Where does Pandora store downloaded music on Android?

Pandora is a popular music streaming service that enables users to download songs and playlists for offline listening. On Android devices, Pandora downloads music files that are accessible through the Pandora app and stored locally on the device.

This content guide will cover where Pandora stores downloaded music on Android devices, how to customize the cache location, tips for managing downloaded content, and troubleshooting advice in case of issues with offline listening.

Downloading Music on Pandora

To download music for offline listening from the Pandora mobile app, first make sure you are subscribed to either Pandora Plus or Pandora Premium. These subscription tiers grant you access to offline downloads.

Once subscribed, while listening to a station or playlist, tap the “Download for Offline” icon that looks like a downward pointing arrow. This will save that item to your “My Collection” for offline listening and will be marked by a checkmark.

If you tap the “Profile” tab at the bottom of the screen and then tap the “Settings” gear icon, you can toggle “Offline Mode” on. This will show you your downloaded music for offline listening.

Android File Storage

Android devices have several options for local file storage to save photos, videos, downloaded music, and other files (Data and file storage overview). The primary options are internal storage and external storage on a removable SD card.

Internal storage refers to the built-in, non-removable flash memory on an Android device. This storage is faster and more secure, but often has less capacity (For Android devices, is internal storage memory typically faster, slower or equivalent to a MicroSD card?).

External SD card storage can provide more capacity, usually at a lower cost. However, SD card storage is often slower, more prone to corruption, and does not provide encryption (When setting up a new Android device, is it better to use the micro SD card as internal storage or external).

Pandora Cache Location

When you download songs or playlists for offline listening on a Pandora Premium subscription plan, Pandora stores those downloads in a cache folder on your Android device by default. This allows the Pandora app to access the cached music so you can listen offline without using data or an internet connection (1).

On most Android devices, Pandora downloads music to the following default cache location:

/Android/data/com.pandora.android/files

So if you use a file explorer app to browse your Android files and folders, you can navigate to the /Android/data path on your device’s storage to find the com.pandora.android folder that contains your downloaded Pandora music (2). Pandora saved their music storage file path to a narrow obsfucated location to prevent other apps from easily accessing or modifying a user’s downloaded songs.

Customizing Cache Location

By default, Pandora stores downloaded music and cached content on your Android device’s internal storage. If you want to change the location to save space, you can set Pandora to store downloads on an external SD card instead.

To customize the cache location in the Pandora app, go to Settings > Storage, and tap the Change button. This allows you to select the external SD card as the storage location for downloaded and offline content (source: https://community.pandora.com/t5/Android/Download-directory/td-p/124809).

Moving the cache can free up space on your device’s internal storage. It also allows you to keep the downloaded music even if you uninstall the Pandora app. Just make sure your external SD card has enough free space for saving songs, albums, and stations.

Now when you download content for offline listening in Pandora, it will automatically save to the customized cache directory on your device’s external storage. To manage the downloads, use the Offline content section within the Pandora app.

Managing Downloaded Music

Pandora allows you to download music for offline listening. Managing these downloads can ensure you have enough storage space and keep your music collection neat and tidy. Here are some tips:

Organizing Downloads

To organize your downloads on an Android device, go to the Profile tab > Settings gear and select Storage. You can see where Pandora stores downloaded music and customize the storage location for future downloads. For example, store downloads on an SD card to free up internal storage space.

Deleting Music

Go to My Collection tab > Downloads to see your Pandora music downloads. From there, you can quickly select songs/stations and tap the delete icon to remove them when finished. To mass delete, tap “Multi-select”, choose items to remove, and tap the trash icon.

Backing Up Music

Consider backing up your downloaded Pandora songs to ensure you don’t lose access. You can copy music files from the Pandora cache folder on your Android device to a computer or cloud storage as a backup.

Following organization tips and periodically removing unused downloads or creating backups can ensure your offline Pandora music collection stays neat, tidy and available when needed.

Listening Offline

Pandora allows you to download tracks, albums, and stations so you can access the content offline. Here are the steps to access your offline music on your Android device:

  1. Launch the Pandora app on your device
  2. Tap on the “My Collection” icon in the bottom toolbar (On some accounts this icon may say Downloads)
  3. Select the “Offline” tab at the top of the screen
  4. Here you will see all the songs, stations, and playlists available for offline listening that you have previously downloaded
  5. Tap on a song, station or playlist to start playback offline

When listening to offline music, look for the “Offline Mode” tag to confirm the content is playing from your offline downloads. If you lose Internet connectivity, you can continue streaming this offline content. For more details, check the Pandora support article How To Enjoy Pandora Offline Android [2023].

Troubleshooting Tips

Here are some common issues and solutions for downloaded music in Pandora:

Music Won’t Download or Play Offline

If your downloaded music won’t play offline, first check that Pandora Offline Mode is enabled. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Pandora app and tap on your profile icon
  2. Select “Settings”
  3. Toggle “Offline Mode” to “On”

Next, make sure Pandora stays open on your device’s screen while it downloads music for offline listening. As noted on Pandora’s Offline Mode Troubleshooting support page, keep the app in the foreground to ensure downloads complete properly.

Playlists Won’t Download

Try re-downloading your offline playlists. First turn off Offline Mode under Settings. Then enable it again so your downloads reset. This can resolve playlist errors, as recommended on Pandora’s Stations Won’t Download forum page.

Deleted or Lost Downloads

Pandora will delete downloaded songs if you disable Offline Mode. Check that this setting is on if music goes missing. You may also need to re-download any lost music.

For additional help with Pandora Offline Mode, see their Offline Listening support.

Pandora Support

If you have any issues downloading, managing, or listening to music offline on Pandora for Android, Pandora has several customer support options to assist you:

Phone Support: You can call Pandora’s US customer service number at 844-635-4027 for assistance with download issues or other questions.

Email Support: To contact Pandora’s customer support by email, send your question or issue to [email protected] with details about the problem you are experiencing.

Social Media Support: Pandora also offers customer service support via their social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. You can send them a direct message describing your issue.

The Pandora customer support team aims to respond quickly to any download, storage, or offline listening issues you may encounter when accessing your music library on Android devices. They can help troubleshoot problems or recover downloads if needed.

Summary

To recap, when you download music for offline listening on Pandora for Android, the songs are stored in the Pandora app’s cache folder. By default, this folder is located at Android/data/com.pandora.android/files/cache on your device’s internal storage.

You can customize the cache location in the Pandora settings to save downloaded songs to external SD card storage instead. Managing your downloaded music for offline listening is easy – just tap on the “My Music” section within Pandora.

Key takeaways:

  • Downloaded Pandora songs for Android are saved in the app’s cache folder
  • The default location is Android/data/com.pandora.android/files/cache
  • You can customize the cache location to external SD card storage
  • Use the My Music section of Pandora to manage downloads

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