Music-streaming services like Spotify put millions of songs at your fingertips—provided you have an internet connection. But if you need to preserve data or listen to a playlist on a plane or during a commute with lots of dead zones, download those tunes to your device for offline listening.
Those with Spotify Premium can download up to 10,000 songs on a maximum of five devices. On the free, ad-supported tier, Spotify lets you download podcasts on phones and tablets.
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3.5 Good See all (11 items)How to Download Music From Spotify on Mobile
Spotify lets you download playlists, albums, and podcasts.
Downloading Albums and Playlists on Spotify
The interface is largely the same on Android and iOS. Find the album or playlist you want to download and tap the downward-facing arrow on the top left. A downward-facing arrow will appear underneath each song in the album; they'll turn green as the download completes. How long it takes depends on your internet speed.
(Credit: PCMag/Spotify)When you're offline and want to listen, tap Your Library. Up top, tap playlists or albums. Tap Downloaded to see those that are saved to your device and available to listen to offline.
(Credit: PCMag/Spotify)If you know you'll be offline for awhile, like on a plane, activate Offline Mode, which will show you only the content you have downloaded. On Android, tap Home and the gear icon on the top right, then toggle Offline mode to on. On iOS tap Home > [gear icon] > Playback > Offline.
Offline mode on iOS (Credit: PCMag/Spotify)How to Remove Albums and Playlists From Downloads
If you no longer need offline access or want to free up space on your device, navigate to the album or playlist you want to delete from downloads and simply tap the green, downward-facing arrow on the top left and tap Remove in the pop-up window.
(Credit: PCMag/Spotify)How to Download Podcasts on Mobile
Spotify is one of our favorite podcast apps, and it's a convenient way to keep your music and podcasts all in one place. For offline use, you can either download one-off episodes you'd like to check out, or follow a specific podcast and download episodes as they appear in your library. The process is the same on iOS and Android.
First, search or browse to find a podcast you want to listen to. On the podcast's page, you can tap the downward-facing arrow to download specific episodes right away. Or tap Follow, which will add new episodes to your library as they're released. You can then download episodes at your leisure via Your Library > Podcasts & Shows > New Episodes. Downloaded episodes can be found via Your Library > Podcasts & Shows > Your Episodes.
(Credit: PCMag/Spotify)How to Preserve Data While Downloading on Mobile
If you're loading up your phone with a bunch of albums and playlists, you might want to restrict those downloads to when you're on Wi-Fi, so the process doesn't eat into your monthly data allotments. Navigate to Home > [gear icon] > Audio Quality > Download Using Cellular and make sure that option is toggled off.
How to Delete All Spotify Downloads at Once
Got dozens of podcast episodes and huge playlists eating up space on your device? Get rid of them in one fell swoop and start anew. Navigate to Home > [gear icon] > Storage > Remove all downloads.
How to Download Music From Spotify on Desktop
The process for downloading playlists, albums, and podcasts is similar on the desktop if you want to listen on your laptop when you don't have an internet connection. Just look for the downward-facing arrow on your content of choice. Find it later under Your Library.
(Credit: PCMag/Spotify)Pro Tip: Go Online Every 30 Days
To prevent people from downloading a bunch of content to their devices and then cancelling their Premium subscriptions, Spotify requires people to connect to the internet at least once every 30 days. A cellular connection is fine. If not, you'll lose access to downloaded music and podcasts after a month.