How to Download Full Albums on the Spotify Desktop App

You might think you need a constant internet connection to listen to your music on Spotify for desktop, but that's not the case. In fact, you can download entire albums to listen to offline.

In this article, we show you how to download an album for offline listening on Spotify for desktop, along with some limitations to be aware of.

How to Download an Album on Spotify for Desktop

Before you try to download an album on Spotify for desktop (available on Windows and macOS), ensure that you have enough spare storage space. This varies per album and based on audio quality, but have at least 1GB spare. Also check that your internet connection is active.

Navigate to the album that you want to download.
Click the Download icon (the down arrow within a circle) beneath the album artwork and title.
The Download icon will turn green to indicate success and each song will display the same icon to represent that it's available offline. The album will also be added to Your Library.

How to Listen to Downloaded Music Offline on Spotify for Desktop

When an album has been downloaded to your computer, you won't need an internet connection to listen. That said, if you want to force offline listening on Spotify:

Click the menu icon (three horizontal dots).
Hover over File.
Click Offline Mode. A blue icon will appear in the top-right to indicate that you are listening offline. You can repeat these instructions to return online.

In Offline Mode, unavailable songs will be grayed out. If you try to play them, a message will appear to warn that, "This content is not available".

You might not even be able to access artist or album pages; instead, you could see a message that says, "Not available while you're offline".

As such, you should always access your downloaded music through a playlist or Your Library. Here the downloaded songs and albums will appear as they usually do, available to play offline.

How to Change Where Spotify Stores Downloaded Music

You can change the folder where Spotify stores offline music. Bear in mind that you can't browse to this folder and launch music, as you still need to manage everything through the Spotify app. Nevertheless, it is handy to change to a folder on another drive.

Click the menu icon (three horizontal dots).
Hover over Edit.
Click Preferences.
Click Show advanced settings.
Beneath Offline storage location, click Change location.
Browse to the desired folder.
Click OK.

Limitations to Downloading Albums on Spotify for Desktop

The ability to download albums offline on Spotify for desktop is only available to Premium members. If you have a free account, you can only download podcasts.

You can download up to 10,000 songs on up to five devices. You must go online every 30 days to keep your downloads, which Spotify claims is so it can collect play data to compensate artists.

If you reinstall Spotify or download on more devices than allowed, you might lose your downloads. Spotify will clear downloads on the device that hasn't been used for the longest time.

Finally, you should keep the Spotify application updated, though this will usually happen automatically.

Now, Discover Some New Music on Spotify!

Spotify only added the ability to download albums offline on desktop in April 2021. Before that it was only possible on mobile. Now, you can download on any device!

To make the most of offline listening, be sure to download your favorite albums. If you're looking for new music to enjoy, why not get inspired from your friends' activity feeds, listen to Artist Radio, or simply browse the Spotify homepage to see the latest releases.

source https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-download-full-albums-spotify-desktop/