Being able to sync music for offline download on Spotify is a fantastic tool and one which, once you’ve mastered it, you’ll use almost daily.
To learn how to offline sync Spotify music, simply follow our step-by-step guides below. For any additional theories or questions, see our FAQs at the end of this article.
Table of Contents
How to offline sync Spotify playlists/albums/podcast ep’s (Android/iOS)
- Open up the Spotify application on your mobile or tablet device
- Locate the playlist, podcast episode, or album you wish to sync for offline download
- Tap the playlist/album/podcast ep to enter into it
- Now, below the ‘Shuffle Play’ button, you’ll see ‘Download’ – toggle this from grey to green (OFF to ON)
- Your phone will automatically begin offline syncing the playlist/album/podcast episode (or add it to a download queue if it is currently in the process of downloading other music)
- Repeat as necessary
Note: If the process of downloading does not seem to be happening, then it may be because you’re connected to the internet through data, rather than WiFi. If you still wish to download music through this data-connection, then go into your settings and toggle ‘Download using cellular’ to ON.
How to offline sync Spotify playlists/albums/podcast ep’s (Desktop)
- Open up the Spotify application on your desktop device
- Locate the playlist, podcast episode or album you wish to sync for offline download
- Click on the playlist/album/podcast ep to enter into it
- Next to the Play button, you’ll see a downward-pointing arrow in a circle, this is the symbol for Offline Sync/Download, click it
- Your desktop device will automatically begin offline syncing the playlist/album/podcast episode (downloading it, in other words)
- Repeat as necessary
And there you have it! Whatever kind of music or shows you like to listen to, listen to them offline, whenever and wherever you want! All you have to do is offline sync them by following our tutorials laid out above.
For any additional information or if you have any other unanswered queries (such as how to sync offline local files to Spotify), please see the following FAQs.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when I offline sync Spotify?
When you sync playlists for offline listening, you are marking them so that your device knows to download local versions of them, meaning that even when you have no internet connection, you can listen to this music through the Spotify app. If you marked your favorite album for offline sync on your phone, for example, then your phone will download an offline version of this album for you to listen to any time, internet connection, or not.
Why would I want to offline sync Spotify?
You’ll want to offline sync music from Spotify if you’re traveling on any long journeys, especially those on which you won’t have frequent access to WiFi or even cellular data – we all know how much cellular data downloading and streaming things can eat up, so it’s a good idea to pre-sync music for offline download, rather than spending all your data on streaming.
Offline syncing music from Spotify is often also just a good way to collect your favourite music, or the music you intend to listen to, all in one place. Because it’s already synced offline, it can be quickly and readily accessed on Spotify by just loading up the app without a wifi/data connection.
Does offline syncing on one device apply across all my devices?
Unfortunately not. When you offline sync a playlist on, say, your Desktop, the same playlist is not then also marked for offline syncing on your mobile phone. You have to manually select for each device the music – be it playlist, album, or song – which you wish to offline sync.
What about syncing offline music on my device to Spotify?
You may well have come here hoping to learn how to listen to music you have on your computer through the Spotify app. For example, perhaps you’ve got albums downloaded on your computer which is not available to listen to via the Spotify streaming service, but you still want to be able to listen to them on the app. No problem!
To do so, log in to Spotify on your desktop, then click the downward-facing arrow next to your Profile name in the top-right. Select ‘Settings’. Scroll down to ‘Local Files’ and toggle it ON. Now, toggle on or off the locations from which you’d like Spotify to find your local files, or add a ‘source’ location if the location of your local files is not immediately available. You’ll now find your offline music synced to Spotify and available in the ‘Local Files’ folder of Your Library.
To listen to the same music on your phone’s Spotify app, log in to Spotify on your phone through the same WiFi your Desktop Spotify app is connected to. Now, go Settings > Local Files > Enable sync from desktop (switch this on – allowing Spotify to search for local devices when you do). Finally, download the Local Files playlist to your phone!
