How to Fix Spotify Not Downloading/Waiting to Download

Compared with Spotify Free, one of the most distinctive features of Spotify Premium is the ability to download songs for listening offline. Thus, you don’t need to connect a wireless connection to play Spotify tracks on the go. However, accessing millions of songs on Spotify can be tricky when Spotify not downloading.

Some Spotify users reflect that they choose to download Spotify songs on their mobile phones, but all the selected songs that need to be downloaded don’t have the green Download icon below them. Meanwhile, the indicator at the top reads “Waiting to download” and it has been stuck like this for a long time. It is one of the most common issues for Spotify. Fortunately, there are powerful fixes for this issue, and try it out for yourself.

Part 1. Why Does Spotify Say Waiting to Download

More and more users complain Spotify waiting to download, so much so that they cannot download Spotify songs. Knowing where to look for the source of the Spotify not downloading problem can simplify the troubleshooting process. When Spotify says waiting to download, check if the following causes should be blamed.

Reason 1. Expired Spotify Subscriptions

We all know the offline mode is only available for Spotify Premium users. Once your subscription isn’t renewed in time, you are not able to download Spotify music for offline listening.

Reason 2. Unstable Internet Connection

Sometimes, Spotify stuck on downloading due to the network. You could check whether you have a strong WiFi connection at the top of your phone’s screen. Poor network damages the experience on Spotify and other online apps.

Reason 3. Insufficient Storage

Spotify recommends at least 1GB of free memory if you choose to download music. When there is not enough storage for the upcoming downloaded Spotify songs, then Spotify waiting to download until the room is sufficient.  

Reason 4. Spotify Download Limit

Currently, you can download as many as 10,000 Spotify tracks on each of up to 5 different devices, so you are only able to download Spotify songs without exceeding the downloading limitations. If you surpass that amount, a box will pop up to say “Download Limit Reached” and Spotify won’t download anymore.

Reason 5. Spotify Device Limit

As your personal Spotify account can be connected to up to five devices, you also could check whether you have logged in to Spotify on up to five devices. If you try to download Spotify songs on the sixth device, you will meet the issue of Spotify songs not downloading.

Reason 6. Bugs or Spotify Issues

Given that Spotify is an application, issues are bound to crop up. If Spotify crashes or freezes, any activity on Spotify is not accessible, let alone downloading songs. Or you might meet this issue while you keep using the older version. As Spotify always updates with the purpose of improving its service to all users, you need to keep your eye on the updates on Spotify.

Part 2. How to Fix Spotify Not Downloading/Waiting to Download

After knowing why is Spotify waiting to download, there are six common ways to troubleshoot Spotify not downloading with your Spotify Premium account.

Fix 1. Confirm Your Spotify Premium

Spotify not downloading might be due to the waiting-to-renewed subscription. Follow the steps below to check your Premium plan.

1. From the Your Library tab on Spotify, tap on your Profile.
2. Under Account, you can view your current status.
3. If you are degraded to Spotify Free, tap on Premium plan to renew it.

Fix 2. Reset Internet Connection

If you find that your network connection is unstable or your device is not connected to the network, you may have to take further steps to reset your network connection and fix Spotify not downloading songs. On your mobile device, directly tap the Settings tab and then go to reset your network connection. You could choose to make your phone connect to a WiFi network or turn the cellular data network on.

Fix 3. Allow Spotify to Download Using Data

Have you enabled cellular data but found the Spotify stuck on downloading issue persists? You have to allow cellular downloading for Spotify, otherwise, Spotify won’t download.

1. Tap the Settings gear on Spotify and scroll down to the Audio Quality section.
2. Switch on Download using cellular.

Fix 4. Remove Downloads

If Spotify not downloading proves to be caused by the download limit, you can delete part of the downloaded songs from your device and then try to download music from Spotify again. Moreover, deleting some downloads helps free up storage.

1. Go to Your Library and tap on the Downloaded button.
2. Select the downloaded album or playlist you want to remove from local storage.
3. Tap the green Downloaded toggle and then confirm it by tapping Remove.

You can also choose to remove all downloads by heading to Spotify Settings > Storage > Remove all downloads.

Fix 5. Clean Up Phone Storage

While listening to music, all the data linked to the music gets stored in the cache. Over time, Spotify can accumulate corrupted caches that can cause Spotify to malfunction and Spotify not downloading. What’s more, all these caches combined fill up your phone’s storage quickly. Now, it is time to clean up your phone’s storage by clearing Spotify caches.

1. Navigate to Spotify Settings from the upper-right corner.
2. In the scrolling screen, locate the Storage section.
3. Tap on Clear cache to delete unnecessary data.

Fix 6. Uninstall and Reinstall Spotify

Except for the above solutions, you could think of uninstalling Spotify on your device to solve Spotify not downloading songs. Now, try to uninstall your current Spotify on your device and try to install the latest version of Spotify to your device.

1. Long press the Spotify app icon on your Home screen
2. Select Uninstall (Android) or Remove App (iPhone).
3. Search for Spotify on Play Store (iPhone) or App Store (iPhone).
4. Tap Get to have Spotify on your smartphone.

Part 3. Ultimate Fix: Download Spotify Music Without Spotify

If you fail to fix the Spotify waiting to download issue with the above methods, you could adopt a totally different method. Since you encountered Spotify not downloading issue inside the Spotify app, how about downloading music from Spotify without the app? Then the woe can be solved simply. Here Tunelf Spotibeat Music Converter could be a good option for you to download Spotify music.

Tunelf Spotibeat Music Converter is a professional music downloader for Spotify that can help you download music from Spotify with only three steps. With it, you can break the download limit. Thus, you can get unlimited tracks or playlists from Spotify. What’s more, it can handle the format conversion of Spotify so you can save Spotify music to several popular formats such as MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC, M4A, and M4B. As it removes DRM, you can stream Spotify music to any device or media player anytime.

Key Features of Tunelf Spotify Music Converter

• Download Spotify playlists, songs, and albums with free accounts easily
• Convert Spotify music to MP3, WAV, FLAC, and other audio formats
• Keep Spotify music tracks with lossless audio quality and ID3 tags
• Remove ads and DRM protection from Spotify music at a 5× faster speed

Free Download

Free Download

Don’t want to be haunted by the Spotify not downloading songs issue anymore? Just install Tunelf Spotibeat Music Converter and you can download Spotify songs without limits and issues.

Step 1 Load Spotify songs into Tunelf software

Start by launching Tunelf Spotify Music Converter then Spotify will automatically load on your computer. Now you need to select the songs you want to download on Spotify. To add Spotify songs to the conversion list, you could choose to directly drag songs from Spotify to Tunelf software. Or you can copy the URL of the track to the search bar and click the Add icon to load Spotify songs into Tunelf software.

Step 2 Adjust the output parameters for Spotify

The second step is to set the output format and audio parameters for Spotify music. Click the menu bar and choose the Preferences option then you will see a pop-up window. In this option, go to Convert and you can select the output format among six popular formats. In addition, you could also adjust the bit rate, sample rate, and channel for getting lossless audio quality. You could also choose to archive output tracks by artist or album.

Step 3 Download Spotify music tracks with one click

Now click the Convert button to let Tunelf Spotibeat Music Converter start the conversion based on your requirements. A few minutes later, all imported Spotify songs will be downloaded offline and saved as MP3 or the other format you set. You can click the Converted icon to browse all of your downloads in the converted list. You can then listen to them on any player or device anywhere at any time.

Conclusion

It is possible to solve your problem by understanding why Spotify is not downloading and applying the above methods. Actually, the best method to fix the Spotify not downloading issue is to use Tunelf Spotibeat Music Converter. It could help you download Spotify songs without the Spotify app, aka without the issues. What’s more, you can play Spotify music on any device without limit.