How to download your Spotify data, and how long each package takes
Spotify's privacy page offers three separate packages and most people only ever tick the first. Account data is reported to arrive in about five days, extended streaming history and technical log information are reported to take up to 30 days, and there is no way to hurry either. Written 2026-08-24.
The exact taps, in order
Your part of this is about two to four minutes. Everything after that is Spotify taking its time, and
nothing you do speeds it up.
Open Spotify on the web Sign in at spotify.com in a browser. The phone app does not have this screen at all, which is the reason most people have never seen it.
Open your account page Click your profile at the top right, then Account.
Open Privacy settings It is in the account menu, sometimes called Privacy settings and sometimes Security and privacy.
Scroll to Download your data You will see up to three tick boxes rather than one button.
Tick Account data The small, fast package. Playlists, library, roughly the last year of streaming, and your account details.
Tick Extended streaming history Every play since you joined, with how many milliseconds you actually listened, why the track started, why it ended, and whether you skipped.
Tick Technical log information The separate package reported to carry the inferences, which is a different request from the one most people make.
Click Request data Then open the email Spotify sends and click the confirmation link. Nothing starts until you do, and this is where most requests quietly die.
How long it actually takes
What
How long reported
Account data, reported
Around five days.
Extended streaming history, reported
Up to 30 days, and it usually takes most of them.
Technical log information, reported
Up to 30 days.
Confirmation email
Required. The clock does not start until you click it.
Your own time
About 3 minutes to request all three at once.
How big the file is
Account data is usually a few megabytes. Extended streaming history is commonly 5 to 50 megabytes of JSON for a long standing account. The technical package varies widely and is the largest of the three for heavy users. reported
What is actually inside
Streaming history Streaming_History_Audio files with track name, artist, album, timestamp, ms_played, reason_start, reason_end, shuffle and skipped. The skip fields are the ones nothing in the app shows you.
Library and playlists Playlist files, YourLibrary, Follow, and your saved items.
Search and identity SearchQueries, Identity, Userdata, and your account level records.
The technical package Reported to include an inferences file listing the marketing segments Spotify has filed you under. Treat the exact filename as reported rather than promised, because this package changes shape more than the others.
What is missing from it
Not in the file, whatever anyone tells you
Why a Discover Weekly or Daily Mix track was chosen. No part of the export explains the recommendation.
The audio analysis Spotify holds about tracks, which is about the music and not about you.
Podcast listening in the same shape as music in some exports, which is a known inconsistency.
Anything from before the account, and anything from a different account you used to use.
The download expires
Do not lose the link
Spotify does not publish a firm download window, and the link arrives by email. Download it the day it lands rather than finding out the hard way after a 30 day wait.
Read this before you trust a number on this page
Every wait window and every file size here is reported, not measured by us. It comes
from the platform's own published help pages and from what people consistently say happens, and platforms
change both without telling anyone. When we have a request we timed ourselves, this page will say measured
and print the date the measurement was taken. Until then, treat these as the range to plan around rather
than a promise.
Written 2026-08-24. Export screens move every few months. If a step here has gone stale, tell us and it
gets fixed rather than quietly rotting.
When the file arrives
When the file lands, you do not have to unzip it or understand it. Drop it into the free Spotify Count and read the real numbers in about ten seconds. It runs entirely in your browser, there is no account, no email field and no card, and nothing is uploaded.
The full Reading is 6.99 a week or 69.99 a year. No free trial. There is a Refund button in
your dashboard for 7 days, one tap, no reason required. The Count stays free forever either way.
Reported at around five days for account data and up to 30 days for extended streaming history and technical log information. Tick all three boxes in the same request so you wait once rather than three times. We have not measured this ourselves.
What is the difference between the three Spotify packages?
Account data is the fast summary covering roughly the last year. Extended streaming history is every play since you joined, with skip and duration data. Technical log information is the separate package reported to carry the inferences, and it is the one almost nobody requests.
Can I get my Spotify data from the phone app?
No. The privacy settings screen only exists on the website. Sign in at spotify.com in a browser, on a phone or a laptop, either is fine.
The free Count pages
One page per file. Each is the same browser local tool scoped to a different export, and none of them
ask for an email.