local files not downloading to ipod/iphone.

[lordofknutsford]

Plan

Family Premium

Country

 UK

Device

iPhone 8, iPod touch

Operating System

ios 12.1

My Question or Issue

 Sick and tired of this!  For over a year I've had hundreds of local files greyed out.  I own the files (generally downloaded from itunes or ripped from CD) and can play them on my desktop but can't send them to my devices.  Cartain tracks which aren't greyed out won't appear in play lists either!  I've checked my firewall is allowing Spotify, I've moved songs to different file locations, i've unistalled spotify from my Windows PC twice.

One album by the Macc Lads which isn't available on Spotify I have ripped to my PC...  all tracks are listed on the desktop playlist but only 9 out of 19 tracks appear in my iphone playlist.

I've asked questions on here before and Spotify support couldn't help and I've asked an IT proffesional who was stumped.

Going to have to cancel Spotify if there isn't a solution.

[Daisy]

Hey @lordofknutsford,

Welcome to the Community. We're happy to help you out 🙂 

Can you check out this page and see if any of the steps help? 

Looking forward to hearing from you. Take care!

[lordofknutsford]

Hi
None of this helped. Same problems as listed.

[spikerrbg]

Stop use spotify its so bad quality and problem whit local file. Im again start using apple music cant belive but is better.

[Katerina]

Hey there @lordofknutsford,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

First, keep in mind that Spotify supports the following file types: 

• .mp3
• .m4p (unless it contains video)
• .mp4 (if QuickTime is installed on your computer)

The iTunes lossless format (M4A) is not supported.

You'll also need to make sure of the following:

• You're logged in to the same account on both your desktop and your iPhone or iPod.
• Your devices are all connected to the same WiFi network.
• None of your devices is set on Offline Mode.
• You have the latest version of the Spotify app installed (on all devices).
• Your device's firmware is up-to-date. 

Once you've confirmed this, we'd recommend making a new playlist on your desktop and adding all your local files there. Then, on your mobile devices, locate, then select the playlist to play.

If that doesn't do the trick and you're still having troubles seeing them on your mobile devices, we'd suggest trying a clean reinstall of the app on your iPod and iPhone devices to shake things up.

Here's how to do so on your iPhone device:

1. Head here and click Remove all devices
2. On the home screen, tap and hold the Spotify icon until it shakes.
3. Tap the X symbol on the icon.
4. Switch your device off and wait a couple minutes
5. Switch your device back on
6. Open the App Store then search for and install the Spotify Music app.

Once you've followed the steps above, make sure to follow the step-by-step guide here on how to use them on all your devices.

Let us know how you get on 🙂

[spikerrbg]

But spotify support .flac file ?

[Daisy]

Hey @spikerrbg.

Right now, Spotify doesn't offer FLAC audio. Be sure to give your vote to this idea. You can still listen in HQ by following these steps. Let us know if there's anything else.

Have a lovely day 🙂

[spikerrbg]

Hello. Still have problem whit local file.
Still not show in playlist on phone . im make playlist from computer and im add 1 song from local file, 12 song on spoty and 1 song from local. On phone show have 13 songs but not show local song.

[bmw789]

Spotify is really pissing me off. This is been posted dozens of times and nobody has an answer. Seems like a pretty basic function and it has been defunct for a long time. I bet a lot of people have moved over to Apple music for this issue alone.

[mediocrites]

This continues to be a perpetual aggravation for me as well (copying / pasting from another reply of mine to improve visibility of a constant infuriating issue).

Tried reinstalling everything on both computer and phone, moving my local files as well as cache on computer to new folders, firewall and antivirus checks, and again none of this works. I have this problem for years and it always comes back.

Nothing in the support article posted in a reply works, and what's more NOW on my computer the local files keep automatically disappearing when I unselect "Download" at the top of the playlist only containing local music files. It's actually somehow getting worse.

[Daisy · Accepted solution]

Hey @mediocrites, @spikerrbg and @bmw789,

Thanks for letting us know.

We know these are a lot of steps, but please try them out as they should work:

1. Unplug the router from the power
2. Delete Spotify on your computer from the Control Panel
3. Press the Windows logo + R on your keyboard and type  %appdata%, a few folders will appear.
4. Delete the Spotify folder
5. Go back one folder
6. Open each folder and delete the Spotify folder (if present)
7. Go back and open Local, here you may also delete Spotify
8. Reboot your computer
9. Turn off the iPhone and wait 2 minutes
10. Turn the iPhone back on
11. Plug the router back into the power
12. Make sure both your computer and mobile phone are connected to the same network
13. Install Spotify on your computer and mobile phone
14. Make sure your local files are in a folder on your local hard drive. So not in a cloud or secondary hard drive
15. Check the settings of Spotify and make sure that the location with local files is selected as a source for local files
16. Create a new playlist with local files only
17. Open Spotify on the iPhone (or re-open if already open) and check if the newly created playlist is there, if yes, click the button to sync for Offline use
18. Songs should be syncing for Offline use. Try not to let the screen of your iPhone dim when you are syncing the songs.

Let us know how you get on 🙂 

Take care.

[halo2masterq]

Does spotify "listen" to your mp3s that you try to make available offline? I found a band that i like and noticed that when i search for them, alot of their own songs are grey out for some reason (maybe region restriction?) regardless, i bought their cd and downloaded the mp3s. However, when i try to make them available offline on my phone they will not download, even if i change the name of the song to random letters/numbers as i thought it was possibly trying to match the name of the song with an existing one online. Is this causing issues with me not being able to sync? I am able to sync other songs but not this specific band.