Spotify frequently adds new features, packing the app with everything from AI-powered playlists to stories about the music you’re listening to and the artists who contributed. But Spotify also has a range of simpler settings designed for making tracks sound better and personalizing 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 locate what you want to listen to or to remember everything you’ve created over the years. Playlist folders allow you to organize by category, genre, or any theme you want to use. Folders must be initiated on desktop or via the Spotify web player, but they’ll appear on all of your devices once synced. Open Your Library and click the Create button at the top, then select Folder. You can rename the folder, add playlists to it (drag and drop, right click, or use the three dots next to said playlist), or create additional folders within folders.
Exclude items from your taste profile
Spotify’s algorithm generates personalized recommendations—like your Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Release Radar playlists—based on what you listen to and how often you listen to it. It also uses this data for summaries like Wrapped, so if you don’t want certain tracks or playlists included, you can exclude them from your taste profile. This is a useful feature if you frequently use lo-fi beats while working or white noise to sleep—or, in my case, playlists for teaching yoga that don’t represent my regular listening. To exclude a playlist or track, tap the three dots and choose Exclude from your taste profile or Exclude track from your taste profile.
Enable volume normalization to prevent abrupt shifts
If you find yourself manually adjusting the volume between songs on your playlists to compensate for some songs sounding louder than others, you can enable volume normalization to have Spotify do that work for you. This setting balances soft and loud tracks so the volume sounds consistent as you listen. Tap your profile picture in the app, go to Settings and privacy > Playback, and toggle Enable Audio Normalization on. You can also select the volume level based on your listening environment: loud, normal, or quiet.
Use ‘Equalizer’ to customize audio frequencies by genre
Another Spotify setting for customizing sound is Equalizer, which allows you to adjust the bass and treble levels in music and podcasts. You can do this manually across six bands, or you can select one of the genre presets, such as Dance, Jazz, or R&B. To use the EQ feature, tap your profile photo and go to Settings and privacy > Playback > Equalizer.
Use ‘Smart Reorder’ to sort songs by beats per minute
One of Spotify’s newest features automatically sorts songs on your playlist by beats per minute (BPM) and key. Smart Reorder, which is related to the Spotify Mix feature, is designed to make song transitions sound seamless. (Like many of the platform’s best features, Smart Reorder is available only 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 you can’t undo the reorder back to the original, so you may want to create a copy before using this feature.
Download lyrics for offline playback
Spotify recently added support for offline lyrics, which means that when you download music, you’ll get the lyrics for those tracks (if available) as well. Lyrics are downloaded automatically, so you don’t need to enable any additional settings. Simply tap the download button on any song to add it to your library. Note that this is only available to Premium subscribers, as users on the free plan can listen to podcasts, but not music, offline.
Start a ‘Jam’ and listen collaboratively with others
Spotify has a couple of collaborative listening features that allow you to create playlists with friends. When you start a Jam, anyone in close proximity can add to your playlist in real time—an easy way to DJ without needing to swap devices or playlists. Jams are great for parties and events, and they’re supported on both Android Auto and CarPlay for road trip listening. If you have Spotify Premium, you can start a Jam by tapping the device icon > Start a Jam. Anyone on the same wifi network can join the Jam, or you can invite others via QR code, shared link, or by bringing your phones close together.
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Alternatively, you can invite collaborators to your personal playlists. This feature allows you to curate playlists with friends asynchronously and over time, as anyone with access can add, remove, or reorder tracks and listen from their own 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 activity from followers
If you have guilty pleasure music that you don’t want others to know you listen to, you can do so through a private session, which hides your activity from anyone who follows you. History from your private listening session is also excluded from Spotify’s Made for You recommendations. Sessions end automatically after six hours unless you disable them sooner or restart Spotify. To start a private session on mobile, go to your profile and tap Settings and privacy > Privacy and social and toggle Private Session on. On the desktop app, select your profile and click Private session.
Add local files for content Spotify doesn’t have
Spotify has millions and millions of tracks to choose from, but if there’s something missing, you can upload local files from your device and add them to your playlists. You’ll first have to enable the feature from your profile under Settings and privacy > Apps and devices > Local audio files, then you can choose your file source, such as another app or 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 specifics like the file name and metadata to make it work.
If a basic Spotify search doesn’t turn up the results you’re looking for, use advanced search tags to narrow them down or filter by year, genre, or keyword. Spotify supports a handful of 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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tag:
You can also combine them, such as genre:pop year:2005, and use NOT, AND, OR operators to curate your search even further.
