How to download your Spotify extended streaming history

What is Spotify's extended streaming history?

It's a set of JSON files with one entry for every stream on your account since it was created. Each entry records when the stream ended, how many milliseconds you listened, the track, artist and album, the device, the country you were connected from, whether shuffle was on and why the track started and stopped. Podcast episodes are included, and video has its own files.

Spotify's privacy page offers three downloads under Download your data:

• Account data: playlists, your library, search queries, payment details and about one year of listening history.
• Extended streaming history: every stream for the lifetime of the account. This is the one you want.
• Technical log information: logs of how the app was used. depth.fm doesn't read it.

Before you start

• Use a web browser. The request is made on Spotify's account website, not in the Spotify app. A computer is easiest, but your phone's browser works too.
• Check your email address. Both emails go to the address on your Spotify account. If you sign in with Google, Apple or Facebook, they go to the address that account uses.
• Expect two emails. The first asks you to confirm the request. The second, days later, has the download link.

How do I request it?

1. Open Spotify's privacy page

   Go to spotify.com/account/privacy. If you aren't signed in, Spotify shows its log-in page first and brings you back afterwards.

   On a phone, open the link in Safari or Chrome rather than the Spotify app.

2. Find Download your data

   Scroll down to the section called Download your data. You'll see a box for each of the three downloads described above.

3. Tick Extended streaming history only

   Tick Extended streaming history. Untick Account data and Technical log information unless you want them as well.

   If you'd like something to look at while you wait, you can tick Account data too. It often arrives within a few days and depth.fm can read it, but it only covers about a year.

4. Press Request data

   Press Request data at the bottom of the section. Spotify shows a message on the page saying your request is being processed and that it can take up to 30 days. It also sends you an email.

5. Confirm the request in your email

   Open the email from Spotify and press the green Confirm button. The request doesn't start until you do.

   If the email hasn't arrived after a few minutes, check your spam or junk folder. People on Spotify's community forum report that this confirmation link stops working after 14 days, so don't leave it.

6. Wait for the download email

   Spotify says the extended history can take up to 30 days. In practice people report anything from about four hours to a couple of weeks. You don't need to do anything in the meantime, and requesting again doesn't make it faster.

   When it's ready, Spotify sends a second email with a link to download your data.

7. Download my_spotify_data.zip

   Follow the link in the email and download the file. It's called my_spotify_data.zip. Download it within 14 days, after which the link stops working.

   On a computer it goes to your Downloads folder. On an iPhone it usually goes to the Downloads folder in the Files app. On Android it goes to Downloads.

8. Upload the zip to depth.fm

   Go to depth.fm/upload and drop my_spotify_data.zip on the page, or choose it from your files. Don't unzip it first; upload the zip exactly as Spotify sent it.

   If you also have the Account data zip, drop both at the same time. depth.fm uses the extended history and fills any gaps from the 1-year file without counting a stream twice.

What's in the file?

Inside my_spotify_data.zip is a folder called Spotify Extended Streaming History containing:

• Streaming_History_Audio_ files, one or more per year or range of years, for example Streaming_History_Audio_2022-2023_7.json. Spotify splits the history so that no file is much bigger than about 12 MB, so a long account can have a dozen or more.
• Streaming_History_Video_ files, if you've watched video on Spotify.
• ReadMeFirst_ExtendedStreamingHistory.pdf, Spotify's own description of the fields.

Exports made before 2023 used names like endsong_0.json instead. depth.fm reads both.

Each entry in the audio files has these fields:

• ts: the date and time the stream ended, in UTC.
• ms_played: how many milliseconds you listened.
• master_metadata_track_name, master_metadata_album_artist_name, master_metadata_album_album_name: track, artist and album.
• spotify_track_uri: Spotify's identifier for the track.
• episode_name, episode_show_name, spotify_episode_uri: filled in for podcast episodes instead of the track fields.
• platform: the device or operating system, such as an Android phone or a Chromecast.
• conn_country: the country code you were connected from.
• ip_addr (or ip_addr_decrypted in some exports): your IP address.
• reason_start and reason_end: why the stream started and stopped, for example the previous track finished or you pressed next.
• shuffle, skipped, offline, offline_timestamp, incognito_mode: whether shuffle was on, whether you skipped, whether you were offline and whether it was a private session.

Some exports also include username and a user agent field.

What it doesn't include

• Track lengths. You can see how long you listened, not how long the song was.
• Reliable skip flags before late 2022. The skipped field is often empty in older entries, so depth.fm also counts a stream as skipped when it ended because you pressed next.
• Artist identifiers. Artists are named but have no Spotify ID, so depth.fm matches them by name.
• Playlists, likes and your library. Those are in Account data, not the extended history.

What depth.fm does with it

The zip is read on depth.fm's server. IP addresses and account identifiers are dropped while it's read, so they never reach the database. The uploaded file is deleted 24 hours after it's been processed. Your plays stay until you delete them from Settings.

How long does it take?

Spotify's stated maximum is 30 days. If you'd rather not keep checking, ask us to email you in 30 days.

Troubleshooting

I can't find Download your data

The option isn't in the Spotify app. Open spotify.com/account/privacy in a web browser, sign in, and scroll down the page. If you reached your account page another way, look for Privacy settings or Account privacy in its menu.

The confirmation email never arrived

Check your spam or junk folder, and any tabs your email app sorts mail into. Make sure you're looking at the inbox for the email address on your Spotify account; if you sign in with Google, Apple or Facebook, that's the address those accounts use. If it still isn't there after an hour, go back to the privacy page and request again.

It's been more than 30 days

Check your spam folder for the download email first. If nothing has arrived, contact Spotify's privacy team at [email protected]. Spotify's help pages give that address for data requests.

I only got a 1-year file

If your zip has a folder called Spotify Account Data with files like StreamingHistory_music_0.json, you requested Account data, not the extended history. That file covers about the last 12 months. Go back to the privacy page, tick Extended streaming history and request again. You can upload the 1-year file in the meantime; the two merge later without duplicates.

My zip has no Audio files

Open the zip and look for the Spotify Extended Streaming History folder. If it only has Streaming_History_Video_ files, the audio part is missing and you'll need to request the data again. If there's no such folder at all, you downloaded Account data instead.

The download link expired

Spotify's download link lasts 14 days. Request the data again from the privacy page and wait for a new email.

The download link doesn't work

Make sure you're signed in to the same Spotify account in the browser that opens the link. If it still fails, copy the link into a different browser or a private window and try again.

I have more than one zip

Upload each one, together or one after another. Streams that appear in more than one file are recognised and counted once.

I unzipped it by mistake

That's fine. Upload the Streaming_History_Audio_ JSON files from the folder instead; depth.fm accepts them on their own. You can select several at once.

The upload says the file is too large

The limit is 99 MB. Most extended history exports are well under that. If yours is bigger, check you haven't zipped other files in with it, or upload the Streaming_History_Audio_ files from inside the zip in smaller batches.