Why does my Spotify keep pausing? 10 solutions to fix

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coco
June 15, 2026

It is extremely frustrating when you listen to Spotify, but it keeps pausing, which happens to many people. But don’t worry, here we will show you several solutions to fix the Spotify pausing issue and the best alternative to avoid all Spotify issues – play Spotify with other music players.

  1. Check your internet connection
  2. Turn off Data Saver Mode
  3. Allow background activity
  4. Turn off Low Power Mode on iPhone
  5. Check Audio Quality
  6. Log out/log back in
  7. Update Spotify
  8. Check if your account is used on another device
  9. Clear Spotify cache
  10. Play Spotify with other music players

Related: How to fix Spotify keeps crashing on iPhone?

1. Check your internet connection

Check if your internet is disconnected. Music streaming apps need a solid internet connection to play music without pauses or buffering. Constant buffering usually occurs if your Internet connection is slow. An unstable internet connection is another typical reason why Spotify stops working while in use. If you experience connection problems, Spotify may suddenly stop playing.

If this is the case, disconnect from the network on your phone and then rejoin the network. Besides, if you use a VPN to access Spotify, make sure your VPN is connected.

2. Turn off Data Saver Mode

Spotify Data Saver reduces the app’s data usage by showing fewer images and reducing audio quality. Data Saver is only available on the Spotify mobile app. This mode has the potential to interfere with playback quality and cause Spotify to pause.

  1. Open Spotify on your mobile device, tap your profile picture, and select “Settings and privacy.”
  2. Select “Data-saving and offline.”
  3. Switch Data Saver off.
Spotify Data Saver

3. Allow background activity

If you find that the Spotify app on your mobile stops playing when the device screen sleeps or locks, you need to check if Spotify has permission to operate in the background.

On iOS

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to General.
  3. Scroll down and select “Background App Refresh.”
  4. Ensure that the option for Spotify is toggled on.
iPhone Background App Refresh

On Android

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Find Spotify or search for Spotify, and select it.
  4. Select Battery/Battery Saver/Battery usage details, etc.
  5. Select “Unrestricted”, or “Never Sleeping Apps”/ “Run in background” under Background Usage Limits.
No Restriction for Battery Android

4. Turn off Low Power Mode on iPhone

Another reason why your Spotify keeps pausing on your iPhone or iPad may be that Low Power Mode is enabled on your device. Low Power Mode reduces the amount of power that your iPhone or iPad uses when the battery gets low. It may block apps such as Spotify from freely using your cellular data or Wi-Fi networks while running in the background.

To turn Low Power Mode off, go to Settings > Battery, and disable Low Power Mode. 

Turn off Low power mode on iPhone

5. Check Audio Quality

If your internet connection is not fast enough, changing the streaming audio quality to Automatic or Low will help with the Spotify pausing or loading issues.

On mobile or tablet

  1. Open Spotify, tap your profile image, and select “Settings and privacy.”
  2. Select “Media quality.”
  3. Choose Automatic or Low under “Audio streaming quality” or “cellular streaming quality.”
Spotify audio quality mobile

On desktop

  1. Click your account name in the top right corner.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Find Audio quality > Streaming quality and choose automatic or low.
Spotify audio quality desktop

6. Log out/log back in

Logging out and back in to your Spotify account makes it start fresh. This basic troubleshooting cliché can always solve pausing issues.

On mobile or tablet

  1. Tap your profile image and select “Settings and privacy”.
  2. Scroll down and tap Log out.
  3. Log in to Spotify with your account.
Log out of Spotify

On desktop

  1. Click your account name in the top right corner.
  2. Click Log out.
  3. Log in again.
Log out of Spotify desktop

7. Update Spotify

The outdated Spotify app may not support the latest features and can cause it to pause, stop working, or crash. So always keep your Spotify updated to have the best performances.

Desktop

When a new update is available for download, you will see a blue dot next to the menu button in the top right section of the app. Click on the notification bell in the top right and click on Update Available. Restart Now. You can also reinstall the app to get the latest version easily.

iPhone/iPad

Launch the App Store and find Spotify’s page. Tap on the Update button and get the new feature.

Android

Launch the Google Play Store and search for Spotify. On its store page, tap on the Update button.

8. Check if your account is used on another device

If you have a Spotify Free, Premium Individual, or Student plan, you can only listen to Spotify on one device at a time. Check if somebody is listening to your account on another device. You might have forgotten to log out on a different device, and a friend or family member is unknowingly listening using your account. This can also happen when Spotify Duo subscribers listen to Spotify on more than 2 devices or family subscribers listen to Spotify on more than six devices.

9. Clear Spotify cache

Clearing the cache is a powerful troubleshooting step to fix pausing and buffering loops. It can clear the bloated or corrupted chunks of audio files saved on your device and give the app a fresh start.

On Android and iOS

  1. Open the Spotify app.
  2. Tap your profile image and select “Settings and privacy”.
  3. Select “Data-saving and offline.”
  4. Scroll down and tap “Clear cache.”
Spotify clear cache on mobile

On Desktop

  1. Open the Spotify app.
  2. Click profile icon > Settings.
  3. Click Clear cache under Storage.
clear Spotify cache desktop

10. Play Spotify music with other music players

To avoid all Spotify app issues, the best way is to play Spotify music with other music players, such as Apple Music/iTunes, VLC, Windows Media Player, etc. All you need to do is download Spotify music to MP3 with Pazu Spotify Converter, which is feasible whether you have a Spotify free or premium account.

Pazu Spotify Converter is specially designed for you to download Spotify music to common formats with either a free or premium account on Mac/Windows. Pazu Spotify Music Converter allows you to convert Spotify songs to the most popular audio formats, such as MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, AAC, and AIFF. With the adoption of advanced encryption technology, it’s able to keep all the converted audio files with 100% lossless audio quality and the original ID3 tags and metadata information. For more details, see below.

Key features of Pazu Spotify Converter:

  • Download Spotify music without Premium.
  • Download and convert Spotify to MP3/M4A/AAC/FLAC/WAV/AIFF.
  • Download Spotify to MP3 in 320kbps.
  • ID3 tags, including title, artist, artwork, etc., are preserved.
  • No need to install the Spotify app.
  • Multilingual interface: English, Deutsch, Español, Français, 日本語, 简体中文.
  • Organize downloaded songs by album or artist.

1. Run Pazu Spotify Converter

Download, install and run Pazu Spotify Converter on your Mac or Windows. Log in your Spotify account with the built-in web player.

Spotify converter

2. Choose output format

Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open the Settings window. Here you can choose:

  • Output Format: M4A, MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV and AIFF
  • Output quality: up to 320kbps for MP3
  • Cover Quality: High(640×640), Middle(300×300) or Low(64×64)
  • Output Folder;
  • Output File Name: Any combination of Title, Artist, Album, Track Number, Playlist Index.
  • Output Organized: Artist, Album. Artist/Album or Album/Artist
  • After Converting: Open the output folder or Put the computer to sleep
  • Interface Language: English, Deutsch, Español, Français, 日本語, 简体中文.
Spotify converter settings

3. Select Spotify songs, albums, or playlists

Select the songs, album, or playlist you want to convert to MP3. Spotify Converter will detect and select all songs in the playlist or album by default. Uncheck the songs you don’t want to download if there are any. Click “Show All” icon to toggle “Hide Converted” on in case some songs have been downloaded before.

Download Spotify songs

4. Convert Spotify Songs

Click the Convert button to download Spotify songs to MP3.

remove Spotify DRM

Once the conversion is done, click the folder icon to find the downloaded MP3 songs. Now you can then play the Spotify MP3 songs with your favorite music player or device.

Note: The free trial version of Pazu Spotify Converter enables you to convert the first three minutes of each song. You can remove the trial limitation by purchasing the full version.