Download Spotify - Music and Podcasts for PC

Spotify streams music and podcasts from a catalog you can browse by artist, album or playlist, alongside mixes that shift as your listening changes. Spotify Ltd. builds the Android app hosted elsewhere on this site, and it also builds a separate desktop client for Windows and macOS. That client is the route worth taking on a computer: install it, sign in to the same account, and the library, playlists and history you built on a phone appear untouched. A browser player covers machines where you cannot install software.

Reasons to keep Spotify open on a computer

Playlist work is the clearest one. The desktop client lets you select dozens of tracks with Shift or Ctrl held down, drag them straight from search results into a playlist, and file playlists inside folders. Folders and drag-and-drop editing are desktop habits; rebuilding a long playlist by tapping on a phone takes far longer.

Second, the desktop client plays audio files already sitting on your drive. You point Spotify at a folder, and those tracks appear in the app next to streamed ones, which matters for live sets, bootlegs and anything missing from the catalog.

Third, a computer usually has the better audio chain. A desktop wired to speakers, an interface or a headphone amp becomes the playback device, while your phone acts as the remote through Spotify Connect. You choose the target from the devices icon in the player bar rather than re-pairing anything.

Fourth, the desktop window carries the Friend Activity panel, a running feed of what people you follow are playing. It has no equivalent in the mobile layout.

Desktop client, browser player, or an emulated Android build

• The official desktop client. Spotify publishes installers for Windows and macOS on its own download pages. On Windows there are two official routes to the same client: the installer from Spotify's site, and the Microsoft Store listing published as Spotify - Music and Podcasts, which updates through the Store. Either is the right choice for a machine you own.
• The web player. Spotify runs in a browser at its web player address, and Spotify lists the browsers it supports, Chrome among them. It suits shared, locked-down or borrowed computers. It streams only: no offline downloads, no local files, and it needs protected-content playback allowed in the browser.
• An Android build inside an emulator. Running the phone package on a desktop puts a virtual Android device between you and a service that already ships native clients for both desktop systems. You get a phone-shaped window, no local files, no Friend Activity, and one more layer that can break protected playback. There is no listening task where it beats the two routes above.

What the desktop client does differently

You gain the sidebar library with folders, a visible queue you can reorder by dragging, keyboard media keys, and the local files source described above. Premium accounts also get a download toggle on playlists and albums so they keep playing when the connection drops.

Account behaviour is worth understanding before you install. Everything is tied to one Spotify account, and Spotify allows playback on only one device at a time per account. Pressing play on the desktop pulls sound away from the phone instead of running a second stream; that is by design, not a fault. Downloads, by contrast, are stored per device. Marking a playlist for offline use on a laptop does nothing to the copy on a phone, and each device keeps its own downloaded set.

What you give up is mostly phone-shaped. There is no lock-screen control, no car mode, no widget, and nothing that depends on a handset's sensors or Bluetooth pairing. The browser player also drops offline listening entirely, so a laptop you travel with is better served by the installed client. Free accounts hear advertising on the desktop just as they do on mobile.

What Spotify asks of your computer

Spotify's own supported-devices page states the minimums for the current client: Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 11 and above on the PC side, and macOS 12.0 or above on Mac. Spotify does not publish RAM or disk figures for the desktop client, so treat any specific numbers you find elsewhere as unofficial. Beyond that you need a Spotify account, free or Premium, and a connection; Premium is what enables downloads for offline playback.

Older Macs are the usual sticking point. A Mac below macOS 12 will show an out-of-date operating system prompt and stop receiving client updates, and the browser player becomes the practical option on that hardware. The same applies to 32-bit Windows installs, which the current client does not cover.

When Spotify on desktop misbehaves

Playback keeps jumping to another device. This is the one-stream rule at work. Open the devices icon in the player bar, pick the computer as the playback device, and pause anything running on a phone, tablet or speaker signed in to the account.

The web player loads but nothing plays. Browsers block encrypted media by default in some configurations. Allow protected content for the site in your browser's site settings, then switch off ad blockers and privacy extensions for that tab and reload. Private or guest windows often refuse protected playback outright.

Sign-in loops or rejects the password. Accounts created through Google, Apple or Facebook have no Spotify password to type. Use the matching continue-with button on the login screen. If a session is stuck, open your account page on the web, use Sign out everywhere, then sign in again on the desktop.

Local files do not appear. Check that the source folder is still added under Local Files in Settings and that the toggle showing local files is on. Files in formats Spotify cannot read, or ones protected by another store's DRM, will never list. A folder on an external drive disappears from the app when the drive is unplugged.

Downloads will not complete, or offline mode plays nothing. Downloads need Premium and enough free disk space, and they belong to the device that made them. Re-check the download toggle on the playlist, leave the app open until it finishes, and connect to the internet occasionally so Spotify can re-check the licence on the saved files.

No sound from the app alone. The desktop client follows the system output device. Set it in Windows sound settings, or in the macOS Sound pane, and check the per-app level in the Windows volume mixer before reinstalling anything.

FAQ

Does the Spotify desktop client cost anything?

No. The client is a free download and works with a free account, with advertising between tracks. Premium removes the ads and switches on downloads for offline playback on that computer.

Can I listen on my computer while someone uses the same account on a phone?

No. Spotify permits playback on one device at a time per account, so the newer device takes over. Separate profiles on a family plan are the supported way around it.

Is there any reason to install the Android version of Spotify on a PC?

None that holds up. Native clients exist for Windows and macOS, and a browser player covers everything else, so an emulated phone build only adds failure points.

Which Windows and macOS versions does Spotify still support?

Spotify lists Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11 and above, and macOS 12.0 and above. Machines below those lines can still use the browser player.

Can I turn Spotify downloads into files I keep?

No. Offline copies are stored in an encrypted cache the client alone can read. The Local Files feature works the other way: it plays audio you already own inside the Spotify window.