Sometimes, you just want to hit play on a song and go about your day, but the Spotify web player has other plans. I’ve run into this more than a few times — it’s either stuck on loading, nothing plays when I click a track, or it completely freezes. There is no error, no explanation, just silence.
It’s not just me. Every now and then, I’ll search “Spotify won’t play” or “Spotify podcasts not working” and find many people dealing with the same thing. So I figured I’d just put everything that’s worked for me in one place — no fluff, just the actual stuff I tried when Web Spotify started acting weird.
Try Reloading
It sounds too simple, but a plain browser refresh actually solves more than you’d think. If the Spotify music player gets stuck loading or doesn’t respond when you click a song, try pressing Ctrl + Shift + R (or Command + Shift + R on Mac). That forces a hard refresh.
Don’t just click the reload button. Actually use the shortcut — it clears out a few extra things in the cache that sometimes block playback.
Clear Cookies
This is where it starts getting annoying. If you’re using Spotify web browser access regularly (like I do at work), chances are something in the saved data is messing things up. Open your browser’s settings, look up cookie data, and wipe out anything tied to “Spotify.com” specifically.
I don’t always want to do this because it logs me out, but when Spotifywebplayer won’t even open or is stuck buffering forever, clearing cookies usually does the trick.
Try a Different Browser
I used to swear by Chrome, but there was a stretch where Spotify browser playback just refused to cooperate. I switched to Firefox, and suddenly, everything worked again. Two weeks later, it broke again, and Chrome was fine.
There’s no consistent winner here — it depends on what Spotify has changed or what browser updates just rolled out. So if your default isn’t working, open the Spotify online player in something else. Edge, Safari, Brave — just check.
Check Extensions
One time, an ad blocker I forgot I even installed was the reason Spotify won’t play. It didn’t block the player from loading, but somehow interfered with the playback buttons. I disabled every extension and slowly added them back, one by one.
Turns out it was a script-blocking extension I’d only added for another site.
If you’re using web Spotify, it’s worth running it in incognito mode (with no extensions enabled) to see if that’s the issue.
Device Limit
If you’re logged into too many devices, the Spotify web player sometimes gets weird. I’ve had it silently refuse to play anything unless I went to my account page and signed out of other sessions.
Head to Spotify’s account settings in a desktop browser, look for “Sign out everywhere,” and do it. Then log in fresh in your current Spotify browser window.
This usually fixes that odd limbo where nothing works, and you don’t get any message about what’s wrong.
Firewall or Network
This happened once at a hotel. The Spotify music player loaded just fine, but pressing play did nothing. Podcasts? Nothing. There was no error, just silence. It turned out the Wi-Fi network had some firewall rules blocking playback.
So if Spotify podcasts not working seems to be the only issue (and music loads fine), or vice versa, it might be your network. Try using your phone’s hotspot and see if it works there.
If it does, it’s not Spotify. It’s something in the network or firewall messing with audio streams.
Switch Playback Device
Weird but real — sometimes the Spotifywebplayer is trying to play on another device and doesn’t tell you. You open it in a browser, click play, and… nothing. Then you open the mobile app and see it’s trying to play to a speaker or another laptop you used last week.
Open the device switcher at the bottom right of the player and make sure it’s actually playing to your current browser. Once I started checking that first, I stopped wasting 10 minutes troubleshooting something that wasn’t broken.
Restart Everything
Yeah, I don’t love this either. But restarting your computer can help clear out old background processes that interfere with the Spotify web player, especially if you’ve been using sleep mode for days or haven’t rebooted in a while.
Same goes for the browser — just closing a tab doesn’t always reset things. Entirely quit the browser, relaunch, and try again.
Spotify Server Issues
Sometimes it’s not you—Spotify’s own systems break. When play Spotify isn’t working on web Spotify but does work on the phone app, I usually check websites like DownDetector or Reddit.
If enough people complain around the same time, it’s likely a Spotify-side issue. In that case, waiting it out is all you can do.
Try Desktop or Mobile
If you’re still stuck, open the Spotify app on your phone or desktop — at least temporarily. I hate switching devices when I’m mid-workflow, but when Spotify browser issues take too long to figure out, I’ll just queue stuff up on mobile and move on.
Later, when I have more patience, I return and try fixing the Spotify web player.
Final Notes
I’ve tried many of these fixes over the past couple of years, and honestly, no one method works every time. The most consistent ones for me are clearing cookies, trying another browser, and making sure it’s not trying to play on another device.
Also, if Spotify podcasts not working is your main issue — like they buffer or don’t load while songs do — it’s probably either a cache problem or a network issue. Music and podcasts sometimes come from different sources, weirdly enough.
Anyway, the Spotify online player is still the easiest way for me to listen when I’m on someone else’s computer or using a work machine where I can’t install the app. But when Spotify won’t play, it’s usually one of these few things causing it. Nothing fancy.Hope this helps someone else stuck in the same loop of opening Spotifywebplayer, clicking a song, and then sitting in confused silence.
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