How to Fix Spotify Songs Greyed Out and Unplayable

Part 1. Why Spotify Songs Are Greyed Out

There are a few common reasons why songs on Spotify might suddenly appear greyed out:

• 

  Licensing Agreements:

  One of the biggest reasons is licensing agreements. For instance, thousands of Bollywood songs were removed in early 2023 due to a dispute with Zee Music. Artists or record labels can remove tracks from Spotify at any time because of expired agreements. In these cases, all we can do is wait for the service to add them back.

• 

  Regional Restrictions:

  Regional restrictions are another factor. Not every song is available everywhere. If your account country doesn't match the place where you actually live, some tracks may be greyed out, but they still exist on the service. Updating your country setting can help, but make sure your payment info matches your new location.

• 

  Offline Mode Limitations:

  Offline Mode can also cause greyed-out songs. It only works for tracks you've downloaded, so if a song hasn't been downloaded yet, it won't play. The fix is simple: download the tracks you want before going offline.

• 

  Network Connectivity Issues:

  Sometimes the issue is your internet connection. Weak or unstable Wi-Fi, or limited mobile data, can prevent songs from streaming. Make sure your connection is stable and that Spotify has permission to use your data. A quick check like this often solves the problem.

• 

  Cache and Data Problems:

  The app's cache can also be the culprit. Corrupted or outdated cache can stop songs from loading properly. Clearing it refreshes your library and often restores access. You can do this directly in Spotify's settings on both mobile and desktop. On Android, you can even clear both cache and data at once from the system settings.

• 

  Local File Issues:

  Local files you've added yourself may grey out if they're in an unsupported format or didn't sync correctly. Re-uploading or re-syncing usually fixes it. Just make sure your files are in a supported format, like MP3 or M4A.

• 

  Blocked Songs or Artists:

  Finally, hidden or blocked songs or artists will appear greyed out. If you accidentally blocked a track or artist, visit their page and unblock them. Once you do that, the songs should be playable again.

Part 2. How to Get Back Greyed-Out Songs on Spotify

Even Premium subscribers can sometimes see greyed-out songs. It happens, and usually there's a simple explanation.

1. Changing Your Country or Region

If you've moved to a new country permanently, updating your Spotify country setting can unlock songs and playlists that weren't available before. As long as you're in a country where Spotify is supported, most of your music should work fine. Make sure your payment info matches your new country. Log into Spotify on a web browser, go to Account page > Edit personal info, update your country or region, and the changes will take effect from your next billing cycle.

2. Using a VPN

Sometimes greyed-out songs are just about your location. A VPN can help if tracks aren't available in your region. Download a trusted VPN app, connect to a country where the songs are accessible, then open Spotify and check if they're playable.

3. Re-Adding Songs to Playlists

Try searching for greyed-out songs and see if they're available to add back to your library. Take a screenshot of those songs first, then remove them from your playlists and add them back. If they remain available, this usually solves the problem.

4. Recording Songs with Audio Capture

Still having trouble? You can use a converter tool, like ViWizard Streaming Audio Recorder, to capture rare or no-longer-available tracks from other streaming services and add them back to your Spotify library. This lets you save tracks and listen to them anytime.

Streaming Audio Recorder

A versatile all-in-one streaming music recorder to extract songs, albums, playlists, and exclusive content from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, Pandora, SoundCloud, Qobuz and LINE MUSIC into popular formats like MP3 - with support for original sound quality, fast batch conversion, and built-in music management to help you save, organize, and enjoy your favorite tracks anytime, anywhere.

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Part 3. How to Show/Hide Greyed-Out Songs on Spotify

From this view, you can tell Spotify whether to show or hide greyed-out songs in your playlists. Once enabled, all unavailable tracks will appear. If you turn the setting off, those same songs will be hidden and no longer clutter your playlist view.

On Mobile (iOS/Android)

Step 1 Open the Spotify app on your phone.

Step 2 Tap your profile icon in the top-left corner and select Settings & Privacy.

Step 3 Scroll down to Content and Display and turn on Show unplayable songs. If you don’t want to see them greyed out in your playlists, just turn this setting off.

Step 4 Now you can see or hide which songs are unavailable. They may be greyed out because of regional restrictions, licensing issues, or local files that didn’t sync.

Step 5 If greyed-out songs are local files, make sure the files still exist on your device and are in a supported format. Then go to Apps & Devices and turn on Local Audio Files to sync them.

Part 4. How to Fix Greyed-Out Songs on Spotify

Now that we've identified some possible reasons for Spotify songs being greyed out, here're detailed steps you can take to fix greyed-out songs on Spotify:

1. Reestablish Your Internet Connection

Ensure that you have a stable internet connection. Greyed-out songs can occur if your connection is weak or unstable, preventing proper streaming.

Step 1 If possible, switch to a different Wi-Fi network or use cellular data if Wi-Fi is unavailable.

Step 2 If you're using Wi-Fi, try restarting your router by unplugging it for about 30 seconds and then plugging it back in.

Step 3 Wait for the router to fully reboot before reconnecting to it.

2. Disable Offline Mode

If you've enabled Offline Mode in Spotify, only downloaded content will be available in your library. Disabling Offline Mode allows for online streaming.

For PC:

Step 1 Open Spotify on your computer.

Step 2 Click on the horizontal three dots icon in the upper-left corner of the window.

Step 3 From the dropdown menu, select "File" and then choose "Offline Mode" if it's currently enabled. If Offline Mode is enabled, it will have a checkmark next to it, indicating it's selected. Click on it again to disable Offline Mode.

For Mac:

Step 1 Open Spotify and click on "Spotify" in the Apple menu at the top-left corner of the screen.

Step 2 From the dropdown menu, select "Offline Mode."

Step 3 If Offline Mode is currently enabled, click on it again to disable it.

3. Clear the Listening Cache

If greyed-out songs are unplayable on your device, clearing the cache and data may help resolve the playback issue. Here's how you can do it on different devices:

For PC/Mac:

Step 1 Launch the Spotify desktop app on your PC or Mac.

Step 2 Click on the "Settings" option located in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 3 Scroll down to the "Storage" section and click on it. Then, click on the "Clear cache" button to remove temporary files.

For Android/iPhone:

Step 1 Launch the Spotify app on your Android or iPhone device.

Step 2 Tap on your profile picture in the top-right corner and select "Settings" from the menu.

Step 3 Scroll down to find the "Storage" option and tap on it. Then, tap on the "Clear cache" button to free up storage space.

4. Refresh Your Library

In many cases, simply signing out of your Spotify account and then signing back in can resolve playback issues, refreshing your Spotify session.

For PC/Mac:

Step 1 Click on the Profile icon in the upper-right corner of the Spotify window.

Step 2 From the dropdown menu, select "Log out."

Step 3 After logging out, log back in by entering your credentials.

For Android/iPhone:

Step 1 Open the Spotify app and tap on the "Settings" gear icon.

Step 2 Scroll down to find the "Log out" option at the bottom.

Step 3 Tap on "Log out" to sign out of your account.

Step 4 Once logged out, log back in using your Spotify credentials.

For iPhone Offline Mode:

Step 1 Open the Spotify app on your iPhone.

Step 2 Tap on the gear icon to access "Settings."

Step 3 Scroll down and find the "Playback" section.

Step 4 Toggle off the switch next to "Offline" to disable Offline Mode.

5. Unblock an Artist

If you've blocked or hidden specific songs or artists, they may appear greyed out in personalized playlists or artist profiles. Follow these steps to unblock them:

For Android/iPhone:

To Unblock a Song:

Step 1 Navigate to the playlist where the songs are greyed out.

Step 2 Press the circle with a minus sign inside it to unhide the song within your playlist.

Step 3 Alternatively, tap on the "more" button next to a greyed-out song, then select "Hidden" to unhide it. The songs should now be playable again.

To Unblock an Artist:

Step 1 Go to the Search tab in Spotify and search for the artist whose songs are greyed out in your playlist.

Step 2 Select the artist's profile page from the search results.

Step 3 Press on the circle with a minus sign inside it to unblock the artist.

Step 4 Alternatively, tap on the "More" button at the top of the artist's profile page and select "Allow to play this artist."

Step 5 After unblocking, check to see if the songs remain greyed out or can be played again.

6. Enable Show Local Files

If the greyed-out songs are local files loaded into your Spotify library from your device, you should ensure to enable the "Show audio files from this device" option on Spotify. Here's how to do it:

For Android/iPhone:

To Show Local Files:

Step 1 Go to Settings within the Spotify app.

Step 2 Find and select "Local Files."

Step 3 Toggle on the "Show audio files from this device" option to enable it.

Step 4 This will display any local files stored on your device within your Spotify library.

To Download Local Files Playlist:

Step 1 Navigate to Your Library within the Spotify app.

Step 2 Find the playlist created based on the local files synced from your computer.

Step 3 Tap on the Download button next to the playlist to download it to your library.

Step 4 This will ensure that the local files are playable on your device.

Part 5. How to Prevent Songs from Becoming Greyed Out on Spotify

One of the most effective ways to prevent songs from disappearing in your library is to create a local backup of your Spotify music. Using a tool like ViWizard Spotify Music Converter, you can download any song, playlist, or album directly to your computer and save them as standard audio files, such as MP3. These files work almost anywhere, so you can listen offline without worrying about platform limits like DRM, which often restricts how and where you want to listen your music on other apps or devices.

ViWizard preserves lossless audio and full metadata, saving you time and effort. You can also customize the backup by adjusting the format, bit rate, sample rate, and folder structure. It works for both Premium and free accounts. Once your tracks are downloaded, you can play them as intended, without ever worrying about losing them one day.

Key Features of ViWizard Spotify Music Converter

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• Download Spotify songs, playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks extremely fast at up to 15x speed
• Convert Spotify into MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, M4A, and M4B losslessly
• Lets you play Spotify tracks offline on any device without restrictions
• Works seamlessly on Windows and macOS, supporting the built-in Spotify Web Player

Step 1 Download and install ViWizard Spotify Music Converter on your Windows or Mac computer. Follow the prompts like any regular app. When it's done, open the program.

Step 2 Log in to your account inside ViWizard. Browse your playlists, albums, or liked songs and select the tracks you want to convert.

Step 3 Click the "+" icon to add your chosen songs, albums, or playlists to the conversion list. ViWizard will handle each track automatically.

Step 4 Go to Menu → Preferences → Conversion and choose MP3 as your output format. The default settings usually work well.

Step 5 Click Convert and wait. The program will process each track one by one. You can watch the progress bar to see which song is being converted.

Step 6 When the conversion is finished, open the output folder. Your MP3 files are already stored locally on your device.

Conclusion

The above are all the solutions to fixing greyed out songs in Spotify. You need to know where your problem is. Then you can choose an appropriate way to fix Spotify songs greyed out immediately. Among them, ViWizard Spotify Music Converter could be a greate helper for fixing this problem.

With its help, you are able to share and transfer those downloaded Spotify songs to any device and player for playing, without worrying about the issues like VPN network, internet connection, or Spotify Premium subscription any more. What's more, you can play greyed out songs on Spotify even though those music tracks are not available in the library of Spotify.