How to listen to music on a PC without ads, for free
Short answer: on Spotify and YouTube Music, listening without ads is what the paid Premium plans sell, so a free account plays ads. The free way to get rid of them is to play music you own in a player that shows none. Audify for Windows, from the Microsoft Store, and Audify for Mac, a direct download, are free with no ads and nothing to buy, and they play your files offline. VLC, MusicBee, AIMP and foobar2000 are free alternatives. What none of them can do is play songs from Spotify or YouTube Music.
Why free streaming plays ads
Spotify and YouTube Music both let you listen for free, and both pay for it with ads. Their own pages say what removing the ads takes: Spotify lists ad-free music listening among the things Premium adds, and YouTube Music's help says that YouTube Music Premium subscribers get songs and music videos without ads. YouTube adds that Premium members may still hear ads in podcasts.
So on these services there is no setting that turns the ads off for free: no ads is the paid plan. The free route is a different one. Play music files you already have, such as songs you bought as downloads, albums ripped from your CDs or a folder kept from an old computer, in a music player that shows no ads.
On a computer? Scan with your phone to install the app.Free music players for your own files (October 2026)
Audify for Windows, from the Microsoft Store, and Audify for Mac, a direct download signed and notarized by Apple, are free with no ads, no in-app purchases and no account. They play 127 audio and video formats, FLAC included, with a 10-band equalizer and internet radio built in. On the Microsoft Store, the Audify Player listing shows the price as Free, with no in-app purchases.
Four other free players are worth knowing, each checked on its own website in October 2026. VLC is free and open source, plays most audio and video files on Windows, Mac and Linux, and its site promises no spyware, no ads and no user tracking. MusicBee, for Windows, is free and built around organizing and tagging a large library. AIMP describes itself as a free audio player for Windows. foobar2000, an advanced freeware audio player in its makers' words, runs on Windows and Mac with a layout you can rearrange.
Your computer may already have one, too. Microsoft's free Windows Media Player app builds a music library from the Music and Videos folders on your PC, and on a Mac, Apple's Music app can import the files already on your computer.
Where Audify stands out: music, videos and radio in one app, AutoEQ profiles for your headphones, and an Audify app for your phone too. Where others win: on Windows, foobar2000 and MusicBee can play in exclusive (WASAPI) mode, which Audify for Windows can't, and MusicBee goes deeper on tags. Our Windows comparison puts them side by side.
Where the music comes from
A player like this plays what is stored on your computer: songs you bought as downloads, albums ripped from CDs, a folder copied from an old laptop, a USB drive or an external disk. It is not a streaming service, so it can't play the songs in Spotify's or YouTube Music's catalog, and it doesn't remove the ads in other apps or websites.
No music files at all? Audify's internet radio is free on Windows and Mac: thousands of live stations, searchable by country, language or genre. The app adds no ads of its own, though a commercial station may broadcast its own ads.
Set up Audify on your PC in three steps
- 1. Install it. On Windows 10 (version 17763 or later) or Windows 11, on a 64-bit PC, get Audify Player from the Microsoft Store: the publisher is Audify and the price is Free. On a Mac with macOS 11 or later, get it from our download page and choose the Apple Silicon or the Intel build. There is no account to create.
- 2. Let it find your music. On first launch Audify adds your Music and Videos folders (Music and Movies on a Mac) and keeps watching them, so songs you copy in later appear by themselves. Music somewhere else? Use Find all my music & videos: on Windows it also searches Downloads, Desktop and Documents and the Music or Media folders at the top of your other drives; on a Mac it asks Spotlight for every song and video in your home folder and on connected drives. For any other folder, open the ⋯ menu on the Songs page and choose Add folder….
- 3. Press play. Browse Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres or Folders and play: no ads, nothing to sign up for. For better sound, open Equalizer for a preset or an AutoEQ profile for your headphones. The Windows 11 setup guide walks through every setting, and the FLAC guide covers lossless files.
And on your phone?
The Android and iPhone apps are separate from the computer apps and are paid for differently: they are free with ads, and an optional Premium subscription, monthly or yearly, removes them. On Android every feature works in the free version, and Premium changes nothing but the ads. Where the phone app shows ads, and what Premium changes.
The apps don't sync with each other: each one plays the files stored on that device. To put the same music on an Android phone, see how to move music from a computer.
Common questions
Is there a free way to listen to music on a PC without ads?
Yes, for music you own. Audify for Windows and Mac is free with no ads and nothing to buy, and VLC, MusicBee, AIMP and foobar2000 are free too. On Spotify and YouTube Music, listening without ads is part of the paid Premium plans.
Can Audify play Spotify or YouTube Music without ads?
No. Audify plays the music files stored on your computer, plus internet radio. It doesn't connect to streaming services and can't remove the ads in other apps or websites.
Is Audify for Windows really free?
Yes. Audify Player is free on the Microsoft Store, with no ads, no in-app purchases and no account to create. Audify for Mac is free in the same way, as a direct download.
Do I need the internet to play music on my PC with Audify?
No. Your own music files play offline. You need a connection only to install the app and to listen to internet radio.
Does Audify have ads on a phone?
Yes. Audify for Android and iPhone is free with ads, and an optional Premium subscription, monthly or yearly, removes them. The Windows and Mac apps are separate and have no ads.
Get Audify for Windows
Free · Windows 10 and 11 · no ads, nothing to buy · no account
Android? The original Audify is on Google Play:
Sources
“If you're a YouTube Music Premium subscriber, you can enjoy all of your favorite songs and music videos without ads.”YouTube Music Help, Explore YouTube Music Premium benefits
- Spotify Premium — Spotify
- Explore YouTube Music Premium benefits — YouTube Music Help
- Audify Player — Microsoft Store
- VLC media player — VideoLAN
- MusicBee - The Ultimate Music Manager and Player — MusicBee