Spotify Error Code 4: 8 Solutions to Fix it on Windows & Mac

"Today when I launch Spotify, it keeps going on and offline constantly with an error code 4: 'No internet connection detected. Spotify will automatically reconnect when it detects an internet connection.' In fact, my internet connection is fine. Any idea as to how to fix Spotify Error Code 4?"

Many Spotify users have met the same problem – Spotify Error Code 4 when using Spotify to listen to music. It typically appears if there's something wrong with the internet connection. But most of the time, the error occurs even when the internet connection works just perfectly. If you unfortunately get stuck with this error on Spotify, simply try these popular solutions introduced in this post. Let's get it fixed quickly now.

Part 1. Spotify No Internet Connection Error Code 4

Spotify is a digital music service that lets you to access millions of songs. While using Spotify to listen to music, you may encounter some error codes like code 3, code 17, code 18, code 24, code 30 and others. But code 4 is the most common. If you want to fix this error, just figure out what is Spotify Error Code 4 and what causes it first.

#1. What is Spotify Error Code 4?

Error Code 4 is one of the most common problems that Spotify users might encounter while launch Spotify on the computer. Once it appears, there will be an error message displaying on Spotify, telling you "Not internet connection detected." It's used to remind the users to check the internet accessibility in order to run Spotify properly.

#2. What causes Spotify Error Code 4?

Spotify desktop users often find the error code when using Spotify. However, mobile users won't be given an error message. There are all kinds of reasons why you'd meet this error, from incorrect DNS settings or broken internet connection to antivirus application. Also, Spotify itself would cause the error.

Part 2. Devices Settings to Fix Spotify Error Code 4

Now you've known the most common cause of Spotify Error Code 4. For starters, there're 3 devices settings can help to fix this issue.

2.1 Restart the Devices

Sometimes when you login to your broadband internet, the "Internet Connection" icon on the right side of the taskbar doesn't change to online at all. You can restart the computer devices to fix it so that Spotify show this error code 4 message.

For Windows:

Go to Start > Power button > Restart.

For Mac:

Go to Apple menu > Restart. Please also deselect "Reopen Windows when logging back in" to make sure app windows that are open to reopen when your Mac restarts.

2.2 Reestablish the Internet

When Spotify is on online mode. Spotify requires a stable and solid internet connection for its digital music service. If the internet is unstable, it will also cause Spotify to perform incorrectly.

You can test the internet connection with other applications on the computer devices, switch to a different connection or reestablish the current connection.

For Windows:

Step 1. Make sure Wi-Fi is turned on.

Step 2. Select the "Internet Connection" icon or "No internet connection" icon on the right side of the taskbar. From here to make sure Wi-Fi is turned on and Airplane mode is turned off.

Step 3. In the list of networks, try to connect to a different Wi-Fi network and check if the error code 4 still persists on Spotify.

Step 4. In the list of network, if the current network says Connected, select Disconnect.

Step 5. Wait a moment, and then select Connect again.

For Mac:

Step 1. From the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar, choose a different network.

Step 2. Or choose Apple menu > System Settings.

Step 3. Click Wi-Fi in the sidebar.

Step 4. Click Details next to the current network.

Step 5. Click Forget This Network, then click Remove to confirm.

Step 6. Wait a moment, then go back to Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar to select it again.

2.3 Update the Devices

Please also check the devices' systems are updated to their latest.

For Windows:

Step 1. Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.

Step 2. Select Check for Updates.

Step 3. If updates are available, install them.

For Mac:

Step 1. Choose Apple menu > Systems Settings.

Step 2. Click General in the sidebar > Software Update.

Step 3. If Software Update finds new software, click the Update Now or Upgrade Now button to install it.

Part 3. Internet Settings to Fix Spotify Error Code 4

In this part, we'll introduce 5 related internet settings to help fix error code 4 on Spotify.

Solution 1. Modify EnableActiveProbing

To fix error code on Spotify, Windows users need to modify EnableAtiveProbing on the device.

For Windows:

Step 1. From the Windows Search Box, open the Run app.

Step 2. In the Run app, open regedit.exe > OK.

Step 3. In the Registry Editor, go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet".

Step 4. Right-click on "EnableActiveProbing" > Modify.

Step 5. Change Value data from "0" to "1".

Step 6. Restart the Windows PC.

Solution 2. Change Proxy Settings

To fix the issue of Spotify Error Code 4, you can also simply modify the Proxy settings with Spotify in 3 steps only. Here's the tutorial.

Step 1. Launch Spotify desktop client on your computer. Click the Edit settings link for the desktop app.

Step 2. Scroll down to Proxy Setting section, click the chevron down icon under the Proxy type.

Step 3. Select "Auto Detect" or "HTTP" from the drop-down list.

Step 4. Once there's a change on the Proxy type, there will be a "Restart App" button. Click "Restart App" to apply the modification.

Solution 3. Change DNS Settings

In most cases, Spotify Error Code 4 is caused by DNS server problem. Specially, sometimes Spotify won't recognize the DNS server from your ISP provider. Then it cannot load the internet resources as expected. To fix the error code 4, just switch the original ISP provider to Google DNS, OpenDNS, or other DNS servers. Follow the below steps on Window and Mac.

For Windows:

Step 1. Right click on network icon in the taskbar and choose "Open Network and Sharing Center" option.

Step 2. Click the primary network connection (WiFi or Ethernet) under "Connections".

Step 3. Click on "Properties", then double-click on "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)". If you using IPv6, you should choose "Internet Protocal Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)" instead.

Step 4. Check the "Use the following DNS server addresses"option and input the DNS addresses like below:

Step 5. Press "OK" to apply the changes. Then relaunch Spotify to verify whether the Error Code 4 issue is fixed.

For Mac:

Step 1. Go to "System Preferences" and click "Network".

Step 2. In "Network" settings, click on "Advanced..." and then "DNS".

Step 3. In "DNS Servers" section, click "+" button to replace any listed addresses with, or add, the Google IP addresses at the top of the list:

Step 4. Click "OK" to confirm. Reboot Spotify app and the Spotify error code 4 issue should be addressed.

Solution 4. Allow Spotify through Firewall

Sometimes, Spotify cannot access the internet as it's blocked by your computer's firewall settings. To make sure that Spotify is allowed through the firewall, you need to add Spotify to firewall exception list with the following steps on Windows and Mac.

For Windows:

Step 1. Open "Windows Defender Security Center" from the taskbar by clicking the Shield icon.

Step 2. Click on "Firewall" > "Network Protection" and then "Allow An App or Feature through Windows Firewall".

Step 3. Click "Change Settings" button and scroll down to find "Spotify.exe". Tick the checkbox if it's not ticked yet. If you can't find Spotify app there, you should click "Allow Other Apps" button to find it from "C:\Users\(Your Username)\AppData\Roaming\Spotify folder" and add it to the firewall exception list.

Step 4. Click "OK"/"Apply" to apply the modifications.

For Mac:

Step 1. Navigate to "System Preferences" and click "Security" >"Privacy".

Step 2. Choose "Firewall" option and click the lock icon at bottom left. Input your administrator password to unlock it so that you can make changes to firewall settings.

Step 3. Click "Advanced" and then "+" button. You'll be directed to the "Applications" folder where you can select Spotify app. Then click "Add" button to allow incoming connections from Spotify on Mac.

Step 4. Click "OK" to apply the changes.

Solution 5. Add Spotify to Antivirus Exceptions

Like firewall, the antivirus software on your computer could also block the startup of Spotify by mistake, such as the NOD32 on Windows. So, if you are using the antivirus software like NOD32, then you would meet the error code 4 when starting Spotify. Just try the following steps to add Spotify to exception list of NOD32.

Step 1. Open ESET Smart Security or ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

Step 2. Activate "Advanced Setup" window. Then click "Antivirus and antispyware" > "Exclusions" > "Add... ".

Step 3. Browse quot;C:\Users\(Your Username)\AppData\Roaming\Spotify"& and find "Spotify.exe". Click "OK" to save the changes.

Part 4. How to Listen to Spotify without Spotify App

Normally, the issue of Spotify Error Code 4 could be fixed with the above methods. However, this is very frustrating after you've tried the aforementioned solutions to no avail. If they all failed to resolve the error, you have to give the last try, that is, to use a Spotify music downloader called ViWizard Spotify Music Converter.

When Spotify is download, users can still listen to their offline songs in the music library. But this only allows those Premium users to download music or playlists then they can continue to playing Spotify music by way of utilizing their downloads. So, in this case, ViWizard Spotify Music Converter could be a good helper to enable you to play offline music libraries.

With ViWizard Spotify Music Converter, all Spotify users can download and convert Spotify music to unprotected audio formats like MP3, AAC, and more. It can keep the lossless audio quality, as well as, ID3 tags including title, artist, album, artwork, and more. Thanks to this smart tool, you'll be able to ultimately fix Spotify offline error code 4 on Windows and Mac.

Now let's get started to download Spotify music playlist as MP3 for offline listening with ViWizard Spotify Music Downloader.

Step 1. First of all, launch ViWizard Spotify Converter. Wait for a few seconds until it loads Spotify app. Then find the Spotify songs or playlists from Spotify store. Drag the title to ViWizard downloading window.

Step 2. Click "Preferences" from top menu. Under "Convert" section, set output profile by selecting format, channel, bit rate and sample rate.

Step 3. Now you can start to download Spotify songs offline as MP3 or other formats by clicking "Convert" button. After conversion, you'll find the downloaded songs from history folder.

Final Words

All the above solutions are supposed to fix Spotify Error Code 4 effectively. With the help of ViWizard Spotify Music Converter, you are able to solve the offline problem once and for all. Does any of them work for you? Or do you have a better solution that is missing from this post? Just leave your answer in the comments and we'd like to hear your thoughts below.