Spotify Extended Streaming History: How to Request It and Get True All-Time Stats

Spotify's extended streaming history is the only copy of your listening data that goes back to the day you opened the account, and it is the only honest route to true all-time play counts. The catch is the wait. The extended package takes up to 30 days to process, while Wrapped has arrived no later than 4 December in each of the past five years. Ask for the file by 30 October and even the full 30-day wait lands it by 29 November, before the early-December window Wrapped has launched in. Ask in late November and you are racing the recap.

This guide covers where the request lives, how the extended file differs from the basic account download, what each field actually records, how to read it in a spreadsheet, and the privacy decision to make before you upload it anywhere.

Extended streaming history vs the basic account data download

Spotify delivers your data in three separate packages, which you can request individually or all at once from the same privacy page. Two of them contain listening data, and the gap between those two is the whole reason this guide exists.

The account package answers "what have I played recently". The extended package answers "what have I played, ever". Spotify's help pages are specific about the split: the past-year history sits in a file called StreamingHistory.json inside the account data package, and the complete history only comes in the extended package.

The in-app view is thinner still. Spotify keeps a running log of recently played songs, but it shows only the last 50 tracks at any given time. If you want the longer story of where Spotify does and does not expose your numbers, our guide to how to see your Spotify stats and listening history maps the built-in views.

How to request your extended streaming history

1. Open your Spotify account page in a browser and go to the Account Privacy section. The automated Download your data tool lives there.
2. Select "Request your data", then choose the extended streaming history option rather than the basic download.
3. Add the other packages at the same time if you want them. Spotify lets you take the three packages separately or all at once.
4. Wait. The basic download typically arrives in about 5 days, and the extended one takes up to 30.
5. Spotify emails you when the data is ready to download as JSON files, delivered as a ZIP.

This is a data rights request, not a feature request. In the US, Spotify says it provides these rights to all residents regardless of where they live, and the same Download your data tool is the route it points to for getting a machine-readable copy you can port elsewhere.

Why late October is the right time to ask

Nobody outside Spotify knows this year's Wrapped date. As our guide to when Spotify Wrapped comes out puts it, there is no confirmed date and Spotify has not announced when Wrapped 2026 launches. What exists is a pattern: the 2025 edition went live on Wednesday 3 December 2025, and Wrapped has not arrived later than 4 December in any of the past five years.

So work backwards from the worst case. A request filed on 30 October, with the full 30-day processing window, lands by 29 November. That is before the 3 December 2025 launch and the 4 December latest date of the past five years.

There is a second reason not to wait: the file is your own archive. Wrapped is a product that changes every year. The extended history is a flat record you keep.

What is actually inside the file

The extended package covers everything listened to or watched during the lifetime of your account. Each entry is one stream, and Spotify lists the fields it carries:

• Date and time the stream ended, in UTC.
• Your Spotify username.
• The platform used, for example Android OS or Google Chromecast.
• How many milliseconds the track was played.
• The country code where the stream happened.
• The IP address and the user agent used when streaming.
• Track name, artist or band name, album name, and a Spotify track URI.
• Podcast episode name, show name and episode URI, where relevant.
• Why the track started and why it ended, for example whether the track finished playing or you hit the next button.
• Whether shuffle was on, whether you skipped to the next song, whether the play was offline, and whether it happened during a private session.

Spotify also ships a "Read Me First - Extended Streaming History" file with a detailed description of each technical field. Open that before you open anything else.

Two details are worth sitting with. First, the file records whether a track was played during a private session, even though listening during a Private session never appears in your Wrapped. Second, exclusions work the same way: streams from playlists or tracks excluded from your taste profile are kept out of Wrapped stories such as top artist or top songs, but they are still plays, and they are still in your history. The file is a more complete record of your listening than the recap built from it.

How to read it in a spreadsheet

The data arrives as JSON, and a spreadsheet wants rows and columns, so there is one conversion step in the middle: turn the JSON array into a table, one row per stream, before you do anything else. Keep that step on your own machine if you can, because of the IP address and user agent fields.

Once the rows are in columns, the analysis is ordinary spreadsheet work:

• Real play counts. Group by track name plus artist name and count the rows. Each row is one stream that ended, so the row count is the play count.
• Listening time. Sum the milliseconds played column and divide by 60,000 for minutes, or by 3,600,000 for hours.
• Decide your own threshold. A skipped play and a full listen are both rows - the file records how many milliseconds played and whether you skipped to the next song. Spotify's own 2025 Wrapped eligibility rule counted songs streamed for more than 30 seconds each, and our stats guide notes that tracks played for less than 30 seconds do not count toward Wrapped. Filter to plays above 30 seconds if you want numbers comparable to Wrapped, or keep everything if you want the truth about skipping.
• Use the flags. Sort by the skip column to find what you abandon, and by the shuffle column to see how much of your listening you actually chose.
• Check your year boundaries. The timestamps are UTC, so late-night plays in western time zones land on the next day.

If you would rather pull playlists into a sheet than streams, our walkthrough on how to export Spotify playlists to Excel covers that side separately.

What the file does not answer

It is a stream log, not a library snapshot and not a taste report.

• Genre is not in it. Spotify's field list for the extended package does not include a genre, so any genre breakdown has to be built from artist names using another source.
• Your saved library is elsewhere. The summary of what is saved in Your Library, covering songs, episodes, shows, artists and albums, comes in the account data package.
• Wrapped's own numbers are elsewhere too. The account package includes your latest Wrapped data, if Wrapped is a feature in your market, which is a different thing from the raw plays behind it.

The privacy trade-off of uploading it to an analyzer

Plenty of tools will read this file for you. Our stats guide notes you can import it into third-party apps like stats.fm to see full historical stats, or analyze it yourself using a spreadsheet.

Before you upload, re-read the field list. The extended file contains your Spotify username, the country code of every stream, the IP address used, and the user agent. That is a years-long location and device trail attached to your listening, and it is more than any stats service needs to tell you your top artist. If the tool only needs track, artist and timestamp, delete the other columns from your converted table first and upload that. If you cannot remove them, treat the upload as a deliberate choice rather than a default one, and check what the service says about retention and deletion.

See your top artists and songs while you wait

The file takes up to 30 days. Your listening data already exists in the meantime.

Free Your Music Stats reads it on demand: top artists, songs and genres, total listening time, and a shareable collage, for Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer and Spotify. It is free, and it works on any day of the year rather than once in December. You sign in with each service's official login, and the connection is read-only.

1. Download Free Your Music on your phone or computer.
2. Connect Spotify with Spotify's official sign-in.
3. Open the Stats section.
4. Browse your top songs, artists, genres and minutes, and export the collage.

Start with the Spotify stats page, or see the full music stats tool if you listen across more than one service. For the wider case against waiting for December, read our Spotify Wrapped alternative guide.

FAQ

Does requesting my data change my Wrapped?

No. Reading your listening data does not alter it. A data request is an access request, and your plays keep counting exactly as before.

Is extended streaming history the same as the Wrapped data in my download?

No. Wrapped data is its own item in the account package, covering your latest Wrapped if Wrapped is a feature in your market. Extended streaming history is the raw list of streams across the lifetime of your account.

Does it include podcasts?

Yes. The extended package covers songs, videos and podcasts, and includes the podcast episode name, show name and episode URI.

Can I request both packages at once?

Yes. Spotify lets you download three different packages of data, either separately or all at once. The basic one still arrives first, in about 5 days, while the extended one takes up to 30.

Why does my minutes total not match Wrapped?

Because the two count different things. Your file includes private-session plays and plays excluded from your taste profile, while Wrapped leaves private-session listening out and strips excluded streams from stories such as top artist and top songs. Filtering your rows to plays above 30 seconds gets you closer, but it will not reproduce Wrapped exactly.