Use the app to play music files stored on your device, which we call local files.
Note: Files or downloads from illegal sources are not permitted.
For: Premium
- On desktop, import your local files (with the 'Desktop' steps).
- Add the files to a new playlist.
- Log in on your mobile or tablet using the same WiFi as your desktop.
- Go to Settings > Local Files and switch on Local audio files.
Note: You need to allow Spotify to find devices in the prompt that shows. - Download the playlist with your local files.
I have a playlist of local files on my mac with 135 songs. I followed all the steps to make the playlist/songs availble on my iphone, but only 4/135 songs have downloaded. It will say 'Downloading 0 of 135' for a minute or so until a box pops up that says 'If you own this song try to save it offline' or something like that. They were in my /Downloads folder. Obviously I never viewed them with Spotify, never dragged them into the app. I've checked settings, and I have 'local files' turned off. I don't see any other related settings. This is on a Mac, v1.1.39.612.g1e7e78a4 (but it will updated once I restart). Edit: I said MP3, but they were MP4 files.
Didn’t work?
Make sure:
- You're logged in to the same account on both your desktop and mobile
- Your devices are connected to the same WiFi network
- The app is up-to-date on both devices
- Your device is up-to-date
- The Spotify app has access to your local network. Check in your iPhone/iPad settings under Spotify
For: Premium
- On desktop, import your local files (with the 'Desktop' steps).
- Add the files to a new playlist.
- Log in on your mobile or tablet using the same WiFi as your desktop.
- Download the playlist with your local files.
Didn’t work?
Make sure:
- You're logged in to the same account on both your desktop and mobile
- Your devices are connected to the same WiFi network
- The app is up-to-date on both devices
- Your device is up-to-date
- Click , then Settings.
- Scroll to Local Files and switch Show Local Files on.
- Switch off any sources you don't want.
- Click ADD A SOURCE to select another folder.
Music from that folder is now in Local Files in the menu on the left.
Supported file types
Note: Some of your files may be protected in restricted formats. Install QuickTime on your computer to allow most of these tracks to be played on Spotify.
- .mp3
- .m4p (unless it contains video)
- .mp4 (if QuickTime is installed on your computer)
The iTunes lossless format (M4A) isn't supported.
If your file isn’t supported, we do our best to match it with songs from the Spotify catalog. The version we match with might differ from the original.
Last updated: 24 September, 2020
Community Answers
Play 'local files' on my mobile deviceWhat's the easiest way to be able to play 'local files' that reside on my desktop device on my mobile? After bringing them in to the desktop Spotify client as a playlist I'm able to play them there, a...
How do you add Local Files to the Desktop app?Answer: We have an extensive record collection, but if the track you’re after hasn’t found its way on to Spotify yet, don’t worry! You can add any personal music you have with a feature...
Can you upload your own music?Yeah, I've tried to figure it out but I can't seem to find how I have to do it anywhere..
More at the CommunityAs we all know, Spotify is the King in the music streaming world. It offers three types of subscriptions – Spotify Free, Spotify Premium ($9.99 / month) and Spotify Family ($14.99 / month). No matter which type of subscribers you are, you can access the giant library with more than 50 million songs. And with the Spotify app installed, you can listen to your Spotify songs on various devices.
However, the downside of it is that you are unable to own them in a real way. Due to the restriction from the service, Spotify users are unable to get songs downloaded from Spotify, even for Spotify paid users. The alleged “offline listening” mode for Spotify premium subscribers is like a kind of rental service. When you are within the subscription, you can listen to them offline, but once you cancel the service, you won’t be able to enjoy them without the internet any longer.
How to keep Spotify songs forever? In other words, is there any way to download music from Spotify to our local computer? Here we are going to help you out. Below we adopt a simple yet powerful Spotify music downloader – TunePat Spotify Converter and guide you to get your Spotify songs downloaded as local files with the tool step by step.
Tool Required - TunePat Spotify Converter
TunePat Spotify Converter is a professional music tool specially designed for helping Spotify users to enjoy Spotify songs more freely. With no need to install the Spotify app, it is able to convert Spotify songs, albums and playlists to a popular format, including MP3, AAC, WAV and FLAC, at 10X fast conversion speed with lossless output audio quality while keeping the ID3 tags after conversion.
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Key Features of TunePat Spotify Converter
TunePat Spotify Converter
- Download Songs from Spotify.
- Convert Spotify songs to format.
- Easily download songs from Spotify to the local computer.
- Keep ID3 tags and preserve lossless audio quality.
- No need to install the Spotify app; support 10X faster conversion speed.
How to Export Spotify Songs to Local Computer
TunePat Spotify Converter is available for both Windows and Mac versions. Here we take the Mac version as an example. If you are a Windows PC user, please refer to How to Get Spotify Songs Downloaded on Windows PC for more details.
Step 1Choose Output Format and Customize Output Path
Launch TunePat Spotify Converter. Click the 'Settings' button on the bottom right corner. Here you can choose output format (MP3/AAC/WAV/FLAC), output audio quality, customize the output path, organize the output files in various ways and more.
Spotify Local Files To Phone
Step 2Add Spotify Songs to TunePat
Open a Spotify playlist and TunePat will read your playlist data automatically. Click the 'Add' button on the bottom and select the songs that you'd like to convert.
Step 3Save Your Spotify Songs to Computer
Click the 'Convert' button and soon TunePat is on the way to export your Spotify songs to your local computer.
Once the conversion is done, you can find your downloaded Spotify songs by clicking the 'History' button on the bottom right corner or directly going to the output folder you customized in the previous step.
Video Tutorial: How to Download Music from Spotify to Computer?
Note: The free trial version of the TunePat Spotify Converter enables you to convert the first three minutes of each song and convert 3 music files at a time. You can unlock the time limitation by purchasing the full version.
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