Where are my Spotify playlists?

Spotify is working to bring its desktop app on par with the mobile app.

Spotify

In March,Spotify revamped its desktop and web appsto work more like the mobile versions, making the music streaming service easier to use across platforms. In addition to the fresh look, Spotify improved playlist creation by adding the ability to drag and drop tracks. You can also now write playlist descriptions and add cover images on desktop and web the same way you would on mobile.

Perhaps one of the biggest updates arrived for premium members: You can now download tracks to a computer with the desktop app. This was already available for the mobile app, but now laptop and desktop users can also enjoy downloaded music while offline.

Here's how to download Spotify music on the mobile and desktop apps.

Read more: Spotify Duo vs. Family vs. Individual: Which Premium Spotify plan is best?

How to download music in the Spotify mobile app

In case you didn't know you could do this on your phone, it's easy. Build a new playlist by going to theYour Library tab and tapping the Plus sign [+] in the top right corner. Name your playlist and start adding songs. No matter if you've got just one song or a dozen, toggle theDownloadbutton in the playlist within the mobile app. A little green arrow will appear next to each song to indicated it's been saved to your phone.

But where do you find the downloads once you've got them? Go back to Your Library, and at the top of the screen you should see Playlists, Artists and Downloaded. Choose Downloaded.Now you should see all the playlists and songs you've downloaded and can listen to offline.

Now, Spotify's desktop app works more like the mobile app.

James Martin/CNET

How to download music in the Spotify desktop app

Downloading music with the Spotify desktop or web app is essentially the same as using the mobile app. Unfortunately, you can't download solely using the web player in a browser, but downloading the desktop app is free.

1. Open the Spotify desktop app [if you haven't downloaded it already, go ahead and do so from the app store of your choice].

2. Build your playlist. You can do this by clicking a song > Add to Playlist. From there, add it to an existing playlist or choose New Playlist to start from scratch.

3. Open your playlist [if you closed out of it while searching for songs] and toggle on Download.

4. After it's completed, you'll see a little green arrow next to the downloaded playlist in the left-hand panel. The little green arrow indicates that the playlist is available offline -- no need to go through filters like on mobile.

5. If you no longer want the playlist or songs available offline, simply toggle offDownload.

For more, check out our guide onwhich premium Spotify plan is bestand thebest music streaming services for 2021.

First published on April 2, 2021 at 4:00 a.m. PT.