10 Spotify Life Hacks Every User Should Know
Spotify frequently adds new features, filling the app with everything from AI-powered playlists to stories about the music you listen to and the artists who contributed. But Spotify also has a number of simpler settings designed to improve the sound of tracks and personalize your playlists—so if Spotify is your preferred music service, you should try these tips, tricks, and hidden methods to maximize your listening experience.
Use folders to organize your playlists.
If you have dozens of playlists in your Spotify library, it can be tedious to search for the right tracks or remember everything you’ve created over the years. Playlist folders allow you to organize content by category, genre, or any other topic. Folders must be created on your computer or through the Spotify web player, but once synced, they will appear on all your devices. Open your library and click the “Create” button at the top, then select “Folder.” You can rename the folder, add playlists to it (drag, right-click, or use the three dots next to a playlist), or create additional folders within folders.
Eliminate foods from your taste profile.
Spotify’s algorithm generates personalized recommendations—like Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Release Radar playlists—based on what you listen to and how often. It also uses this data for summaries like Wrapped, so if you don’t want certain tracks or playlists included in recommendations, you can exclude them from your preference profile. This is a useful feature if you often listen to lo-fi music while working, white noise for sleep, or, in my case, yoga playlists that don’t fit my usual listening style. To exclude a playlist or track, tap the three dots and select “Exclude from preference profile” or “Exclude track from preference profile.”
Turn on volume normalization to prevent abrupt shifts.
If you find yourself manually adjusting the volume between songs in your playlists so that some tracks are louder than others, you can enable Volume Normalization to let Spotify do it for you. This setting balances the volume of quiet and loud tracks, ensuring a consistent listening experience. Tap your profile photo in the app, go to Settings & Privacy > Playback , and turn on Volume Normalization . You can also choose a volume level based on your surroundings: loud, normal, or soft.
Use the Equalizer to adjust audio frequencies based on genre.
Another audio setting in Spotify is the equalizer, which lets you adjust the bass and treble levels in music and podcasts. You can adjust this manually across six bands or choose from preset genres, such as dance, jazz, or R&B. To use the equalizer, tap your profile photo and go to “Settings & Privacy” > “Playback” > “Equalizer.”
Use Smart Shuffle to sort songs by beats per minute.
One of Spotify’s newest features automatically sorts the songs in your playlist by beats per minute (BPM) and key. Smart Reorder, which ties into Spotify’s Mix feature, is designed to ensure seamless transitions between songs. (Like many of the platform’s best features, Smart Reorder is only available to Premium subscribers.) Open any playlist you’ve created and tap the Mix button. Then tap Edit , scroll down to select Smart Reorder , and tap Save to confirm your changes. Note that reordering isn’t possible, so it’s recommended to create a copy of the playlist before using this feature.
Download lyrics for offline playback
Spotify recently added support for offline lyrics playback, meaning that when you download music, you’ll also get lyrics (if available). Lyrics are downloaded automatically, so you don’t need to enable any additional settings. Simply click the download button for any song to add it to your library. Please note that this feature is only available to Premium subscribers, as free plan users can listen to podcasts, but not music, offline.
Have a jam session and listen to music with others.
Spotify has several co-listening features that let you create playlists with friends. When you start a jam , anyone nearby can add tracks to your playlist in real time—it’s an easy way to DJ without switching devices or playlists. Jams are great for parties and events, and they’re supported by both Android Auto and CarPlay for listening on the go. If you have Spotify Premium, you can start a jam by tapping the device icon > Start Jam . Anyone on the same Wi-Fi network can join the jam, or you can invite others using a QR code, a shared link, or simply bringing your phones close together.
Alternatively, you can invite collaborators to your personal playlists. This feature allows you to create playlists with friends asynchronously and for a set period of time, as anyone with access can add, remove, or reorder tracks and listen to them from their devices. To add friends to a playlist, tap the three dots at the top and select “Invite Collaborators.”
Start a private listening session to hide your activity from your subscribers.
If you have a favorite song you listen to in secret and don’t want others to see, you can do so with a Private Session, which hides your activity from everyone who follows you. Your Private Session history is also excluded from Spotify’s “Made for You” recommendations. Sessions automatically expire after six hours unless you disable them sooner or restart Spotify. To start a Private Session on mobile, go to your profile, tap “Settings & Privacy” > “Privacy & Social,” and turn on “Private Session .” On the desktop app, select your profile and tap “Private Session.”
Add local files for content not available on Spotify.
Spotify has millions upon millions of tracks to choose from, but if you’re missing something, you can upload local files from your device and add them to your playlists. First, you need to enable this feature in your profile under Settings & Privacy > Apps & Devices > Local Audio Files . Then, you can select a file source , such as another app or a folder on your device, to add tracks to the Local Files folder. Reddit users note that this feature can be finicky, and you may need to adjust settings like the file name and metadata for it to work.
Use advanced search to narrow your results using seven hidden tags.
If a standard Spotify search doesn’t yield the results you need, use advanced search tags to narrow your search or filter results by year, genre, or keyword. Spotify supports several tags :
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year:
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genre:
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label:
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track:
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album:
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artist:
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label:
You can also combine them, for example, genre:pop year:2005, and use the NOT, AND, OR operators to further refine your search.