Back up Spotify
Back up your Spotify playlists
Spotify keeps your playlists on its servers, not on your device. If an account is closed, hacked or glitches, they can vanish. This guide saves a copy you own, in about 10 minutes.
- Open exportify.app ↗ and log in with Spotify.
- Press Export All and wait.
- Save the zip files in three places.
Why bother?
Accounts get lost
Hacked, closed, banned by mistake or just forgotten. The playlists go with them.
Moving is easy
With a backup you can bring your playlists to Deezer, Tidal, Apple Music and others.
Years of taste
Some playlists took years to build. A backup takes minutes.
The steps
Tick each step as you go. Your ticks stay on this device only. 0 of 6 done
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Open Exportify
Go to exportify.app ↗. It is a free, open-source tool: you can read its code at github.com/watsonbox/exportify ↗.
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Log in with Spotify
Press the login button. A Spotify page opens (check the address says spotify.com). It asks to let Exportify read your playlists. Press Agree.
A simplified sketch, not a screenshot. The real page looks a little different. -
Press Export All
You will see a list of your playlists. Export All saves every one. (To save just one, use the button on its row.)
A simplified sketch. Button names can change, so look for the one that says Export All. -
Wait, and leave the tab alone
A counter shows how far it has got, for example 107 / 526. A few dozen playlists take about a minute. Hundreds can take 10 to 30 minutes.
- ❌ Don't refresh or close the tab. It would start again.
- ❌ Don't let the computer sleep. Plug it in.
- ✅ Doing other things in other windows is fine.
A sketch of the progress counter. -
Save the zip file or files
Your browser downloads a zip with one spreadsheet (
.csv) per playlist. With a very big account you may get several zips. Keep all of them. Check your Downloads folder. -
Keep it in three places
A backup in one place is just a copy. Use the 3-2-1 habit:
🎉 All done. Put a reminder in your calendar to repeat this every few months.
What is in the backup?
✅ Saved
- Playlist names
- Every song, with artist and album
- Song lengths
- When you added each song
- Your Liked Songs, as their own file
⚠️ Not saved
- The music itself (Spotify never allows that)
- Playlist cover pictures
- Folders you made in the Spotify app
- Playlist descriptions (not always included)
The files open in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or any text editor. They also work with the playlist-moving tools below.
If something goes wrong
It stopped or says "too many requests"
Spotify limits how fast any app can read a big account. Wait a few minutes with the tab open. If it stays stuck, close it, wait about 30 minutes and try again.
I got more than one zip
Keep them all. Large exports can be split. If two look identical, keep one and delete the other.
It asked me to log in again
Spotify's sign-in lasts about an hour. Log in again and press Export All once more.
Is Exportify safe?
It is free and open source, and runs in your browser using Spotify's own login. It never sees your password. You can read its code and you can take its access away any time at spotify.com/account/apps ↗. This site is not part of Exportify, so check it yourself if you are unsure.
I would rather not use a tool
Spotify can send you its own data file. Go to spotify.com/account/privacy ↗, choose Account data and request it. Spotify says it can take several days. It lists playlists and tracks, but is harder to read.
What can I do with the backup?
Look at it
Open a .csv in a spreadsheet to see every playlist and song.
Move to another service
Tools such as TuneMyMusic ↗ or Soundiiz ↗ can bring playlists to Deezer, Tidal or Apple Music.
Put it back on Spotify
The same movers can import the files into a fresh Spotify account.
Free tiers of these tools have limits (for example, a number of songs per move). Check their pricing pages first.