How to clear your Spotify cache to reclaim storage space, or remove all your downloaded music at onc

Publish date: 2024-05-09

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Whether you listen to Spotify using an app on Windows, your Mac, iPhone, or Android device, the music service relies on downloading lots of data more or less continuously to stream music efficiently. The app has a few tricks up its sleeves to improve performance, including caching some content locally on your phone or computer hard drive. 

If you need to reclaim storage space or are troubleshooting a problem with your device, you might need to clear this cache, which can get quite large if you listen to a lot of music. In every case, you can clear just the cache, or if you need to recover a lot of space, you can also delete all music you've downloaded for offline listening. 

How to clear Spotify's cache on the desktop

1. In the Spotify app on your Windows or Mac desktop, click your account name at the top right and then, in the dropdown menu, click Settings

Go to Spotify’s Settings page by clicking on your account name. Dave Johnson/Insider

2. Scroll down to the Storage section. 

3. To the right of Cache, click Clear cache

4. If you need to recover additional storage space, click Remove all downloads, if you've downloaded music to your computer. 

You can clear your cache or delete downloaded tracks from the Settings page in the desktop app. Dave Johnson/Insider
How to clear Spotify's cache on Android

1. In the Spotify app on your Android device, tap the Settings icon (shaped like a gear) at the top right of the screen.

2. Scroll down to the Storage section. 

3. Tap Clear cache

4. If you have downloaded songs directly to your phone for offline listening and need to recover additional storage space, click Remove all downloads

Tap the Settings icon and then scroll down to the Storage section to find the option to Clear the cache. Dave Johnson/Insider

How to clear Spotify's cache on iPhone

1. In the Spotify app on your iPhone, tap the Settings icon (shaped like a gear) at the top right of the screen.

2. On the Settings page, tap Storage

3. Tap Clear cache

4. If you need to recover additional storage space and have downloaded songs directly to your iPhone for offline listening, click Remove all downloads

To clear the cache on iPhone, start at the Settings icon, then tap Storage to get to the Clear cache button. Dave Johnson/Insider
Dave Johnson Freelance Writer Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider. Read more Read less

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