Spotify Can't Play Songs? 6 Ways To Fix It

We all love listening to songs on Spotify. But with 422 million active monthly Spotify users, sometimes Spotify has song-playing issues. As frustrating as it may be, depending on the cause, this issue is mostly solvable.

In this article, we will troubleshoot any issues that your device may encounter that prevent you from playing music.

Why You Can’t Play Songs on Spotify

You cannot play songs on Spotify if there’s a bug from the developer’s side or an error on your device. Some of these causes are listed below:

Issue on Your Device

Check the following features to find out if there is an issue with your device.

Unstable Internet Connection
No Storage Device
Outdated Spotify Application
Issue on Spotify App

Issue With the App

If your devices are up to date but still can’t play songs on Spotify, there can be a problem in the app itself.

Check the Spotify Community: Spotify users discuss various issues and fixes in the Spotify community. Check the Ongoing Issues on Spotify to see if others face the same issue. You might find the causes or solutions to song-playing issues in the community.
Check Spotify Status: Spotify updates on Twitter if there is an issue in Spotify itself. So, check @SpotifyStatus to see if Spotify has posted about song-playing issues.

How to Fix Spotify Song-playing Issues

You can fix song-playing issues in Spotify by restarting the app or logging out and logging back in. If it does not work, manage your storage. Try updating your app and turning off-high quality streaming to fix it.

Restart the Spotify App

Sometimes, Spotify can’t play songs due to random glitches. The easiest and fastest way to fix the issue is to Restart the Spotify app. You can close the app and open it back to solve this issue.

On Mac

Click on the Apple Menu
Select Force Quit Finder.
Tap on the Spotify and click on Force Quit
Start the Spotify app again

On Windows

Right-click the taskbar
Go to Task Manager
Find Spotify in the process tab
Select the entire process tree, and tap End the task

On Mobile

If you are using Spotify on the mobile app, close the app and reopen it.

Logout and Log Back In

Logout out of your Spotify account and log back in if restarting the app does not work. It will refresh your Spotify account and remove the temporary glitches within the app.

On Desktop

To log out of Spotify on the desktop,

Open Spotify app
See on the top right of your screen and tap on your profile
Select Log out option
Log In back to check if it works

On Mobile

The steps to logout Spotify on a mobile phone,

Open Spotify mobile app
Go to settings
Scroll down and Tap on Log Out
Log In back to check if it works

Check Your Storage device

You can not play songs on Spotify if the memory is full. Check whether your storage device has run out of space or not. Spotify suggests having at least 1 GB of available memory. If the storage is full, you can manage the memory on your device and mobile by following methods:

Clear Cache

A cache is a specific storage space used to temporarily store data and files. It improves the performance of a device, browser, or app. You can manage your storage space by clearing the cache.

On Windows

If you are a desktop Spotify user, follow the given steps to clear the cache,

Open File explorer
Go to Local Disk C and click on Users
Choose the folder of your username and open App data
Click on Local File and Open Spotify file
Select all the files and tap Delete to clear the cache

On Mac

At the top of your mac, tap on Go
Click on Computer
Double-click on your user profile
Open the Library > Caches
Select the Spotify cache and click on Move to Trash

On Mobile

Open the Spotify app and log in to your Spotify account if you haven’t
Go to Settings > Storage
Tap Clear Cache to free up your storage

Manage your Downloads

If clearing the cache does not free up your space, delete some downloads on your Spotify account to free the space.

On Desktop

Open the Spotify app and log in to your Spotify account if you haven’t.
Go to “Your Library”
Select the playlist or album you want to delete

On Mobile

Open the Spotify app and log in to your Spotify account if you haven’t
On the bottom right corner of your device tap on “Your Library”
Select the playlist or album you want to delete

Delete Some Apps

This is the final step if following all of the above steps still does not free up your memory space. Delete some apps to have at least 1 GB of free space for Spotify.

Update Your Spotify

Spotify is constantly updating its app with newer versions. So, check whether your Spotify app is up to date to avoid glitches. If the app is updated, it does not show an update option. Turn automatic updates on for the newer versions.

On Desktop

Open Spotify
Go to the top-right corner
Tap on Updates available

On Android

Go to the Google Play Store
Search Spotify
Tap Update

On iOS

Go to the App Store
Search Spotify
Tap Update

Turn Off High-quality Streaming

Premium users of Spotify get the best quality music playback. You will have trouble playing songs when you do not change the streaming quality. So, note this while switching from Premium to a free membership account. Simply turn off high-quality streaming to solve this issue.

On Desktop

Follow the steps to turn off high-quality streaming on the desktop:

Open the Spotify app from your desktop and Tap on your profile
Go to Settings and Tap on Audio Quality
In Streaming quality, change to High or Normal from Very high

On Mobile

To turn off high-quality streaming on mobile,

Open the Spotify app and Go to Settings
Tap Audio Quality
Under Streaming Quality choose High or Normal from Very high

Reinstall Spotify

Uninstall the Spotify app and reinstall it if all of the mentioned ways do not solve the song-playing issue. Delete the Spotify app on your desktop or your computer. To reinstall it follow the given steps,

Spotify Can’t Play Songs? 6 Ways to Fix It