Spotify Download Not Working — What It Means & How to Fix It

What Does This Error Mean?

Spotify downloads only work with a Premium subscription — free accounts cannot save music offline. If you have Premium, a full device or corrupted cache is usually the cause. Checking your storage and clearing the cache fixes it in most cases.

Affected Models

Spotify on Windows
Spotify on Mac
Spotify on iPhone
Spotify on Android

Common Causes

No Spotify Premium subscription — downloading requires Premium, not the free tier
Device storage is full, leaving no room to save downloaded songs
Download quality setting is too high, requiring more space than is available
'Download over Wi-Fi only' is enabled but you're on mobile data
Spotify cache is full or corrupted, blocking new downloads

How to Fix It

Confirm your Spotify account is Premium — tap your profile picture and check your plan.

Downloading for offline use is a Premium-only feature. Free accounts cannot download any music.
Check your device's storage and free up space if you have less than 1–2 GB available.

Each downloaded song takes roughly 3–8 MB depending on quality. A playlist of 100 songs needs about 500 MB.
Open Spotify Settings > Audio Quality and lower the Download Quality to Normal or Low.

Very High or Extreme quality downloads are much larger. Switching to Normal frees up space and speeds up downloads.
Go to Spotify Settings and check if 'Download using cellular' is turned on.

If 'Wi-Fi only' is enabled, downloads will not start when you're on mobile data. Toggle it off to allow all connections.
Clear Spotify's cache: go to Settings > Storage > Clear Cache, then try downloading again.

A corrupted cache can block downloads from starting. Clearing it forces Spotify to start fresh.

When to Call a Professional

Spotify download issues do not require professional repair. If downloads never work even after reinstalling and confirming Premium, contact Spotify Support directly at support.spotify.com. They can check if there is a problem with your account or subscription.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the Spotify download button greyed out?

A greyed-out download button almost always means your account is on the free tier. Downloading music for offline use requires a Spotify Premium subscription.

How many songs can I download on Spotify?

Spotify Premium allows up to 10,000 songs downloaded across up to 5 devices. If you hit that limit, you'll need to remove some downloads before adding new ones.

Why do my Spotify downloads disappear after a while?

Spotify requires you to go online at least once every 30 days to keep downloads active. If you have not connected to the internet in over a month, your offline tracks will be removed.