How to Mark a Playlist for Offline Sync on Spotify

Marking playlists for offline sync on Spotify gives you the ability to enjoy those playlists anytime, anywhere, regardless of whether you’re connected to the internet or not. 

To learn how to mark a playlist for offline sync on Spotify, just follow our step-by-step tutorials below. For all other information on the subject, or if you have further questions, please direct your attention to the FAQs at the end of this article.

How to mark a playlist for offline sync on Spotify (desktop)

1. Open up the Spotify app on your desktop device and ensure that you are signed in to your Spotify profile
   
2. Locate the playlist you wish to download for offline listening from the left-hand sidebar, or from your homepage, and click on it to open it
   
3. Next, click the small downward-facing download arrow to the right of the ‘Play’ button. Your playlist will begin downloading immediately (provided you are connected to the internet)
   
   1. Note: You can also right-click on any playlist in the sidebar and mark it for offline sync by selecting ‘Download’ from the pop-up menu
      

How to mark a playlist for offline sync on Spotify (mobile/tablet)

1. Open up the Spotify app on your smartphone or tablet, and ensure you are signed in to your Spotify profile
   
2. Locate the playlist(s) you wish to download for offline listening either from the home page, or by first tapping ‘Your Library’ in the bottom-right, and then tapping ‘Playlists’ and scrolling through the list
   
3. Next, tap and hold the playlist you wish to download until a pop-up menu appears
   
   
4. Select ‘Download’ from the menu, and your playlist will begin downloading immediately (provided you are connected to the internet/to WiFi – depending upon your settings)
   
   
   1. Note: You can also tap on the playlist to open it up, and then tap on the small downward-facing download arrow to mark it for offline sync

And that’s about it! Whether on your smartphone, tablet, or PC, you can learn how to download playlists for offline listening by following our easy-to-follow tutorials above.

For all other information, or if you have any further questions, please see our FAQs below.

Frequently asked questions

What does offline sync mean on Spotify?

Spotify Premium users are afforded a pretty neat tool, with which you can take your Spotify listening experience with you wherever you go, internet connection or no internet connection. 

Marking music for offline sync on Spotify means that you tell the Spotify app to download the music to your phone. Whilst still only accessible through the Spotify app, once this music has successfully been downloaded, you will now be able to listen to it even when offline (i.e. not connected to the internet). These offline syncs will remain on your phone (available for offline listening) indefinitely.

For you, the user, what this ultimately means is much greater flexibility and accessibility to all of the music you love. When on various modes of public transport, when on vacation, or just when you’ve got bad cell service, you may find yourself not connected to the internet. This means you would not be able to listen to anything on Spotify during these times. With offline sync, you can prepare a whole library of music to be accessible even in these offline situations. 

Can I offline sync other things besides playlists?

Yes, absolutely! You can mark just about anything (except individual songs) for offline sync on Spotify. This includes albums and podcast episodes. When it comes to podcasts, you can adjust the settings for your favorite shows so that when a new episode is released by them, it is automatically downloaded (as soon as your phone is next connected to the internet).

Can I use cellular data for offline syncs, or does it have to be WiFi?

You can use both, it’s entirely up to you. We highly recommend that, unless you have unlimited cellular data as part of your phone plan, you only use WiFi to download music (offline sync) from Spotify.

WiFi only is the default setting on Spotify, so if you wish to keep it that way, you need not do anything. However, if you really do want to be able to download over cellular data, just head to Settings > Download > Download using cellular > Toggle: ON

How do I remove something from my offline downloads?

If you want to free up space on your device, or you simply no longer listen to the music you’d previously downloaded, you can remove playlists (as well as albums and podcasts) from your offline downloads by navigating to the playlist (album/podcast), opening it up by tapping on it, and then tapping the small green ‘Downloaded’ arrow. Lastly, you’ll need to confirm you wish to remove the music from your downloads by tapping ‘Remove’.

You can see all of the content you have currently downloaded by heading to your Library and then applying the filter ‘Downloaded’ from along the top.

If on a PC, the process is essentially the same. Just navigate to the playlist in question, and click the green-highlighted download arrow. It will change from green to blank, indicating that the download has been removed.

How long does it take to offline sync a playlist?

This depends on the length of the playlist and the number of songs in it. If you’ve got some songs in the playlist already downloaded via another playlist or album, say, then it will take less time than otherwise. Download speed also depends on the speed of your internet connection.

Do my offline syncs sync across different devices?

Unfortunately not. Since each different device is technically storing your syncs on its own memory space, these sync decisions are kept separate. Thus, if you download a playlist on your PC, it will not also be downloaded on your smartphone.