How to Download Songs on Spotify: A Comprehensive Guide

Here’s how to download songs on Spotify, its limitations, and some troubleshooting tips.

Spotify Premium lets you download songs for offline listening, which is helpful when you need to conserve mobile data.

However, there are rules for downloading songs on Spotify, and not meeting them can result in losing your downloads.

Fortunately, understanding Spotify’s limitations and how to troubleshoot download problems makes the process easier. We’ll discuss this and more, so read on until the end!

How to Download Songs on Spotify

Downloading music is possible on Spotify’s mobile and desktop apps but not on the web player. The process is the same on both platforms – just follow the steps below:

1. Open Spotify and select an album or playlist you want to download.

   

2. Select the download icon under the album or playlist name.

   

3. Wait for the download icon to turn green, indicating a successful download.

   

How to Download Podcasts on Spotify

Downloading Spotify podcasts is a bit different since you have the option to download single episodes directly. Here’s how:

1. Open Spotify and open a podcast you want to download.

   

2. Select the download icon under the episode description. When the download icon turns green, it means the download was successful.

   

Spotify Songs Not Downloading: Troubleshooting & Limitations

It’s not uncommon to experience download issues on Spotify. Here are several solutions you can try if these happen to you:

• Check your connection: The download icon should change to a loading icon when you tap it. If it stays gray, test your internet speed on Fast or Speedtest, then switch to a faster network or, consider resetting your modem to improve speed.
• Restart the app: On iOS or Android, swipe up from the bottom of the scree to open the app preview and close the Spotify app. On Mac or PC, close the app in Activity Monitor (Mac) or Task Manager (Windows), then restart.
• Clear storage space: Spotify recommends having at least 1GB of free download storage. So, if songs aren’t downloading, you may have hit your device’s storage limit. Try deleting Spotify’s cache files by going to Settings > Clear cache.
• Disable battery-saving functions: Some features, like Samsung’s Power saving mode, can disrupt Spotify’s performance by restricting background activity, leading to playback or download issues. To fix this, exclude Spotify from this mode or disable Power saving in Battery and device care > Battery.
  Power-saving features activate automatically when your device is low on battery. To avoid this, keep your device charged.
• Update the app: An outdated app may cause your saved songs and downloads to load incorrectly or become unavailable. Keep your Spotify app updated by navigating to the App Store > Spotify > Update on iOS or Google Play > Manage apps & devices > Spotify > Update on Android.
• Reinstall Spotify: If nothing works, delete and reinstall the app. On iOS, long-press Spotify in the App Library and select Delete App. For Android, go to Google Play Store, tap Manage apps & devices > Manage, choose Spotify, and hit Uninstall.
  Doing this deletes all your existing downloads, so proceed carefully.

Spotify download limitations

Sometimes, download issues stem from Spotify’s built-in limitations. These include the following:

• Premium required: Offline listening on Spotify requires a Premium account. So, if your subscription ends and isn’t renewed, you’ll lose all your downloaded content.
• Song limit: Spotify only allows you to download up to 10,000 songs max.
• Device limit: Spotify limits song downloads to five devices. If you exceed this limit, your downloads will be deleted from the oldest linked device.
• 30-day offline limit: You can listen to Spotify offline for up to 30 days. Beyond that period, you’ll lose your downloaded songs and must re-download them. To avoid this, go online at least once a month when using Spotify so its servers can verify that your subscription is still active.

How to Adjust the Audio Quality Settings of Spotify Downloads

You can adjust the audio quality setting of your song downloads to prioritize either high-quality listening or save device space.

Here’s how to do that in the mobile and desktop apps:

1. Open Spotify and go to Settings > Audio quality > Download.
2. Select your audio quality setting from the drop-down menu.

FAQs on Downloading Songs on Spotify

• How do I delete downloaded songs on Spotify?
• Can you download songs using Spotify Free?
• Can you download from Spotify to MP3?

How do I delete downloaded songs on Spotify?

To delete downloaded songs, open the desired playlist or album, tap the green download icon under the title, and wait for it to turn gray. You can also delete all downloads by navigating to Settings > Storage and selecting Remove all downloads, though this option is only for mobile apps.

Can you download songs using Spotify Free?

No. Spotify lets all users stream content, but only Premium users can download songs. On the other hand, free users are limited to downloading non-exclusive podcasts only.

Can you download from Spotify to MP3?

Third-party apps like NoteBurner and Spotiflyer can download Spotify songs as MP3s or other file types to your local folder. However, they’re risky and unauthorized by Spotify.