Spotify is one of the most widely-used music streaming platforms globally, offering millions of songs on demand. Whether you’re curating the perfect playlist or cleaning up your library, chances are you’ve wondered how to remove songs from your Spotify account. While Spotify is user-friendly, some tasks—like deleting songs—can be a bit nuanced depending on whether you’re using a desktop, mobile, or web app.
TL;DR: Deleting songs from Spotify depends on where you’re trying to delete them from—playlists, liked songs, or your library. On mobile and desktop platforms, it’s as easy as tapping or right-clicking and selecting “Remove”. However, you cannot delete songs from Spotify’s official catalog or other people’s playlists. You can only remove them from your personal collection.
Understanding What “Delete” Means on Spotify
First, it’s essential to clarify that you cannot permanently delete a song from Spotify’s entire catalog unless you’re the copyright holder and go through a takedown process. Instead, when we say ‘delete a song from Spotify’, we mean:
- Removing a song from a playlist that you’ve created
- Unliking or removing a song from your liked songs
- Removing a downloaded song from your device
Now, let’s dive into how you can perform each of these actions, step-by-step.
How to Remove Songs from Spotify Playlists
Playlists are a core feature of Spotify. If you’ve created a playlist and realize it’s getting cluttered or you want to fine-tune it, you can remove songs individually with ease.
On Desktop (Windows or macOS)
- Open the Spotify app on your computer.
- Go to the playlist that contains the song you want to delete.
- Find the song, right-click on it, and select “Remove from this playlist”.
On Mobile (iOS or Android)
- Open the Spotify app and tap on Your Library.
- Select the playlist where the song resides.
- Tap the three dots (•••) next to the song.
- Select “Remove from this playlist”.
Pro Tip: Removing songs from a playlist doesn’t affect your Liked Songs or downloads. It only removes the track from that specific playlist.
How to “Unlike” a Song from Your Library
Spotify automatically stores all songs you’ve liked or saved in your library under “Liked Songs”. If your Liked Songs collection is getting too crowded, here’s how to clean it up:
On Desktop
- Go to your Library and click on “Liked Songs”.
- Find the song and click the green heart icon to unlike it.
On Mobile
- Tap Your Library and go to “Liked Songs”.
- Scroll or search for the song you want to remove.
- Tap the green heart icon, which will turn gray, indicating it has been unliked.
Note: Unliking a song will also remove it from any offline downloads.
How to Remove a Downloaded Song from Your Device
Downloading music for offline listening is one of Spotify’s premium features. When your storage space gets tight, or you no longer want a song available offline, you can remove it easily.
On Mobile
- Locate the downloaded playlist or album in your library.
- Toggle off the green “Download” button.
- Spotify will remove the downloaded files but leave the songs in the playlist for streaming.
Note that individual songs can’t be downloaded outside of a playlist or album—they must be in a downloadable grouping. So, if you’ve downloaded a song as part of a playlist, removing it from the playlist will also delete its download.
Can You Delete Songs from Someone Else’s Playlist?
No, you cannot. Spotify does not allow you to delete or even temporarily remove songs from playlists that you didn’t create. The best you can do is “Hide” the track (on mobile) so that it won’t play during shuffle or regular play.
How to Hide Songs on Someone Else’s Playlist
- Navigate to the playlist and find the song.
- Tap the three-dot icon (•••) next to the track.
- Select “Hide song”.
The track will now appear grayed out and won’t play. You can unhide it anytime using the same steps.
Removing Songs from Spotify Queue
If you’ve added a few songs to the play queue and changed your mind, here’s how to clear them out:
On Desktop
- Click on the playback bar at the bottom of the screen.
- Click on the queue icon (three lines with a triangle).
- Right-click the songs and choose “Remove from queue”.
On Mobile
- Tap the currently playing song.
- Tap the queue icon in the bottom right.
- Swipe left on a song and tap Remove.
This is especially handy when you’re shuffling and accidentally add the wrong vibe to your listening session.
Shortcuts and Tips for Managing Your Spotify Library
Feeling like your Spotify library is a mess? Here are a few quick tips:
- Create folders: On desktop, you can create playlist folders to organize your content better.
- Use search filters: Narrow down songs, albums, and artists within your library using the search bar filters.
- Sort playlists: You can sort by recently added, alphabetical, or custom orders.
Spotify is constantly adding new features, so it’s worth checking their Help section or release notes occasionally to see what’s new for managing your library efficiently.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re just pruning your favorite playlists or trying to clear up space on your device, managing and removing songs on Spotify is a simple but powerful tool for personalizing your listening experience. While limitations exist regarding other users’ playlists and the main catalog, the platform gives you plenty of control over your own music journey.
Take a few minutes to clean up your playlists and Liked Songs—you’ll be surprised how much more enjoyable Spotify becomes when it’s tailored to you.
