Top 12 Ways to Fix Google Play Music Not Showing Songs

Similar to the Google Photos app, Google Play Music works offline and online. In offline mode, you can just use it as a music player app, and when it is online, you can stream music. Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn’t show you the songs. If this happens to you too, you will learn here how to fix Google Play Music which does not display songs.

The problem occurs with online and downloaded songs. Although offline songs sometimes disappear from the music library, other times Google Play Music does not detect the songs on the SD card.

But do not worry. Here you will see how to find the missing tracks on the Play Music app.

1. Restart the phone

If you recently added new songs to your phone and they don’t appear, restart your phone first.

2. Refresh Play Music

Google Play Music comes with a built-in setting to refresh the library. You should use it every time you add new songs. To do this, open the Play Music app and tap the three bar icon. Select Settings.

Tap Refresh. Close the Play Music app. Hopefully, when you reopen it, you should see your songs.

3. Change the storage location

If your phone supports a memory card, you need to set the storage location in the Play Music app from where you want to play the songs. So if your files are on the SD card and your storage is configured on the phone, they may not play.

To change the storage location, open the music playback settings by tapping the three bar icon on the home screen.

Then scroll down to Settings and tap Storage location. Select Internal or external storage, depending on the location of your files.

Note: You will only see this setting if an SD card is installed on your phone.

4. Remove the memory card

Another reason why songs are not showing up in Play Music may be due to a corrupt memory card. Remove the card and then reinsert it. Check if the songs are visible. In case the songs are stored in the internal memory, remove the card and check without it. If they become visible, there is a problem with your card.

5. Clear the cache

There are two ways to clear the Google Play Music app cache: from the app and phone settings. You have to go back and forth to see if the songs reappear in the app.

Clear the application cache

Step 1: Open the Google Play Music app and tap the three bar icon at the top. Select Settings.

2nd step: Scroll down and tap Clear cache.

Clear the settings cache

Step 1: Open Settings on your phone and go to Applications & Notifications or Applications.

2nd step: Under All apps, tap Google Play Music.

Step 3: Tap Storage, then tap Clear cache. Restart the phone and check if you can see the songs. If they are not available, tap Clear data or storage.

Note: Clearing the cache or data will not delete your songs from the Play Music app.

6. Check the .nomedia file

If a folder contains a .nomedia file, its files will only be visible via a file management application. They will not appear in other supported applications such as a gallery or a music application. So, you should check your music folder. If it contains a .nomedia file, delete it. Third-party applications usually add the file.

To find the .nomedia file, open the file management application on your phone and navigate to the required folder. Activate show hidden files in the file manager settings. Then find the .nomedia file in the folder. Delete it. Refresh Google Play Music as shown above.

7. Change the music folder

Sometimes changing the folder where your songs are present also makes them visible in the Play Music app. You must directly create a new folder in internal or external storage. Then move your songs there. Avoid adding the folder inside the subfolders.

8. Disable download only

If you can’t see songs online in Google Play Music, you should turn off the setting that shows only downloaded songs. To do this, tap the three bar icon on the home screen of the Play Music app. Then turn off the toggle next to Downloaded only.

9. Check account

If the downloaded or liked songs are missing in the app, you need to check if you are on the correct Google account. To do this, open the Google Play Music app settings. You will see the account connected to the application. In case this is the wrong account, press the email ID and select the correct account.

10. Check the synchronization settings

Songs that do not appear in the app may be due to timing issues. To check and verify, do the following:

Step 1: Open Settings on your phone and tap Accounts.

2nd step: Tap Google or your Google Account associated with Play Music.

Stage 3: Tap Sync. Then check whether the box next to Google Play Music is checked or not. This should be checked.

11. Update the Google Play Music app

You should also try to update the Google Play Music app from the Play Store. Sometimes a bug is also responsible for these problems. Learn how to find out if an update is available for an Android app.

12. Uninstall Play Music

Finally, if nothing works, you need to uninstall the Play Music app. If the app has been preinstalled on your phone, you will not be able to uninstall it. You can only delete its latest updates. This will restore it to the factory version. Once uninstalled, reinstall or update it from the Play Store.