How to Fix the Spotify ‘No Internet Connection’ Mobile Error Message

The Spotify “No Internet Connection” error message bothers many subscribers of the app on their mobile devices from time to time. 

While it is specifically a mobile issue, many troubleshooting guides try to address this as a Windows matter. Yet pages and pages of complaints and queries from users looking for help on Spotify forums state that they only encountered this issue on their smartphones. 

We’ll introduce eight proven solutions that address the Spotify “No Internet Connection” error message on many different mobile device models

What is the “No Internet Connection” Spotify Error?

When Spotify is not connecting to the internet as you try to listen to some music, or if the app plainly states that there is no internet connection, then you are experiencing the bothersome “No Internet Connection” Spotify error. It’s confusing when you know you are connected to WiFi or have plenty of mobile data, especially when your other applications seem to be working just fine. 

This error has been a long-standing issue for mobile devices, with forum questions tracing all the way back to 2012 regarding the “No Internet Connection” error message. Devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and many more, were affected by this problem at the time.

Even now, ten years later, Spotify users are still reporting this problem. It continues to cause issues to modern smartphones like the Samsung S21 Ultra, Samsung S10, Google Pixel 6, and the Samsung A Series.

The Spotify ‘No Internet Connection’ message cause the following issues:

• You can only listen to music or podcasts that are in your library but ONLY when using ‘shuffle’ play.
• You cannot listen to any music not already been downloaded onto your device.

This particular error should not be confused with the Spotify “Can’t play this right now” message though. While it is also a common error on this music-streaming app, it is an entirely different issue. You can click on the link provided if you are currently experiencing this error, or just wanted to know more about it. 

What Causes the “No Internet Connection” Spotify Error?

The ‘No Internet Connection’ error seems to plague Android devices more often than iOS ones. This might mean that the error originates from a bug or optimization issue present in the Android Spotify application, but not the iOS app.

For years, many users have sought help from Spotify in resolving this issue, but a huge percentage of them just received minimal support. Frustrated with the lack of an official fix, Spotify enthusiasts have resorted to trying any method they can to troubleshoot this “No Internet Connection” problem. Thankfully, many found valuable solutions, some of which seem to be related to the following causes:

• Signed into Spotify on multiple devices / Syncing issues
• Using a VPN on your smartphone
• Spotify doesn’t have all permissions it needs to operate correctly
• ‘Music’ widget causing unexpected interactions with Spotify
• Private DNS settings enabled
• Wrong internet settings on your mobile phone

8 Ways to Fix the Spotify “No Internet Connection” Mobile Issue

We will start with the simplest and most effective solutions that fixed the said mobile application issue for countless users before we move on to the more random fixes. Beware that some of these solutions address the problem short-term. There is no guarantee that it will not happen again later down the line.

1. Sign Out of All Devices

Before you do anything else, you should track down and sign out of all devices where you are logged into Spotify. You’ll need to do this on a computer:

1. Open a browser (mobile or desktop) and navigate to https://www.spotify.com/us/account/overview/. Sign into your account if you are not already signed in on this browser.

2. Select Account overview from the navigation menu on the left-hand side (desktop) or from the drop-down menu (mobile).

3. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click Sign out everywhere.

2. Clear App Data 

After signing out of all devices, an excellent follow-up to clear your smartphone of any possible Spotify-related corrupt files is to clear all app data. This gets you a fresh start, so you can sign back into your Spotify account and hopefully not carry the “No Internet Connection” error with you. 

Just be aware that this might remove offline access to your Spotify library, and you’ll need to recache those playlists and songs. This wording might vary slightly on different phones, but the general idea is the same:

1. Navigate to the Settings application on your smartphone.
2. Select Apps from the Settings Menu for Android devices. On an iPhone, scroll down until you find the Spotify application at the bottom of the Settings page (or use the search function to locate it quickly). 

3. Select Spotify from the list of downloaded applications. 

4. From the Spotify App info window underneath Storage, tap Clear data. 

3. Turn Off VPN

VPNs, or virtual private networks, are not officially supported by Spotify. Most of the common VPN provider’s IP addresses have been blocked, so if you use one of these services, your Spotify application may not work as intended. 

VPNs hide your IP address so hackers and malicious attackers can see your personal information or location. If you are experiencing the ‘No Internet Connection’ problem and are actively using a VPN on your mobile phone, then you should disable your VPN to see if this resolves the issue:

1. Navigate to the Settings application on your smartphone.
2. From the Settings menu, select Connections if you are on an Android device. For an iPhone, you’ll need to select General. 

3. Scroll through the options on the Connections page and select More connection settings. If you are on an iPhone, you will look for the VPN option. 
4. Then, either toggle your VPN off or tap the name of your VPN and select Disconnect. 

4. Grant Spotify All Permissions

Some users have reported that this internet connection issue is related to missing Spotify application permissions. In other words, Spotify needs full permissions, or the application might start displaying unwanted errors and other bugs. 

You can easily grant Spotify full permissions to see if this fixes the “No Internet Connection” error so you can return to listening to music by following these steps (start by repeating the first three steps from the first solution):

1. Navigate to the Settings application on your smartphone.
2. Select Apps from the Settings Menu if you’re using an Android device. On an iPhone, scroll down until you find the Spotify application on the Settings page (or use the search function to locate it quickly). 
3. Select Spotify from the list of downloaded applications. 
4. Within the Spotify App info page, select App permissions.

5. Then tap Allow for all required permissions. 

5. Force Stop Spotify

If none of the solutions above have worked, you can try to Force Close the Spotify app. Force Stop is sometimes helpful if an app is misbehaving or stuck in a faulty state. It’s very simple to Force Stop an application: 

1. Refer to steps 1-3 from the Clear App Data solution. 
2. Within Spotify’s App info page, find and tap Force stop. 

3. A dialog popup will ask you to confirm that you want to Force stop. Tap OK.

6. Disable Widget 

Some users have reported that the Android music widget causes issues with the Spotify application. Widgets are a big thing on Android devices. They are customizable and offer unique ways to use your applications without actually opening the full app. But it seems like the widget interferes with Spotify in some unexpected ways. You can disable the music widget to see if this resolves the internet connection problems plaguing your Spotify application:

1. Find the Spotify/music widget. Tap and hold the widget. 
2. Tap the Remove (or trashcan or x icon) button when it appears. If an icon doesn’t automatically appear, drag the widget to the top of your screen, and one of the icons should finally appear. 

7. Disable Private DNS Settings

Private DNS settings may generate the same kind of issues that your VPN causes. If you know you have an internet connection or data on your phone and are still unable to play music from Spotify, try disabling private DNS with these steps:

1. Navigate to the Settings application on your smartphone.
2. From the Settings menu, select Connections if you are on an Android device.

3. Scroll through the options on the Connections page and select More connection settings. 

4. Now toggle off Private DNS if it’s enabled. 

8. Clean Reinstall

If Spotify is still not working right, you can try one last solution to see if you can get this problem resolved. I’m talking about a clean install. The procedure is a bit more thorough than a quick uninstall and reinstall because it removes any outstanding files, caches, or other data that are associated with the application. Here’s how to perform a clean reinstall for Spotify:

1. Navigate to your Settings application and select Apps.

2. Scroll down until you locate Spotify from the downloaded apps list. Tap Spotify to open the App info page. 
3. Tap Storage or Storage & cache memory. Then click Clear storage and Clear cache.

4. Return to Spotify’s main App info page and select Uninstall.
5. Now you need to navigate to the location of the Files application installed on your phone. Every phone has one of these Files applications because it cannot be removed. It might be called File Manager or My Files.

4. Navigate to the Internal Storage folder, the Android subfolder, and then the data folder. 

7. Look for a com.spotify.music folder. If you find it, delete it. 

8. You should now restart your device and then reinstall Spotify from the Google Play store. 

Fixed: The Spotify “No Internet Connection” Error

It’s a shame Spotify hasn’t gotten to the bottom of this long-standing “No Internet Connection” error that has plagued their users, especially Android owners, for over ten years. 

Millions of people use Spotify daily because they love the service and even pay for the Premium subscription to remove ads. If you are experiencing the “No Internet Connection” error and cannot choose any songs or podcasts from your library, this guide is for you. 

We walked you through eight fantastic but easy solutions with which the Spotify community has found success in resolving this annoying error message. Hopefully, one of these eight solutions will fix the problem for you, since Spotify seems to be not providing much help in this area.