How to Download Spotify Music to SD Card [2 Ways]

Q: “With a Spotify Premium account, I love enjoying ad-free music offline on my Android phone. But over time, my growing Spotify music collection is draining my phone’s internal storage. To free up space, I need to move Spotify songs to an SD card. How can I do that?” – from Reddit

Running out of storage space on your smartphone is a common frustration for music lovers. Because internal phone storage is limited, many users prefer to save their favorite Spotify playlists to an external MicroSD card. However, due to Spotify’s file encryption, figuring out how to do this isn’t always obvious.

Whether you are a Premium subscriber or a free user, we have you covered. In this guide, we will show you exactly how to download and move Spotify music to an SD card. Plus, we’ve included a troubleshooting guide to help you fix common SD card errors. Let’s get started.

• Part 1. Save Spotify Songs to SD Card Android with Premium
• Part 2. Download Spotify Songs to SD Card on All Devices without Premium
• Part 3. Troubleshooting: Can’t Move Spotify Music to SD Card?
• Part 4. In Conclusion

---

Part 1. How to Move Spotify to SD Card Android

If you have Spotify Premium and use an Android device, you are in luck. The Android app allows you to change your download location directly to an inserted SD card. (Note: iOS devices do not support external SD cards, so iPhone users should skip to Method 2).

Follow these simple steps to route your Spotify downloads directly to your external memory card and free up your phone’s internal storage.

🔎 Preparation:

1. Ensure you have an active Spotify Premium subscription.
2. Insert an SD card with at least 1GB of available storage space.
3. Pro Tip: Make sure your SD card is formatted correctly (FAT32 or exFAT is recommended for Android compatibility).

How to Change Spotify Storage to SD Card on Android

First, you need to tell the Spotify app to use your SD card as the default storage location.

Step 1. Open the Spotify app on your Android device. Tap your profile picture or the cog icon in the upper-right corner to open Settings.

Step 2. Scroll down until you find the Storage section.

Step 3. Tap on it, and select SD Card instead of Device Storage. Click OK on the popup prompt to confirm your choice. Spotify will now transfer your existing downloaded data to the SD card.

How to Download Spotify Music Directly to the SD Card

Now that your storage location is updated, downloading music is exactly the same as before.

Step 1. Navigate to Your Library or search for the specific album, playlist, or podcast you want to save offline.

Step 2. Open the playlist or album.

Step 3. Tap the Download toggle (the downward-facing arrow). The tracks will now download and save directly to your inserted SD card.

---

Part 2. How to Download Spotify Music to SD Card without Premium on All Devices

The official method above is great, but it has limitations: it requires a paid Premium subscription, and the downloaded files are DRM-protected (meaning they can only be played inside the Spotify app). If you are a free user, or if you want to play your Spotify music on a generic MP3 player, car stereo, or older device via an SD card, you will need a third-party tool.

This is where AudFun Spotify Music Converter comes in. It allows you to bypass restrictions and download Spotify tracks as standard audio files.

Source	Supported Audio Format
SD Card	MP3, AAC, HE-AAC, and WMA
AudFun Spotify Music Converter	MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, M4A, and M4B

This intelligent program entitles you to download and convert any content from Spotify to MP3, AAC, and other SD card-supported audio files for FREE. To your surprise, this tool features advanced decryption technology, making it a reality to retain 100% lossless audio quality and full metadata such as ID3 tags.

Plus, this powerful gadget empowers you to edit ID3 tags including title, cover art, artist, and others. Also, it enables you to customize output quality to enhance Spotify audio quality. After that, you can easily move the unprotected Spotify downloads to any device including the SD cards.

How to Download Spotify Songs for SD Card without Premium

AudFun Spotify Music Converter provides a free version for both Windows and Mac users to test its performance. But it is recommended to upgrade to its full version if you prefer to experience all features. Just hit the above blue Download button to install this software and give it a shot according to the following user guide.

📢Two Notices You Should Never Miss:

1. While loading audio files to AudFun, please keep the Spotify app opening.
2. While converting loaded files on AudFun, please keep the audio output device (such as microphone) connecting to your computer

Step 1 Drag & Drop Spotify Music to AudFun Spotify Music Converter

Launch the AudFun Spotify Music Converter on your computer and the Spotify app will open simultaneously. Later, simply drag your favorite songs, playlists, or albums from Spotify and drop them into AudFun’s window directly. Alternatively, copy the URL of Spotify audio, paste it into the top Search box, and tap on the upper-right ‘+‘ icon or press the ‘Enter‘ key to load the added items.

Step 2 Set Output Audio Format/Quality for Added Spotify songs

Proceed to touch on the Menu tab (the three-horizontal-line icon) in the top-right corner of the AudFun Software. From the dropdown list, select ‘Preferences‘ > ‘Convert‘ where you can pick an output format as needed. MP3 is the best shot since it can save as much storage space as possible on your SD card. In addition, you can opt to change Spotify bitrate, channels, sample rate, and other parameters to promote sound quality.

Step 3 Download Spotify Playlists for SD Cards

To commence the downloading process, please click the big Convert button in the bottom right corner of this top Spotify downloader. It will export and download those added Spotify files to your computer in the format you set before in batches at a 5X speed (On Mac, it works at 1X). Once completed, click the bottom File icon to locate the destination folder on your computer. 

How to Move Downloaded Spotify Music to SD Card for Android

Step 1. Please insert your SD card into the card reader on your computer till it is recognized by the desktop.

Step 2. Then copy and paste the downloaded Spotify music folder to your SD card.

Step 3. Afterward, put the SD card that contains the pasted folder onto your Android device. Afterward, you can open and play the Spotify downloaded files on a media player offline. 

---

Part 3. Troubleshooting: Can’t Move Spotify Music to SD Card?

Sometimes, Android users receive an error message stating: “There might be something wrong with your SD card.” Alternatively, the SD card option might not show up in the Spotify settings at all. If you are experiencing these issues, try the following fixes:

• Check Storage Space: Ensure your SD card has at least 1GB of free space. Spotify will not recognize the card if it is completely full.
• Check OS Compatibility: Your phone must be running Android 5.0 or higher to support this feature.
• Grant Storage Permissions: Go to your Android phone’s Settings > Apps > Spotify > Permissions and ensure Spotify has permission to access your “Files and Media.”
• Format the SD Card: If the card is corrupted, back up your files to a computer and format the SD card to FAT32 or exFAT via your phone’s storage settings.
• Clear App Cache: Sometimes a bloated cache causes glitches. Clear the Spotify app cache and restart your phone.
• Force Apps to External Storage (Advanced): If you use a Samsung device, go to Developer Options in your phone settings and toggle on “Force allow apps on external.”

If none of these official fixes work, your best alternative is to use AudFun Spotify Music Converter (Method 2) to download the music to your PC first, and then manually drag the files onto your SD card.

---

Part 4. In Conclusion

For premium Spotify subscribers, you can opt to use the first method, which provides a convenient way to download Spotify music to an SD card on an Android device. 

For free Spotify members or iOS users, you are suggested to use the AudFun Spotify Music Convert to download Spotify songs without Premium to unprotected MP3 or other local files. With it, you can enjoy ad-free Spotify music offline on all devices including the SD card-enabled devices. What makes it stand out is that you can keep the converted Spotify songs offline forever even though your Spotify subscription is canceled.

Do you have any advice about moving Spotify to an SD card? Please share with us in the comments below.