Updated Sep 28, 2026
Spotify has two exports and most people only find one of them. The account data export is what everyone knows about, and it carries a limited window of listening history. The extended streaming history goes back to the day you signed up. You need to request them separately, and the one people skip is the one worth having.
Top-level structure of the export. Each entry is a file or directory with its format badge and what it contains.
Streaming_History_Audio_YYYY-YYYY_*.jsonJSONStreamingHistory_music_*.jsonJSONPlaylist*.jsonJSONYourLibrary.jsonJSONSearchQueries.jsonJSONInferences.jsonJSONPayments.jsonJSONIdentity.jsonJSONFollow.jsonJSONuserdata.jsonJSONBoth are free and both come from the same Privacy Settings page, but they are two separate checkboxes and you have to tick both.
The account data export is the general one: profile, playlists, saved music, searches, payments, and a recent slice of listening. The extended streaming history is a different thing entirely: a complete record of every play from the day your account was created, and nothing else.
People download the first one, glance at a JSON file full of tracks from the last year, and conclude that is all Spotify has. It is not. Fifteen years of listening is sitting in the other export.
One set of files per year, named Streaming_History_Audio_YYYY-YYYY_N.json, each one a JSON array of play events. Every field tells you something the account export does not.
This is Spotify's model of you as a list of labels: genres, moods, contexts, patterns. It is what feeds Discover Weekly and Daily Mix.
You cannot change it. You can only look at it, and plenty of people find the specificity interesting or faintly insulting.
Your playlists are the portable part. Tools like TuneMyMusic and Soundiiz move them to Apple Music, YouTube Music or Tidal, and your saved tracks from YourLibrary.json will rebuild a library elsewhere.
Listening history does not move. No other service has an import for play counts, and none is going to add one. Last.fm is the closest thing to cross-platform history and it is worth starting now if you care about that.
If you want the short checklist instead of the full guide, use the service page.
Account data is the general export: profile, playlists, saved music, searches, payments, plus a recent window of listening. Extended streaming history is every play you have ever made, back to your first day, and nothing else. Tick both boxes.
Spotify states 30 days, which is the legal ceiling rather than a processing estimate. Most people get it within a few days. The clock starts when you click the link in the confirmation email, not when you submit the request.
Because you have the account data export, not the extended streaming history. They are separate checkboxes on the same page. Request the extended one as well.
ms_played is milliseconds actually listened to. A low number on a three-minute track means you skipped it. Sort by it and you get a picture of what you genuinely played rather than what shuffled past.
JSON, throughout, in ZIP archives. It opens in a browser, a text editor, a spreadsheet, or any of the analysis tools above.
Playlists, yes, via TuneMyMusic or Soundiiz. Listening history, no. No other service accepts an import of play counts and none is planning to.
The taste and behaviour labels Spotify has derived about you. They drive Discover Weekly, Daily Mix and the advertising profile. You can see them, you cannot edit them.
No. It makes a copy. Nothing changes until you separately clear history or close the account.
From the extended streaming history. Filter the JSON on the track name and count, or load it into a spreadsheet and use COUNTIF. The stats.fm tools do this without you writing anything.
No. Both exports are free and available on a free account.
Last verified: Sep 28, 2026. Steps checked against support.spotify.com. Report an outdated step →