problem, but if there's anything else you could do, that would be really stellar!

[AlejaR]

Hey @Fin27,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared. 

Let us add some insights. "A pop-up will ask permission to access your local network" is a message you receive the first time you enable the option Show local audio files within the app settings.

It's expected not to see it if you enabled and allowed those permissions before within Spotify. Nevertheless, if you want to make sure you've allowed access to your local network, you can head up to your iPhone settings> Spotify. There you'll see some options, but the ones the app asked for access to before are Local Network and Media & Apple Music:

In other words, make sure they're both enabled, since these are the permissions the FAQ is referring to.

Since you mentioned the local files play as they should on your Windows device, we'd like to check: are the local files stored on your computer or on your iPhone? Keep in mind, as mentioned previously, that the files should be stored on your iPhone so you can see them within the Spotify app. Keep in mind that there's a new Local Files experience. We're presenting this new experience, in which there's no need to import the files from one device to the other, as the files can be stored on phones. You can read more about it here as well.

Keep us in the loop! And please let us know how it goes. 

[Thestrangekitten]

I’ve done everything you guys have said here. Nothing is working. Im on a ipad pro IOS 16.4.1.

Nothing is working. I have enabled Access to local files but nothing seems to be working. I have troubleshooted and re-installed and everything! Im using spotify premium family. I seriously cant believe i wasted an hour just to try and make this work but it wont work! I just wanna listen to my own music. Please reply ASAP.