Spotify Not Working? – Try these 8 Fixes

Spotify playback issues or the app simply not working is something that is caused by a specific thing. Generally, such an issue can be often caused by the app’s data stored on your device, outdated Spotify app version on your system or phone along with other things.

In some instances, the issue can also be traced back to the Windows Defender Firewall. As such, the root cause of the issue in question can vary from case to case which is why we are going to list down several methods that you can use to resolve the problem for yourself. 

1. Check for Spotify Service Disruption

The first thing you should do when starting to troubleshoot the issue in question is to check the service status of Spotify. In some scenarios, the reason your Spotify app is not working could be due to service disruption. This is not unusual as minor service outages are often now and then. 

Spotify recently suffered a minor service outage which prevented the app from functioning correctly. Therefore, ensuring the service status should be your priority. This can be done by visiting the official Twitter handler of Spotify.

Additionally, you can also use third-party websites such as DownDetector or IsItDownRightNow that notify you whether other users in your region are reporting similar issues as well. If the service is working fine, move to the following method below.

2. Close Background Apps

One of the reasons which can prevent the Spotify app from working properly is the background apps on your device. This can happen due to a conflict with another app running in the background. In addition, having multiple apps running in the background will consume your memory, leaving no memory available for audio streaming by Spotify. 

In this scenario, you will have to close out the background apps that you are not using to free up your memory and prevent them from interfering with the Spotify application. We recommend closing out all of the background apps to see if that remedies the problem. 

If Spotify still does not work after closing the background apps, move down to the next method. 

3. Clear Spotify’s App Data

A common reason which can cause Spotify to not work properly is the app’s data on your device. This happens when the locally saved app data is damaged or corrupted. 

When this occurs, you can resolve the issue by removing the app’s cache from your device. Deleting the cache will not remove your downloaded songs, rather these are merely temporary files that store different information about the user account and user interaction. 

Follow the instructions below to clear Spotify’s cache on your respective platform:

Windows

Clearing Spotify cache on Windows can vary slightly depending on your version of Spotify. Follow the instructions below to clear the Spotify cache:

Note: If you have installed Spotify from the Windows Store, jump to step number 5. 

1. Start by closing the Spotify app on your computer.
2. Then, press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
3. Type in %localappdata% and press the Enter key.

   

4. In the File Explorer window, open the Spotify folder.

   

5. Inside the Spotify folder, locate the Storage folder and delete it.

   

6. If you downloaded Spotify from the Windows Store, navigate to the Packages folder instead of Spotify.
7. There, press the S key on your keyboard to locate the Spotify package.
8. Inside the Spotify package folder, navigate to LocalCache > Spotify > Data. 
9. Delete all the files and folders inside the Data folder. 
10. Open the Spotify app again to see if the issue persists.

iPhone and Android

The process of clearing Spotify cache on Android and iPhone is the same. This is because there is a dedicated Clear Cache option provided in the Spotify app itself. Follow the instructions below to do this:

1. First, open the Spotify app on your phone.
2. Then, tap on the Settings icon in the top-right corner.
3. After that, scroll down to the Storage section and tap on the Clear Cache option.

   

4. See if that fixes the issue.

4. Enable Normalize Volume

In case you are experiencing playback issues with Spotify, the issue can be caused by your audio quality settings. This can happen when the audio experience is not uniform, and the volume level differs for each song.

In such a scenario, you will have to mitigate the issue by enabling the Normalize Volume option. This forces Spotify to set the same volume for all songs and podcasts, offering a more uniform and balanced listening experience. Follow the instructions to enable Normalize Volume:

1. First, open the Spotify app on your device.
2. After that, navigate to the Settings menu.

   

3. On the Settings screen, scroll down to Audio quality.
4. Enable the Normalize volume option under Audio quality.

   

5. Once you do that, see if the problem still occurs.

5. Check Device Storage

Spotify is an audio streaming platform which means it needs to download the songs from its servers to your device. While the songs are not stored on your device, it still requires a minimum space of 250MB to cache and process the streams. 

Therefore, if you are running critically low on storage space, you will have to free up some storage space for Spotify streams to be cached and processed. Once you have a sufficient amount of free space available, try using Spotify again to see if the problem persists.

6. Update Spotify

Running an outdated version of the Spotify app on your device can also cause various issues. If you are running an older version of Spotify and haven’t updated the app for quite some time, the issue is likely due to an incompatibility with the software on your device. 

Therefore, you will have to update Spotify to the latest version available to resolve any such issues. On an Android and iPhone, you can update the app through the Google Play Store and Apple App Store respectively.

If you are using Spotify on Windows, follow the instructions below to update Spotify:

1. First, open the Spotify app on your computer.
2. Click on the three-dot menu in the top-left corner.
3. From the drop-down menu, click on Help > About Spotify.

   

4. Finally, on the About dialog box that appears, click on the Click here to download option next to the available update.

   

5. Once the app has been updated, see if the issue is still there.

7. Allow Spotify through Windows Firewall

In some instances, the Spotify app will not function properly due to the Windows Defender Firewall. This happens when the firewall is blocking any outgoing requests made by Spotify.

When this happens, Spotify will not be able to stream any audio as it is not able to establish a connection with its servers. In such a scenario, you will have to allow Spotify through the Windows Defender Firewall. Doing so will prevent the firewall from blocking any network requests made by Spotify, allowing it to reach its servers. 

Follow the instructions below to allow Spotify through the Windows Defender Firewall:

1. First, open the Control Panel by searching for it in the Start Menu.

   

2. In the Control Panel window, navigate to System and Security.

   

3. There, click on the Windows Defender Firewall option.
4. After that, click on the Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall option on the left-hand side.

   

5. Then, click on the Change settings button.

   

6. Follow it up by clicking the Allow another app option.
7. Click on the Browse option and navigate to the installation folder of Spotify and open the Spotify.exe file.

   

8. After that, click on the Network types option and tick both the Private and Public checkboxes.

   

9. Finally, click the Add button.
10. Then, hit OK. 
11. Open Spotify to see if the issue has gone away.

8. Reinstall Spotify

Finally, if none of the above methods has fixed the problem for you, the issue is likely caused by the installation files of the Spotify application. This can happen when the installation files are corrupted or damaged.

In such a scenario, you will have to uninstall the app from your device and then install it. To uninstall the application on your phone, simply hold down the app and choose the Remove App or Uninstall option shown.

To uninstall Spotify on your computer, follow the instructions below:

1. Start by opening the Control Panel by searching for it in the Start Menu.

   

2. In the Control Panel window, click on the Uninstall a program option.

   

3. From the list of apps, double-click on Spotify.

   

4. Go through the on-screen prompts to finish uninstalling Spotify. 
5. After that, download the application and install it. See if that resolves the issue.