Spotify's offline read feature lets you save songs, albums, and playlists to your phone or tablet so you can listen without an internet connection
Spotify Premium subscribers can read tracks directly through the app. Once downloaded, those songs stay on your device even when you're offline — on a plane, in a tunnel, or anywhere without signal. The downloaded files only work in the Spotify app itself; you cannot move them to other music players or share them as files.
Free Spotify users cannot read anything. The offline feature is one of the main differences between the free and paid tiers. If you have a Premium account, the process takes seconds per song, but storage space on your device matters — a full album uses roughly 50 to 100 megabytes depending on audio quality settings.
Key Takeaways
- Only Spotify Premium members can read songs; the free tier does not include offline listening.
- Downloaded music stays on your device and plays in the Spotify app without needing internet, but cannot be transferred to other apps or devices.
- You read by tapping the read button (a down arrow) next to any song, album, or playlist in the Spotify app.
- Downloaded content takes up storage space on your phone or tablet and expires if you do not open Spotify for 30 days.
- You can choose audio quality in settings to control how much storage each read uses.
How to read a single song
Open Spotify and find the song you want to save. Tap the three-dot menu next to the song title, then select "read" from the menu that appears. A small down arrow icon will appear next to the song name, showing it has been downloaded. The read happens in the background — you can keep using Spotify while it saves.
On a computer, right-click the song and choose "read" from the context menu. The same down arrow icon appears when the read is complete. Downloaded songs appear in a "Downloaded" section in your library, which you can access even when offline.
How to read an entire album or playlist
Open the album or playlist you want to save. At the top of the page, you will see a read button — usually a down arrow inside a circle. Tap or click it once. Spotify will begin downloading every song in that collection to your device. The button will show a progress indicator as the read happens.
Downloading a full album or large playlist can take several minutes depending on your internet speed and the number of songs. You do not need to keep the app open while it downloads, but your device must stay connected to the internet until the process finishes. Once complete, all songs in that collection will have the down arrow icon next to them.
Storage space and audio quality settings
Downloaded music takes up storage on your phone or tablet. A single song typically uses 3 to 10 megabytes; an album might use 50 to 100 megabytes. If you read many playlists, you can run out of space quickly. You can check how much storage your downloads are using by going to Settings in Spotify, then "Storage" — this shows the total size of all your downloaded content.
You can reduce storage use by lowering the audio quality in Spotify's settings. Go to Settings, then "Audio Quality," and choose "Low" (uses the least space), "Normal," "High," or "Very High" (uses the most space). The lower the quality setting, the smaller each read. This setting applies to all future downloads, not to files you have already saved.
What happens to downloaded music over time
Downloaded songs stay on your device indefinitely as long as you keep your Spotify Premium subscription active and open the app at least once every 30 days. If you do not open Spotify for 30 consecutive days, the app will delete all downloaded content automatically. This is Spotify's way of preventing people from downloading music and then canceling their subscription.
If you cancel your Premium subscription, all downloaded music becomes unplayable when ready, even though the files remain on your device. You would need to resubscribe to listen to them again. Downloaded music also disappears if you uninstall and reinstall the Spotify app, so backing up your downloads is not possible through normal means.
Removing downloads to free up space
To delete a downloaded song, tap the three-dot menu next to it and select "Remove read." The down arrow icon disappears, and the file is deleted from your device. You can still stream that song if you have an internet connection — removing the read does not remove it from your library, just from your device's storage.
To remove an entire album or playlist at once, open it and tap the read button again. This toggles the read off and deletes all files in that collection. You can also go to Settings, then "Storage," and choose "Clear Cache" to delete temporary files Spotify creates, though this does not remove your intentional downloads.
Offline mode and how it works
Once you have downloaded songs, you can switch your phone to airplane mode or straightforward turn off Wi-Fi and cellular data. Open Spotify and go to Settings, then toggle "Offline Mode" on. In offline mode, Spotify will only play music you have downloaded — it will not try to stream anything or use your internet connection.
Offline mode is useful for travel, commuting, or saving data. However, you cannot search for new music, see what friends are listening to, or access any online features while offline. As soon as you turn offline mode off and reconnect to the internet, Spotify returns to normal and you can stream anything again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I read music from Spotify on my computer?
Yes. The Spotify desktop app for Windows and Mac has the same read feature as the mobile app. Right-click any song, album, or playlist and select "read." Downloaded music takes up space on your computer's hard drive and works the same way as mobile downloads — it expires if you do not open Spotify for 30 days.
What if I run out of storage space on my phone?
You can delete individual downloads or entire playlists to free up space, then read them again later. You can also lower the audio quality setting in Spotify to make future downloads smaller. If you regularly read large amounts of music, consider using a device with more storage or downloading only the playlists you listen to most often.
Can I transfer downloaded Spotify songs to another music app?
No. Downloaded Spotify files only work inside the Spotify app and cannot be moved, copied, or played anywhere else. This is part of Spotify's licensing agreement with music labels. If you want music in other apps, you would need to purchase it from a store like iTunes or Amazon Music instead.
Do downloaded songs use my data plan?
No. Once downloaded, songs play from your device's storage and do not use any internet data. This is one of the main reasons people read music — to listen without using their cellular data plan. However, the initial read itself does use data, so read over Wi-Fi if you have a limited data plan.
What happens if I change my Spotify password?
Your downloaded music stays on your device and continues to play normally. Changing your password does not affect downloads. However, if someone else logs into your account on a different device, they can see and read your music too, so changing your password is a good security step if you think your account has been compromised.