Spotify’s social features are great for discovering new music, but sometimes you might want to keep your listening habits a bit more private. Let me walk you through the different ways to manage your friend activity settings on Spotify.
Understanding Spotify’s Social Features
When you first set up Spotify, the platform automatically makes your listening activity visible to your followers. This means anyone who follows you can see what you’re currently playing in the Friend Activity sidebar on desktop. While this can lead to fun music discoveries, there are times when you’d rather keep your guilty pleasures to yourself!
How to Hide Your Listening Activity
The easiest way to hide your activity is through Spotify’s private session feature. Think of it like browsing in incognito mode – nobody can see what you’re listening to while it’s enabled. Here’s how to turn it on:
1. Open Spotify settings
2. Look for “Social” settings
3. Toggle “Private Session” on
Remember though, this is temporary and resets when you restart Spotify. For a more permanent solution, you’ll want to adjust your social settings.
Desktop Method
Let me walk you through the permanent solution on desktop:
1. Click your profile name in the top-right corner
2. Select “Settings”
3. Scroll to “Social”
4. Turn off “Share my listening activity on Spotify”
Mobile Method
If you’re using your phone, here’s what to do:
1. Tap the gear icon for Settings
2. Select “Social”
3. Toggle off “Share my listening activity”
Additional Privacy Tips
Here’s something many people don’t realize – you can also control who sees your playlists. When creating a playlist, you can set it as “Private” or “Public.” I usually keep my work focus playlists private since they’re pretty personal to my workflow.
What About Others’ Activity?
If you want to hide the Friend Activity sidebar completely, here’s a quick tip: On desktop, just click View > Friend Activity to toggle it off. This way, you won’t see what others are playing either.
Remember, these changes won’t affect your Spotify experience – you’ll still get all the great music recommendations and features, just with more privacy. And if you ever change your mind, you can always reverse these settings with just a few clicks.
These privacy controls let you enjoy your music your way, whether you’re in the mood to share your latest discoveries or keep your late-night karaoke sessions to yourself!
