How to download music from Spotify's desktop app

Believe it or not, downloading using the Spotify desktop app is essentially the same as it is on mobile or tablet. Accessing the Audio quality options is a little different, so we'll start there.

Step 1: On a Mac or Windows, access the Settings menu from the Spotify app by selecting the drop-down menu from your profile pic in the top-right corner of the app.

Step 2: Scroll down to Audio quality and make a choice. It's likely your laptop or desktop is using wired or Wi-Fi internet access, so you should choose Very high for the best possible playback.

Step 3: To download, as outlined above, just find the playlist, album, or podcast you want to download and click the green Down arrow icon. Your download will start and there will be a filled-in green Down arrow icon to let you know the download was successful.

How to access your downloaded music on desktop

This is distinct from the mobile app experience. While green down arrow indicators immediately identify all of your downloaded stuff among all of the available content to stream, processing it all in one Downloads filter is a little different.

To do this, you must put the app in Offline Mode.

Step 1: On a Mac, from the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, select Spotify to access the drop-down menu.

On a Windows PC, click the ... icon at the top of the screen and select File.

Step 2: On both platforms, the dropdown menu will show Offline Mode. Click this. This will show a little blue icon next to your profile image to let you know you're in Offline Mode, and the main screen should display all your Music Downloads — playlists, albums, podcast episodes — in one place.

Anything in your library that you haven't downloaded will be grayed out and will be unplayable until you exit Offline Mode.

How to remove downloaded music from Spotify on desktop -

To avoid sounding like a skipping streaming file (or a broken record if you're elderly), deleting downloaded music from the desktop Spotify app is similar to doing so on mobile.

Simply go to the Settings menu, scroll down to the Storage section, and click the Remove all downloads button. Easy.