My ex was using my Spotify for eight months after we broke up.
I didn’t notice at first. Spotify lets multiple devices connect to one account. The free version only plays on one device at a time, but Premium lets you download on up to five. She had my login saved on her phone from when we were together. Never logged out. Never asked.
I only found out because my Discover Weekly started recommending Taylor Swift and true crime podcasts. Nothing against either. But that’s not me. My algorithm was completely wrecked.
Checked my account. Five devices connected. Three of them weren’t mine.
Took about ten minutes to sort out. Signed everything out. Changed my password. Removed the old devices. My recommendations went back to normal within a couple of weeks.
If someone else is using your Spotify — whether it’s an ex, old flatmate, family member, or someone who borrowed your phone once — here’s how to take it back.
More privacy and security guides are in our privacy section.
Quick facts:
⏱️ Time: 5-10 minutes
📱 Where: Spotify website (not the app for most steps)
🔒 Key step: Sign out everywhere, then change password
📅 Updated: March 2026
Check Who’s Using Your Account Right Now
Before you start kicking people off, see what you’re dealing with.
How to check connected devices
1. Open Spotify on your phone.
2. Start playing any song.
3. Tap the device icon at the bottom of the now-playing screen. It looks like a speaker or screen with sound waves.
4. You’ll see a list of devices currently available or recently connected.
This shows devices that are active or were recently active. It doesn’t show every device that has ever logged in. For the full picture, you need the website.
Signs someone else is using your account
- Music playing that you didn’t start
- Recommendations that don’t match your taste
- “Recently Played” showing songs you didn’t listen to
- Getting kicked off playback because another device started playing
- Playlists you didn’t create appearing in your library
- Your Wrapped at the end of the year including music you never listened to
That last one stings. Your whole year of listening data, polluted by someone else’s taste.
Step 1: Sign Out of Every Device
This is the nuclear option. It signs out every single device connected to your account. All of them. Including yours.
How to do it
1. Open a browser on your phone or computer.
2. Go to your Spotify account page. Sign in.
3. Scroll down to find “Sign out everywhere.”
4. Click it.
5. Confirm.
What this does
Every device — phone, tablet, computer, smart speaker, TV, PlayStation, car — gets signed out immediately.
Anyone using your account on any device will be kicked off. The next time they try to play something, Spotify will ask them to log in again.
Important
This signs YOU out too. You’ll need to log back in on your own devices afterward. That’s fine. Small inconvenience for a clean slate.
Step 2: Change Your Password Immediately
Signing out everywhere is pointless if your password stays the same. The person will just log back in.
How to change your Spotify password
1. Stay on the Spotify account page in your browser.
2. Go to password settings or change password.
3. Enter your current password.
4. Enter a new password. Make it different from everything else you use.
5. Save.
Make it a strong password
- At least 12 characters
- Mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
- Not your name, birthday, or pet’s name
- Not the same as your email password
- Not the same as any other account
If you use the same password everywhere, this is a good moment to stop doing that. One leaked password exposes every account that shares it.
If you signed up with Facebook or Google
If you use “Sign in with Facebook” or “Sign in with Google” for Spotify, changing your Spotify password alone might not be enough.
The person could still access your account through the social login if they have access to your Facebook or Google account.
Check your connected social accounts. If you need to clean up Google connections, our guide on removing Google app permissions walks through it. For Facebook, our Facebook tracking guide covers connected apps too.
Step 3: Remove Offline Devices
Spotify Premium lets you download music on up to five devices for offline listening. If someone downloaded your playlists on their phone, those downloads still work even after you sign out everywhere.
Wait. What?
Yes. Downloaded content can sometimes persist briefly on a device even after being signed out. The downloads eventually expire when the device can’t verify the account. But removing the device explicitly speeds that up.
How to remove offline devices
1. Go to your Spotify account page in a browser.
2. Look for “Manage devices” or “Offline devices.”
3. You’ll see a list of devices that have downloaded music from your account.
4. Remove any device you don’t recognise or no longer use.
You can have up to five offline devices
If all five slots are taken by old phones and someone else’s devices, you might not be able to download on your own new phone until you clear some out.
I had three old phones listed that I hadn’t owned in years. Cleared them all. Problem solved.
Step 4: Check Connected Apps
Third-party apps connected to your Spotify can also access your account data. Scrobbling services. Playlist generators. Social sharing tools. Some of these you set up years ago and forgot about.
How to check
1. Go to your Spotify account page.
2. Find “Apps” or “Manage apps” or “Third-party app access.”
3. Review the list.
4. Remove anything you don’t use or don’t recognise.
What to keep
- Apps you actively use (Last.fm if you scrobble, for example)
- Smart speaker integrations you actually use
- Music tools you rely on
What to remove
- Random apps you connected years ago
- Services you don’t recognise
- Anything described as “social” that you never actually used
- Old integrations from devices you no longer own
This is the same principle as our Google permissions cleanup. Connected apps accumulate over time. Each one is a potential access point. Clean them out.
Step 5: Review Your Account Details
While you’re in the account settings, check everything is still yours.
Check your email address
Make sure it’s your current email. If someone changed it, change it back immediately.
Check your profile name and image
If someone’s been using your account, they might have changed your display name or profile picture. Fix it.
Check your country settings
Should say United Kingdom. If it says something else, someone may have changed it to access different regional content.
Check linked payment method
Make sure only your payment card is saved. If there’s a card you don’t recognise, remove it and contact Spotify support.
What About Family Plan Members?
If you run a Spotify Family plan, you have extra considerations.
Removing someone from Family
1. Go to your Spotify account page.
2. Find “Manage your plan” or “Family.”
3. See the list of family members.
4. Click “Remove” next to the person you want to remove.
5. Confirm.
What happens to them
Their account doesn’t get deleted. They just lose Premium access. They drop to Spotify Free with ads and limited features.
Their playlists, saved music, and account stay intact. They just can’t use your Premium subscription anymore.
The address verification issue
Spotify Family requires all members to live at the same address. Spotify periodically asks members to verify their address using GPS. If someone doesn’t live with you (an ex, for example), they’ll eventually fail this verification and get removed automatically.
But “eventually” could be months. Removing them manually is faster.
Shared Passwords: The Real Problem
Most unwanted Spotify access comes from shared passwords. You gave someone your login once. They never forgot it.
Common sharing scenarios
- Gave your login to a partner who is now an ex
- Shared with a flatmate who moved out
- Let a friend use your account once on their phone
- Gave login to a family member years ago
- Used your account on a work computer and forgot to log out
The fix is always the same
- Sign out everywhere
- Change password
- Don’t share the new one
If a family member genuinely needs Spotify access, set them up on a Family plan or let them create their own account. Sharing one login causes recommendation pollution, playback conflicts, and security risks.
Your Listening Data and Privacy
Here’s something worth knowing. Spotify collects detailed data about your listening habits.
- Every song you play
- How long you listen before skipping
- What time of day you listen
- What device you use
- Your location when listening
- What you search for
- What playlists you create and follow
If someone else uses your account, their behaviour gets mixed into your data profile. Spotify uses this data for recommendations, for your annual Wrapped, and for advertising if you’re on the free plan.
After removing unwanted users, your recommendations will gradually recalibrate. It takes a few weeks. Speed it up by actively listening to music you actually like and using the “Don’t like this” button on recommendations that don’t fit.
Spotify on Shared Devices
If you used Spotify on a shared device — work computer, family tablet, friend’s PlayStation — make sure you’re logged out there too.
Devices to check
- Work or school computers
- Smart TVs you no longer have access to
- Game consoles at someone else’s house
- Bluetooth speakers with Spotify Connect
- Car entertainment systems from a rental or old car
How to handle devices you can’t physically access
The “Sign out everywhere” button handles this. Once you click it, every device loses access regardless of whether you can physically reach it.
Change your password afterward and the problem is permanently solved.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Your playlists, saved songs, and account stay completely intact. Signing out just disconnects devices. Everything is still there when you log back in.
Not by name. Spotify shows device types and names (like “John’s iPhone”) but doesn’t verify identity. You can usually guess based on the device names.
Eventually yes. Downloads require periodic account verification. Once you sign them out and change the password, their downloads will stop working within a few days.
Yes. If your Spotify is linked to an Alexa, Google Home, or Sonos at someone else’s house, they can play your music. The “sign out everywhere” option disconnects these too.
You can stream on one device at a time (unless you have Duo or Family). You can download for offline on up to five devices. There’s no limit on how many devices can be logged in — they just can’t all play simultaneously.
No. Password changes don’t affect any content on your account. Everything stays exactly as it is.
Summary
Quick security reset for your Spotify account:
- Sign out everywhere (Spotify account page in browser)
- Change your password immediately
- Remove old offline devices
- Review and remove connected third-party apps
- Check email, profile, and payment details
- Remove unwanted Family plan members if applicable
After cleanup:
- Log back in on your own devices only
- Don’t share the new password
- Your recommendations will recalibrate within a few weeks
Related guides
Locking down other accounts?
Cancelling subscriptions?
Deleting accounts you don’t need?
Need a refund?
Last updated: March 2026
Spotify changed the device management process? Let us know and we’ll update this.