Can't sync Local files to iPhone - "waiting to download"

[angelobencini]

Hi! I've been having this issue for about a month now and it's so frustrating. 

I have a premium account and iPhone 5c. Over 1 gb of free space. I've tried everything that has been posted before, editing the files name, uninstalling the app in both, my computer (MacBook Air) and my phone, checked my wifi connection, clearing the caché, deleting the devices, etc.

I've created a new playlist with local files and i can play it on my computer, but on my phone they appear greyed out and once I press on the "available offline" button, it just gets stuck in "waiting to download" mode. Nothing else happens. I've reinstalled the app multiple times and the error persists. The only way of seeing the mp3 (although greyed out) is by creating a new playlist. The default Local Files playlist is remains empty. I have updated the app in both my computer and iPhone.

Thankssss!

[asonetuh]

Paid feature.

[djiki]

I don't understand.  Why would the wi-fi matter?

[gwenyfredroad]

same problem here....

[Silencedeafens]

Problem for me too - affecting iPhone and iPad but only on wifi - it will download to iPhone over 3G or iPad via the iPhone personal hotspot, but not on home wifi.

[ngma611 · Accepted solution]

I disconnected my Iphone from the wifi by clicking the "forget this network" button and then i reconnected and i opened spotify, then all my local files synced onto my phone from my computer!! 

[samtaylormyers · Accepted solution]

This totally works.  I forgot the network and signed back in on both my phone and computer, relaunched the spotify app on my phone, and everything started downloading. 

[CommunityUser86 · Accepted solution]

I made a separate thread about this, but it's worth putting here after weeks of trying to figure this out and it being such a simple fix.

I've seen many threads that contain bits and pieces of the solution, but here is what I did. Ignore the whole uninstall/reinstall/firewall bs. At least I've been through all that to no avail. Here's how I got this solved:

ON YOUR MACBOOK: So you have your local files that appear on Spotify. Make a new playlist and call it "Local Files". Drag all the songs (or whichever songs you want synced to your iPhone) from the original Local Files on the Spotify sidebar, to your new Local Files playlist.

ON YOUR iPHONE You will see the new "Local Files" playlist appear. You click download, but the songs are not syncing when you try to download the playlist. The playlist is either "waiting to download" or "waiting for wifi" and most of the songs are greyed out (minus the tracks that Spotify found in its own database--those may be downloaded.) However, keep the playlist switched to Download.

HERE'S THE FIRST STEP THAT MOST "SOLUTIONS" ARE MISSING: On your iPhone Spotify app, click "Your Library" in the bottom right corner. Now on the top right, click the Settings icon. From there, click on "Streaming Quality". Scroll to the bottom and you will see "DOWNLOAD USING CELLULAR", meaning you will be able to download songs over 3G/4G/LTE. MAKE SURE THAT IS TURNED ON. After it is turned on, go back to Your Library, and exit the app.

Create a personal hotspot from your iPhone. Settings -> Personal Hotspot. Turn that on, and join that hotspot on your computer under the WiFi icon on the top bar. Keep Spotify open on your desktop. Open Spotify back up on your iPhone.

Go to playlists on your iPhone. If you haven't yet, download your new Local Files playlist.

This, at least in my situation, magically cured this issue. All of the files now started downloading on my iPhone.

After success, be sure to turn off the "download using cellular" unless you don't mind Spotify downloading music when you're not on wifi.

Let me know if this worked for you!

[jam3496]

Thank you so much! This worked for me. Syncing local files has worked before for me over normal wifi after some effort but this time it just wouldn't work until i tried what you said. 

[PabloMFJ]

Thank you so much, I've been combing results for a long time (with most issues resolved through the firewall for others) and this is the only solution that has worked for me.

[marymargaret122]

This worked for me as well!  We have 2 WiFi accounts at home and my phone was choosing the alternate account.  Thank you for posting!!

[spotify_user_82]

Wow, I tried so many solutions I found online and none of them worked but this one did! I have a Macbook Air and an iPhone 7. Thank you!

[jbrins]

I had this issue for SO long!! No matter what I did none of the suggestions worked, except hotspotting my laptop to my phone! 

SO WEIRD. 

[musicsteroids]

Still doesn't work. I've tried EVERYTHING

[musicsteroids]

I have scoured community threads, emailed back and forth with Spotify support team, searched YouTube, and STILL, NOTHING WORKS! I cannot download my local files on my iPhone, they are simply greyed out, and when I try to play it, I get a message saying "Song Not Downloaded, If you own the song, you can sync it from your computer." 

WHAT I'VE DONE ALREADY: 

• I've reinstalled Spotify on both my PC and iPhone and both of them are running the latest version. 
• I've gone into my Spotify preferences on my PC and toggled on iTunes for local files
• I then put my desired songs (for instance: Taylor Swift) into a seperate playlist, leave my desktop version running, open up Spotify on my iPhone, find the playlist, and toggle download for offline use. It either says "Downloading" "Downloaded" or "Waiting to Download" yet NOTHING will play on my phone. 
• I've checked to see if Windows Firewall is blocking Spotify, but it wasn't
• I've tried downloading over a personal hotspot
• I've gone into settings on Spotify > playback > and toggled off "Hide Unplayable Songs" 

I'm running Windows 10 on my PC and the latest version of IOS on my iPhone, both phone and laptop are connected to the same WIFi network. I have the iPhone 7 Plus 256GB (listing storage because people commenting on threads say it could be a storage issue) I have Spotify Premium. Apple Music doesn't sound too bad now. Please help. I haven't gotten an email back from Spotify technicians. 

[derekm228]

A lot of the suggestions failed me. I restarted my router and that did the trick.

[AdorableNinja]

Thank you so much! This is exactaly what I need!

[musicsteroids]

I'm not sure how this problem was fixed for me quite recently but one day they just started downloading and I did nothing different. Sorry to everyone else is having this problem, I know how frustrating it can be

[lich51644]

You, you're my savior.

[heliosleto]

PERFECT SOLUTION

[meganemer4]

In case anyone still needs the answer - oftentimes wifi for colleges sets up firewalls against this, so just connect to a hotspot on your phone and download with cellular. I spent days trying to figure this out...