Some local files are greyed out in Spotify windows app and will not play

[Colin200]

I have Spotify Premium with App running on Windows 11 laptop.

I have itunes specified as source for local files.

Some files are greyed out in the app and cannot be played. Some of these are mp3 files I recorded myself and some are songs that are also available on Spotify. All of these files were available to play until a few weeks ago when they became greyed out. I have reinstalled the Spotify App and it makes no difference.

If I cannot find a solution, I will need to think about cancelling Spotify.

[Susan_GP]

Hi there @Colin200,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

First up, make sure Spotify has access to the folder where the audio files are stored. You can check that by going to the Spotify app > Settings > Your Library > Local Files > Show songs from. 

If everything is selected correctly from there, you could try changing the source folder of the Local files on the PC. Just uninstall Spotify > create a new folder somewhere else on the PC and move the Local files there > install Spotify again > remove any potential source folders and add the new one > download the playlist again.

If the issue persists, could you send a screenshot of your Local Files where we can see the ones that are greyed out?

We'll take a look.

[Colin200]

Thank you for responding. I have uninstalled Spotify on my Windows app and reinstalled it. I have created a new folder on my laptop which contains three MP3 files. Two of these are mp3 files I recorded myself and the other is an Animals song that I purchased on itunes. I specified this folder as source of local files in Spotify. I created a playlist called "Test local files playlist" and put these three local files in it. See the first screenshot. I can play all three on my laptop from this playlist.    Next I uninstalled and reinstalled the Spotify App on my Samsung phone. I opened Spotify on my phone and opened the playlist "Test local files playlist". The three files in it are greyed out and will not download. If I try to play them I am told they are not available on the phone. See second screenshot. Can you advise?

[Eni]

Hey there @Colin200, 

Thanks for your reply. 

The way how the local files work has changed. In this case, we suggest that you give these steps a go to check if they work for you. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[Joros89]

Specifically only 2 songs are having this issue. So far each time I try to redo this it adds another duplicate into the local files on my phone and not my desktop. I am using a windows PC.
If i add them from the desktop it works and shows up on my phone temporarily however after some time passes and i am away from my PC i no longer can play said songs/ they just disappear from my liked songs. If i add from my phone (any of the duplicates) it shows up on my desktop but greyed out. This is very odd since i made sure to get rid of my local files and re-enable them only for this to keep happening. I have used iTunes, then tried apple devices app and also apple music app for my desktop.

[cocoa3c]

Plan

Premium

Country

Canada

Device

Samsung GS 23

Operating System

Android 14

Hello community,

I did try to search but nothing came up that helped. I have various playlists on my phone, one is for my hula class which has local songs I've uploaded. Every once in a while, at the most inopportune moments, they are greyed out and "not available", then they will be back a while later, like in a day or two. This is very frustrating. I think I've noticed this on my Windows 10 computer app as well. How can a local file not be available? Files glitch? I didn't really try anything like restarting my phone as I was in the midst of my class. Any ideas? Thank you!

Arlette