can’t sync pc local files to iphone

[anitaitunin]

Plan

premium

Country

israel

Device

iphone 11, lenovo laptop

Operating System

ios 14.4.2, windows 10

spotify version

8.6.22.1228 on iphone, 1.1.58.820.g2ae50076 on pc

My Question or Issue

hi, no matter what i've tried to do to let my spotify sync my local files to my iphone: marking "show unavailable songs in playlists"' uninstalling spotify on both devices, creating a hotspot using my cellular data, using different file locations, creating seperate playlists, enabling spotify at the firewall, etc. i just can't sync my pc local files to my iphone. spotify does show that one device is available for syncing as both devices are on the same wifi, but as i open my playlists on both devices, spotify won't show the local files, even not as grayed out, on the playlist using my iphone. as i try to download them simultaneously at both devices, they are both downloaded but without the local files at my iphone at all.

[Novy]

Hey there @anitaitunin, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community, and welcome 🙂

Just to confirm, are the available songs part of our catalog or Local Files?

We'd recommend making sure that your phone has at least 1GB of free memory.

Keep us posted.

[anitaitunin]

hi, the songs are not available within the spotify catalog. these are local files that have never, or for a long time, were not available at spotify. the rest of the playlist(s), the songs that have been added from the spotify catalog are downloaded on both devices.

right now, somehow my playlists did manage to sync but even after i downloaded them on both devices, the local files are grayed out.

[Alex]

Hey @anitaitunin,

Thanks for the reply.

You can try the following:

1. Delete the local files from the Desktop app.
2. Connect both your phone and computer to another network like a mobile hotspot.
3. Have both apps open.
4. Re-upload the local files on your computer.
5. Download them on your phone.

Some routers block networking protocols necessary for the successful sync of local files, so it's always a good idea to try using a different network.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[anitaitunin]

uh great it posted that again wait-

[anitaitunin]

hi, it still didn’t work out. tried to reupload the local files to spotify on pc, then creating a hotspot. nothing new, still grayed out even after downloading the playlist(s). another one, for example

[Alex]

Hi @anitaitunin,

Thanks for the reply and the screenshot.

Can you try changing the names of some of the songs so that they include letters only from the standard English alphabet and no special symbols like ',*,&,% etc. You can also try re-formatting some songs to a different file format and see if that makes a difference.

Let us know how it goes.

[anitaitunin]

some of the songs’ names are in fact in english with no special symbols, and i am not sure what formats spotify supports or in fact how will that matter, since i have tried to upload a FLAC without success. i am just so frustrated that no matter what i’ve tried the local files will be grayed out at the best or not syncing at all at the worst. on itunes it took me exactly 2mins 

[Alex]

Hey @anitairunin,

You can check what file types are supported here.

There are several things that could be preventing the local files from syncing properly.

You can check if a different network connection helps.

[anitaitunin]

as i mentioned earlier, i have tried to sync the playlists over different networks, even using a hotspot from my cellular data.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @anitaitunin,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Another useful step in is to change the source folder of the local files on the pc. The steps are: Uninstall Spotify on both devices > 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 that doesn't do the trick - can you try the following:

• Add some songs from our catalogue to the playlist as well as the local file/s and make sure they have ‘Show unavailable songs in playlists’ turned on in Settings

• Play some music on the device that has the local files to see if it shows via Connect on the other device

• Make sure the router supports the Bonjour protocol. If the router is made after 2005, it will likely have this protocol. The best way to handle this is to check the router make/model and Google it

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Cheers!

[anitaitunin]

NONE OF THIS WORKED OUT. tried to uninstall spotify, to change the local files’ source, to download my playlists in both wifi and hotspot mobile data, tried to create a separate playlist. nothing. still all grayed out.

[Ver]

Hey @anitaitunin,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop 🙂
 

Just to double-check- are the local files in a supported format?

If they are, it's a good idea to try with another account to check if anything changes. 

Keep us in the loop! If you have questions, you know where to find us.

[anitaitunin]

if the file format wasn’t supported then it wouldn’t have shown up in the local files library on spotify, since i’ve tried to upload a FLAC format album anf it didn’t even show up. i can’t try it with a different account, since syncing requires downloading, an available option only for premium accounts.

[Ver]

Hey @anitaitunin,

Thanks for getting back to us 🙂

Sometimes local files can appear grayed out when they are in an unsupported format.

Could you try downloading them on another device to check if anything changes? Alternatively a friend of yours or a family member can try logging in to their account to see if the issue persists. 

Keep us posted! We'll be right here if you have any questions.

[anitaitunin]

you are **bleep**ing kidding me. all of the grayed out local files are in mp3 format and one album in m4a format. i don't have spotify premium relatives' account to mess up with. i can't believe that on apple music the whole process took 5 minutes and now i am here, in a topic that i opened a month ago, trying to do all of the 5000 shitty ways to have my local files sync properly. it must be a **bleep**ing joke

[Ver]

Hey @anitaitunin,

Thanks for getting back to us.

Could you try downloading the files on another device to see if the issue persists? That way we can check if it's an account or a device-related issue.

Keep us in the loop! If you have questions, we are here for you.

[anitaitunin]

do you realize that in order to sync the local files i have to download them in both devices right

that means that it is not device-related since both playlists are downloaded on both devices but the local files

i am so **bleep** right now

[CarlosE]

Hi @anitaitunin,

Thanks for your reply.

Make sure to follow our Guidelines when posting in the Community and remember to keep a friendly tone. We're trying our best to help you out.

Keep in mind that it's indeed easier to sync up files on iPhone with other Apple products, but as we aren't a hardware manufacturer, we can't use the same methods available to Apple to do this and must rely on other technological solutions.

We'd like to focus on one album at a time to fix it up, so let's do it with one with .mp3's as that's the most common format. On the screenshot we see that the file names include non-unicode characters, which can cause trouble with some networking protocols, so try removing any of those. Same in the Metadata of the files that should be visible within the Details tab of the same properties you opened. Also, try it with a completely turned off firewall on the computer.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[anitaitunin]

once i had no problem syncing the files although it took a few trial and errors. it all began when i tried to sync one album and i didn't manage to do so, so i deleted all of my (synced) local files out of spotify. so i guess it's not about non-unicode characters, plus spotify is allowed on my firewall settings. i got a new internet connection yesterday so i'll try again to do the steps of uninstalling, using a c:\user source instead of d:\ disc source and i will update here.