5 Spotify Settings You Should Change for Better Music and Privacy

Spotify is designed to get you listening as quickly as possible, but many of its most useful options are hidden inside the settings menu.

If you have never explored Spotify's settings, you may be leaving audio-quality improvements, recommendation controls and privacy features turned off. A few small changes can make the service better suited to the way you actually listen to music.

Here are five Spotify settings worth checking in 2026.

1. Adjust or Turn Off Volume Normalization

Spotify's volume normalization feature attempts to make songs play at a more consistent loudness.

This can be useful when moving between tracks recorded or mastered at very different volume levels. Without normalization, a quiet song can suddenly be followed by a much louder track, forcing you to reach for the volume controls.

However, normalization can also affect the dynamics of your music.

If getting the best possible sound is more important to you than having consistent volume between songs, try disabling the feature and compare the result yourself.

You can find the setting under Settings and privacy → Playback → Volume controls.

If you prefer normalization, Spotify provides different volume-level choices, including Quiet, Normal and Loud. Spotify also warns that the Loud option can reduce audio quality.

2. Change How Spotify Handles Shuffle

Spotify's shuffle system can sometimes feel less random than expected.

That's partly because genuinely random sequences can produce surprising patterns. Several songs from the same artist appearing close together doesn't necessarily mean the shuffle system is broken.

Spotify offers controls that can make playback feel more varied.

Depending on the version of the app and account features available to you, you may find shuffle-related controls under Playback or Listening Controls.

The Fewer repeats option can be useful if you regularly listen to large playlists and notice the same songs appearing too frequently.

If you prefer completely unpredictable playback, the standard shuffle behavior may be a better fit.

3. Enable Lossless Audio If Your Setup Can Use It

Spotify Premium subscribers have access to Lossless audio, with supported music available at up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC. Spotify introduced the feature for Premium users in 2025.

To check the setting on mobile, open Spotify and go to:

Profile picture → Settings and privacy → Media Quality

You can select Lossless separately for Wi-Fi streaming, cellular streaming and downloaded music.

There is an important catch: higher-quality audio uses more data and lossless files require more storage.

Spotify also points out that the quality you actually hear depends on your equipment. If you're using basic headphones or a Bluetooth connection that compresses the audio, the difference between lossless and a high-quality compressed stream may be difficult to hear.

For most users, a good approach is to use Lossless on Wi-Fi and keep cellular streaming at a lower setting if mobile data is limited.

4. Stop Children's Music From Affecting Your Recommendations

Spotify's recommendations are influenced by your listening behavior.

That can become a problem when you regularly play music that you don't actually want included in your personal taste profile.

For example, parents may frequently play children's songs for their kids. Someone working in a store, gym or office may also spend hours playing background playlists that don't represent their personal music preferences.

Spotify provides an option to prevent kids and family music from being included in your taste profile.

Look under Settings → Content and display for the option related to including kids and family music in your taste profile.

You can also exclude individual playlists from your taste profile.

This is particularly useful for playlists you listen to regularly but don't want influencing Spotify's future recommendations.

5. Keep Your Listening Activity Private

Spotify includes social features that allow people to see aspects of your listening activity.

That's convenient if you enjoy sharing music with friends, but not everyone wants their current listening habits visible to other people.

If you want temporary privacy, Spotify's Private Session feature can hide your listening activity for a limited period.

You can find it under Spotify's privacy and social settings.

For more permanent control, you can also adjust the Listening activity settings or control who can view your activity.

You should also check your playlists. A playlist set to public can remain visible on your profile even if you change some listening-activity settings.

Bonus: Don't Ignore Spotify's Data Settings

If you're using Spotify on a mobile data connection, audio quality can have a noticeable effect on your data consumption.

Spotify says higher-quality streaming uses more data, while its Data Saver option reduces data use by lowering audio quality and limiting some visual content.

To enable it, go to:

Profile picture → Settings and privacy → Data-saving and offline → Data Saver

Premium users can also download music over Wi-Fi and listen offline, which can be a useful option if your mobile data allowance is limited.

Spotify's current quality options range from Low and Normal to High, Very High and Lossless for supported Premium accounts.

Which Spotify Settings Should You Change First?

You don't necessarily need to change all five settings.

If sound quality is your priority, start with Media Quality and check whether Lossless makes sense for your headphones or speakers.

If recommendations are the problem, look at taste-profile controls and playlist exclusions.

If you dislike unexpected song patterns, experiment with the shuffle settings.

And if privacy matters most, review Listening Activity and Private Session.

The best configuration ultimately depends on how you use Spotify. A person with unlimited Wi-Fi and high-end wired headphones will have very different priorities from someone streaming music over a limited mobile data package.

Final Thoughts

Spotify has become much more than a simple music player. Its settings control audio quality, recommendations, playback behavior, data usage and social visibility.

Taking a few minutes to review those options can make the app feel considerably more personalized.

Start with the settings that address your biggest annoyance, then experiment with the others. You can always switch them back if you prefer Spotify's default behavior.