Problems Fast Forwarding & Skipping on Spotify? 6 Known Issues (Solved)

The most popular music streaming service in the world is Spotify, and its free and premium versions come with a ton of fantastic features. 

But, even with its prestige, it has imperfections, such as when songs don’t play all the way through.

Some users have been frustrated by the frequent and inexplicable fast-forwarding of songs and the sporadic and random skipping in the playlists even when the shuffle function is off.

In this article, we will delve into the common issues that cause this problem and solutions to get you back on the right track.

Spotify Hasn’t been Restarted after Updating

Users are often instructed to update their apps to the latest version to fix glitches. However, many still experience the same problem of their favorite podcasts continuing to fast-forward while playing.

The problem is probably that you only closed and reopened the app, not a full-force quit restart, which really straightens the bugs you were attempting to correct with the update.

Below, we’ve listed the steps to perform a full restart for Spotify.

How To Force Quit Spotify On Android & iOS Devices:

• Open your running apps screen.
• For Android, swipe up from the bottom of your screen when Spotify appears, and swipe down on it towards the ‘x’ that will appear.
• For iOS, double-tap the home button or slowly swipe up on the screen. Swipe through the open apps and then swipe up on Spotify to close the app.

How To Force Quit Spotify On Windows:

• Use the keyboard shortcut ‘Ctrl+Shift+Esc’ to open up the windows task manager to access all the running applications
• Click on Spotify and then click on ‘end task’ to force quit the application.
• Restart Spotify to see if the issue is resolved.

How To Force Quit Spotify On Mac:

• Hold down the following keys, ‘option+command+escape’ to open the force quit application menu.
• Or click the Apple icon in the top left and select ‘Force Quit’
• From the Force Quit screen, click on Spotify and select ‘Force Quit’

Your Streaming Quality Is Too High

Spotify gives its users access to set their audio streaming quality where they can listen to their favorite songs as close to CD quality as possible on the platform.

When streaming content from Spotify with the highest streaming quality over an unstable internet connection or a data plan that is not too far from running out, the songs may skip or even stop playing altogether.

Fortunately, this is easily remedied by lowering your streaming quality when you start noticing your songs are constantly skipping or fast-forwarding.

Follow the steps below to decrease the audio quality:

• Open your Spotify app on your device.
• Select the ‘Home’ icon, then in the top right corner of your screen, tap on the gear icon to open ‘Settings’
• Scroll to ‘Audio Quality’ and then under ‘Cellular Streaming’, select ‘Low’

A Poor Internet Connection is Causing Spotify to Skip Songs

Being a Spotify member gives you access to stream music, create playlists and even tune in to your favorite podcasts on your devices using the app or the web player.

But in order to enjoy Spotify’s impressive catalog, you need to be connected to the internet.

Unless you’re a Premium subscriber who has downloaded your favorite content and can listen while offline, you still would need an internet connection to download said content.

So the long and short of it, a good internet connection is essential for uninterrupted music streaming. Spotify will not be able to provide seamless playback to your device without it and that can be problematic.

The main advantage of streaming music over the internet is that you can keep your device’s storage space freed up.

We recommend that you connect to a Wi-Fi network when you notice that your smartphone’s mobile data signal strength is weak.

If the problem persists even after switching to a Wi-Fi connection, there could be a glitch interfering with the signal.

These signal interferences can cause Spotify to skip to the next track if it’s having problems playing the current one. 

The best solution to this common issue is to completely disconnect your device from the Wi-Fi by ‘forgetting’ the network and then reconnecting again. 

We’ve listed guidelines below for the different devices.

Steps to Forget Wi-Fi Network On iOS devices & Reconnect:

1. Launch Settings on your device’s Home Screen.
2. Scroll down and tap ‘Wi-Fi’
3. Click on the network you are currently connected to, then select ‘Forget Network’
4. Now, toggle the Wi-Fi slider to turn it off to disconnect your smartphone or tablet from the Wi-Fi.
5. Toggle the Wi-Fi back on, and reconnect to your desired network.

Steps to Forget Network On Android devices & Reconnect

1. Open Settings on your device and tap on ‘Wi-Fi’
2. Under the Available Wi-Fi and Networks menu, press and hold the Wi-Fi network that you’re currently connected to and want your device to forget.
3. Tap on ‘Forget Network’
4. Open the Wi-Fi menu again, and re-enter the password to connect to your desired network.

Steps to Forget Network On Windows PC devices & Reconnect

1. In the lower left-hand corner of your PC screen, click on the Windows icon.
2. Navigate to the Settings menu, or next to the Windows icon there’s a search bar, type in ‘Settings’ to open the menu.
3. Click on the ‘Network and Internet’ option and open it.
4. Click on ‘Wi-Fi’ and then on ‘Manage known networks’
5. A list of available networks will appear, including the one you’re connected to.
6. Now, right-click on the one you wish to forget and click ‘Forget’
7. After completing that, reconnect to the network by inputting the password.

Steps to Forget Network On MacOS devices & Reconnect

• In the top left corner of your MacOS device’s home screen, tap the Apple Icon to access the drop-down menu. 
• Scroll to System Preferences and then look for Network.
• Select the Wi-Fi connection you wish to forget from the list.
• Click ‘Advanced,’ and a list of Preferred Networks will appear.
• From here, remove the Wi-Fi network by clicking the minus (-) icon and click on ‘OK’ and apply.
• Lastly, go back to the Wi-Fi menu and reconnect to the desired network.

Data Saver Mode on Android and iOS is Activated

Data Saving Mode is a nifty feature that reduces your audio quality; this helps you not to exceed your data limit.

Users have noted that when the data saving feature is turned on, Spotify occasionally allows song fast-forwarding during playback.

If this has been your experience as well, follow these steps to turn off data saving mode:

1. Launch the Spotify app on your smartphone.
2. Click the gear icon in the top right-hand corner of your screen to access settings.
3. Tap on ‘Data Saver’
4. Toggle ‘Data Saver’ to the off position.

Your Spotify Account is logged into multiple devices

One of Spotify’s wonderful advantages is the option for users to sign into their accounts on several devices. 

Although this is helpful, it occasionally results in Spotify playing a song queued on another device without pausing.

Because Spotify allows you to sign in to 5 devices from one account, this shouldn’t be a problem, but technology is not perfect so Spotify can get confused.

To fix this you should sign out of your devices using the steps below:

• Launch your browser and go to www.spotify.com
• In the top right corner of your screen will be the Profile icon.
• Click on it and select ‘Account’ from the down menu.
• Scroll to ‘Sign out Everywhere’ click on it and confirm.

Spotify’s Cache is Overloaded and has a Corrupt File

Spotify gathers cache data to provide faster loading times when you open the app.

What is a cache?

• An app uses a cache file, which is a temporary file, to give consumers the best possible experience. 
• For a smooth experience, Spotify will save album artwork, playlist suggestions, and more as local files on your devices.
• When there is a disruption in the usage process, such as an unreliable internet connection, Spotify cache files might occasionally become corrupted.

There will be no impact on the app’s functionality if these files are deleted.

Here’s how to clear Spotify’s cache:

How to empty Spotify’s cache on an Android device

• Launch the phone’s settings.
• Touch ‘Apps’ and choose ‘All Applications’
• Click on ‘Spotify’
• Choose ‘Storage’ and then ‘Clear Cache’

How to empty Spotify’s iOS cache:

• Launch the Spotify app first.
• Choose the ‘Settings’ button.
• Choose ‘Storage’
• Choose ‘Delete Cache’

General Pros and Cons of Fast Forwarding and Skipping Content on Spotify

Pros:

Spotify allows is Premium plan subscribers to skip songs in playlists without being limited to 6 skips in an hour like Free plan users.

Cons:

You can encounter issues with fast forwarding and skipping on Spotify, if:

• Spotify hasn’t been restarted after updating.
• Your streaming quality is too high.
• You have a poor internet connection.
• Data saver mode on Android and iOS is activated.
• Your Spotify account is logged into multiple devices.
• Your Spotify cache is overloaded and has a corrupt file.

Please also read our article with solutions to common issues with Spotify’s “back” button.

Sources

Spotify is skipping songs by itself for some users – here’s how to fix it