How to Fix Firewall May Be Blocking Spotify Error

Have you ever met this weird error while running Spotify on your Mac? You opened the Spotify app and tried to log in, but it prompted with a message like this:

“A firewall may be blocking Spotify. Please update your firewall to allow Spotify. Additionally you can try changing the currently used proxy settings (Error code: 17)”

Honestly, I have no idea what this Spotify error is all about — update the firewall? proxy settings? What does this tech jargon actually mean?

I was completely lost….but fortunately, the problem isn’t hard to be solved. All you have to do is to change the country settings and the error code would be gone.

I’ll show you how to do that step by step.

Why Can’t I Log into Spotify?

I am yet to find a reliable source about the real cause, but my hunch is: you are either using a different network with a foreign IP address, or you are traveling outside of your country.

Because Spotify has different settings and pricing structures among different countries.

For example, Spotify Premium isn’t available in many countries besides the US and UK. In fact, Spotify (the free version) isn’t available to use at all in certain countries/areas. You can see this full list for more.

My point is due to the availability, presence, and complexity of Spotify among different countries, it’s likely that you’ll encounter some errors similar to the above one especially if you’re currently traveling outside of your home country.

Efforts I Tried But Didn’t Work

First off, I clicked the Proxy Settings link and followed a piece of advice found online saying setting it to “No Proxy” would help, but it didn’t.

I also uninstalled and reinstalled Spotify from scratch, because the official Spotify website has this guide saying:

“Reinstalling gives the app a new lease of life, fixing many common issues you may be experiencing.”

Nope, it didn’t help either. I still couldn’t log in to my account and the same “firewall may be blocking Spotify” appeared.

The Solution: Change Country in Setting

This actually took me quite a while to find out, and IT WORKS. Here is how to do that step by step.

Step 1: Log into Spotify. Click this link https://accounts.spotify.com/en/login and input your Spotify username and password.

Step 2: Click “Account” under “Profile”.

Step 3: Under the “Account overview” tab, click the black “EDIT PROFILE” button.

Step 4: Change the Country to another one where you’re currently located.

Step 5: Click the green “SAVE PROFILE” to save your edits.

Step 6: Now quit your Spotify app and relaunch it on your Mac. Boom, it should work now.

Did this trick help solve the problem? Does the error still show up when you attempt to log in to your Spotify account? Leave a comment below.

If it works out for you, kindly share this article on social media to help others who might be facing the same issue. You’re helping them save time to find the real solution that works.