Spotify frequently adds new features, packing the app with everything AI-powered playlists from Stories about music You’re listening and the artists who contributed. But Spotify also has a range of simple settings designed to make tracks sound better and personalize your playlists—so if Spotify is your music service of choice, 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 tiring to find the ones you want to listen to or 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 launched on desktop or through the Spotify web player, but once synced they will appear on all your devices. Open your library and click create button at the top, then select folder. You can rename a 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. It also uses this data for summaries like Wrapped, so if you don’t want to include specific tracks or playlists, you can exclude them from your taste profile. This is a useful feature if you often use lo-fi beats while working or use 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 select Exclude from your taste profile Or Exclude a track from your taste profile.
Enable volume normalization to prevent sudden changes
If you’re manually adjusting the volume between songs on your playlist, to compensate for some songs sounding louder than others, you can enable volume normalization to let Spotify do the work for you. This setting balances soft and loud tracks so that the sound feels consistent as you listen. Tap your profile picture in the app, go to Settings and Privacy > Playbackand toggle Enable audio normalization ON You can also select the volume level based on your listening environment: loud, normal or quiet.
Use the ‘Equalizer’ to customize audio frequencies by style
Another Spotify setting for customizing sound is the Equalizer, which allows you to adjust the bass and treble levels in music and podcasts. You can do this manually in six bands, or you can choose one of the genre presets like Dance, Jazz or R&B. To use the EQ feature, tap on your profile photo and go to Settings & Privacy > Playback > Equalizer.
Use ‘Smart Reorder’ to sort songs by beats per minute
One of the new features of Spotify Automatically sorts the songs on your playlist by BPM and key. Smart Reorder, which is related to the Spotify Mix feature, is designed to make song transitions seamless. (Like many of the platform’s best features, Smart Reorder is only available to Premium subscribers.) Open any playlist you’ve created and tap Mix button then tap EditScroll down to select Smart reorderingand tap save To confirm your changes. Note that you cannot undo the reordering on the original, so you may want to make a copy before using this feature.
Download songs for offline playback
Recently added support for Spotify Offline songsWhich means when you download music, you’ll also get the lyrics for those tracks (if available). Songs 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 offline, but not music.
Start a ‘jam’ and listen collaboratively with others
Spotify has some collaborative listening features that let you create playlists with friends. When you Start the jamAnyone nearby can add to your playlist in real time – an easy way to DJ without the need to swap devices or playlists. The Jam is great for parties and events, and it’s supported on both Android Auto and CarPlay for road trip listening. If you have Spotify Premium, you can tap to start jamming Device icon > Start 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 phone closer.
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Alternatively, you can invite collaborators to your personal playlist. This feature allows you to curate playlists asynchronously with friends and over time, as anyone with access can add, remove or rearrange 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 hear, you can do so through a private session, which hides your activity from anyone following you. Your private listening session history is also excluded from Spotify’s Made for You recommendations. Sessions automatically end 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 & Privacy > Privacy & Social and toggle Private session On the desktop app running, select and click your profile Private session.
Add local files for content that 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 must first enable the following feature from your profile Settings & Privacy > Apps & Devices > Local Audio FilesThen you can Select your file sourceTo add tracks to a local file folder, such as another app or folder on your device. Reddit users note Note that this feature can be finicky, and you may need to adjust specifications such as file names and metadata to make it work.
If the basic Spotify search doesn’t turn up the results you’re looking for, use the 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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Style:
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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 the NOT, AND, OR operators to refine your search.
