How to Fix “Spotify can’t play this right now” Error?

It annoys when you want to listen to a song and an error message “Spotify can’t play this right now, If you have a file on your computer you can import it”, appears, again and again. This error encounters usually due to problems in the application or computer or the unavailability of the songs in a particular region. Due to this error, the Spotify app gets slow and causes glitches. Usually restarting the application and computer can solve this issue. But if they don’t work, the following methods will help you in fixing the issue.

Here are some reasons why Spotify can’t play the songs;

• Slow Internet Connection: A lot of the time Spotify will stop playing tracks if your internet connection is not working or your Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting. If you face any of these problems you need to disconnect and then reconnect to your Wi-Fi network or try to fix this issue.
• Spotify app got frozen: This is the easiest and simple solution to fix the issue. Sometimes, the Spotify app gets frozen or some type of glitch generates this issue. But you can fix it by restarting your app.
• Crashed System Files: As users, usually prefer to use third-party software to maintain the windows health. But sometimes, such software detects some important files as a bug and crashes them. That is why Spotify can’t play the songs. So, if you want to fix this issue, reinstall the application.
• Corrupt cache: As cache provides temporary storage to the application so it can run smoothly. But sometimes these cache files get crashed because of overloading or when many programs run at the same time. So, you can simply delete these local cache files and launch the application easily.

1. Change High-Quality Music Streaming Settings

The high-quality streaming feature is available in the premium offer. If you are using the free membership offer, you cannot get access to this feature. It will reduce the quality level and play the song. So, follow these steps you can follow to fix the issue;

1. So firstly, open the Spotify app on your computer. Click on the username at the top right corner of the dashboard.
2. Press the Settings Option. Now scroll down to Music Quality.
3. So, go to Streaming Quality and change it to Automatic or some lower option.

   

4. Now restart the Spotify app and check if the problem is resolved.

2. Update the Spotify App

If you are still facing the issue, you can update the Spotify app. Sometimes the old versions of apps do not support the new features. There are chances of bugs in it. So, you need to update the Spotify app. Here are some steps that will help you in updating the Spotify app;

1. Open the Spotify app on your system. Select Spotify and then click on the About Spotify
2. Check if there is any update available on the computer.
3. Click on Update Now and install the latest updates. So, close the application and restart it.

   

3. Disable Hardware Acceleration on Spotify App

Hardware acceleration helps in running the program and app smoothly. It enables the hardware settings and helps in meeting the software requirements. But sometimes, it slows down the app and does not play the song. So, the following steps will help you to disable this feature on Windows and Mac devices.

If you are using Spotify on Windows;

1. Open the Spotify app and Click on the Three-dotted Menu icon which is present in the top left corner of the dashboard.
2. So, click on the View and then check whether there is a Tick mark with the Hardware Acceleration option.
3. If there is any, uncheck this option. And then restart your application.

   

If you are using Spotify on Mac;

1. Open the Spotify application. Then click on the Spotify option from the top left corner.
2. Go to the Hardware Acceleration option and uncheck it.

   

3. Restart the application and play any song. If it plays the song means the problem is fixed.

4. Delete Spotify Local File Cache

Cache helps in storing the songs temporarily. When a user wants to play the song, it comes to cache and plays it on the system. But once the cache gets overloaded because of songs, it affects the app performance. Deleting the cache will force in login, delete the songs, and reset the settings. So, these steps will help you in clearing the Spotify cache.

1. Press Window Key + R from the keyboard and open the Run Program.
2. So, type %appdata% and press Enter key. A file folder will open.
3. Click on the Spotify option and select Users. Then click on the XXXX-user.
4. Now, right-click on the local-files.bnk and delete it. Restart the app and play a song to check if the problem is fixed.

   

5. Set Crossfading Value to 0

If still you are facing the issue, you can set the crossfade value to zero. This feature helps Spotify in providing a smooth transition in the Spotify experience. But sometimes, it causes an issue with playback songs. So, to avoid this issue, you can disable this feature. Here are some steps that will help you in disabling the crossfading feature;

1. Open the Spotify application on the computer. Click on the username and then select
2. Scroll down to the bottom and click on the Show Advanced Settings.
3. In the playback, turn on the Crossfade song. Go to the Advance settings and adjust the crossfade value to 0 sec from 5 sec.

   

6. Change Playback Speaker on the Computer

If Spotify can’t play the song, it can be because of playback devices like speakers, Bluetooth air pods, and headphones. When the wrong device is closed it won’t play the song. So, shift to the actual device and fix the issue

1. Go to the Taskbar and right-click on the Volume Icon and then select the Playback devices.

   

2. Now select the default device and click on properties.
3. Click on the Advance option from the Menu bar. So, from here change the format to higher or lower from the Default format.

   

4. Click on Apply and then press ok.

7. Show the Unavailable Playlists or Songs

If still, Spotify can’t play the song, there are chances that the song is unavailable in the playlist. You can simply download these songs if they are available in your region. You can enable a feature that will help you in checking whether the song is available or not. So, the following steps will help you in this;

1. Open the Spotify app on your system. Go to the settings by clicking on the username.
2. Now scroll down and go to the Display option.
3. Turn on the first option that says, “Show the unavailable songs in the playlist”. From this, you will easily get to know which songs are unavailable in the playlist.

   

4. So, if in case you want to play these songs, you have to download them again.

8. Re-install the Spotify App

If you have tried all the above methods and the problem is still there. The only option left is, to uninstall the Spotify app and re-install it again. Sometimes, the third-party software crash some important files of the app. It affects the app performance and does not play the tracks. So, here few steps that will help you in uninstallation, and reinstallation of the Spotify app;

1. Press the Window key + R. Run Program will open.
2. So, type Control Panel in the search bar and press Ok
3. Go to the programs and right-click on the Spotify app. Then click on Uninstall Option.

   

4. To install the app again. Open any internet browser and then go to the official site of Spotify and download it from there.

If none of these methods are working, you can try to use a browser to use Spotify. However, there is a similar issue reported that sometimes Spotify web player won’t play music. Fortunately, we have covered this topic on our website.