How to download your Spotify listening history

Updated 30 October 2026

Spotify keeps a record of every song, podcast episode and audiobook chapter you have played since you opened your account, and it will send you a copy if you ask. This guide shows how to request that copy, what to expect while you wait, and how to open it in StreamHistory to see your listening by year, artist, hour of the day and more.

Which data should you ask for?

Spotify's privacy page offers more than one package. Two of them contain listening history:

• Extended streaming history covers your whole account lifetime, play by play, with details such as whether you skipped a track, used shuffle or listened offline. Spotify says it can take up to 30 days to prepare. This is the one you want for all-time stats and a year-by-year view.
• Account data arrives faster (Spotify says up to 5 days, and it is often quicker), but its streaming history only covers roughly the last year and has far fewer details. It also contains your playlists, library, search queries and profile information.

You can tick both. If you want something to look at this week, the account data gives you a preview of the last year while the extended history is being prepared. StreamHistory reads either one, and if you load both it removes the plays that appear in both. For a full breakdown of the files, see what's in your Spotify data export.

Step by step on a computer

1. Open a web browser and go to spotify.com/account/privacy. Log in with the account whose history you want.
2. Scroll down to the section called Download your data. You will see checkboxes for the different kinds of data.
3. Tick Extended streaming history. Optionally also tick Account data. Then click the button to request the data (at the time of writing it is labelled Request data).
4. Spotify sends a confirmation email to the address on your account. Open it and click the confirmation link. Until you do, nothing is prepared. The page usually shows that your request is pending once confirmed.
5. Wait for the “your data is ready” email. Each kind of data you ticked usually arrives in its own email.

Step by step on a phone

The Spotify app itself does not have the download options; it sends you to the website. It is simplest to use your phone's browser directly:

1. Open Safari, Chrome or any other browser and go to spotify.com/account/privacy.
2. Log in if asked. If the page opens the Spotify app instead, go back and open the link in the browser again.
3. Scroll to Download your data, tick Extended streaming history and request it.
4. Open the confirmation email on your phone and tap the link.

The download itself also works on a phone, and StreamHistory runs in a mobile browser too, although a big history is more comfortable to explore on a larger screen.

How long you will wait

Spotify says extended streaming history can take up to 30 days. In practice many people get it within a week or two, but there is no way to speed it up, and requesting again does not help. Account data is quicker, usually within a few days.

When the files are ready you get an email with a download button or link. You may need to log in again to download. The link expires after a limited time (around two weeks at the time of writing), so download the file soon after the email arrives and keep the zip somewhere safe.

What you get

The download is a zip file, usually called something like my_spotify_data.zip. Inside is a folder:

• Spotify Extended Streaming History contains files such as Streaming_History_Audio_2019-2021_0.json, possibly Streaming_History_Video_2020-2024.json, and a ReadMeFirst PDF from Spotify describing the fields. Older exports used names like endsong_0.json.
• Spotify Account Data contains StreamingHistory_music_0.json, StreamingHistory_podcast_0.json and other files like Userdata.json, YourLibrary.json and Playlist1.json.

The JSON files are plain text, but they are long lists of plays that are hard to read by eye. That is what StreamHistory is for.

Opening the zip (optional)

You do not need to unzip anything for StreamHistory. If you want to look inside anyway:

• Windows: right-click the zip and choose Extract All, or double-click it to browse it like a folder.
• macOS: double-click the zip in Finder; it is extracted next to the original.
• iPhone and iPad: open the Files app, find the zip (usually in Downloads) and tap it; a folder with the contents appears.
• Android: open the Files by Google app (or your phone's file manager), tap the zip and choose Extract.

Loading it into StreamHistory

1. Go to the StreamHistory home page.
2. Drop my_spotify_data.zip onto the drop area, or click to choose it. You can also choose individual JSON files, several files at once, or a whole extracted folder.
3. Wait a few seconds while it reads the files. Your file is processed on your device and never uploaded to our servers. Then browse your totals, top lists, year-by-year view and listening clock.

If you want to see what the tool looks like before your export arrives, use the Try it with invented demo data button on the home page.

Troubleshooting

I never got the confirmation or “ready” email

Check your spam and promotions folders and search for “Spotify”. Make sure you are looking at the email address on your Spotify account, which may be an old one if you signed up long ago. If you never confirmed the first email, Spotify will not prepare anything; request again.

The download link has expired

Request the data again from the privacy page. You will have to wait again, so download promptly next time.

My history only covers the last year

You loaded the account data (StreamingHistory_music_*.json), not the extended streaming history. Request Extended streaming history as well; it is a separate tick box and a separate email.

I have files from several requests

Drop them all together. StreamHistory merges them and removes duplicate plays, so overlapping exports do not double-count.

My newest plays are missing

The export is a snapshot from when Spotify prepared it. Anything you played after that is not in the file. Request a new export when you want to bring it up to date.

My history is huge

Very long histories (hundreds of thousands of plays) still load, but they take longer and need more memory, so a computer is better than an older phone. The free view uses the first 150,000 plays; the one-time unlock includes every play. More answers are in the FAQ.

These steps describe Spotify's website as of the date shown at the top of this page. Spotify changes its layout and wording from time to time, so the buttons may look slightly different when you visit.