How to add music files to Lollypop on Linux
Lollypop is a beautiful, modern music player for the Linux platform. It has a thoughtful UI and compared to a lot of other Linux music players, and has many useful features, such as compatibility with web music services, music compilation support, and more. In this guide, we’ll go over how to set up Lollypop on Linux!
Install Lollypop on Linux
Before we can go over how to set up music files in Lollypop on Linux, we must first go over how to install it. The reason? Lollypop is not a default application on any mainstream Linux operating system. You will need to set it up before following this tutorial manually.
To start the installation process, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined below that corresponds with the Linux operating system you currently use.
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu Linux, the Lollypop application is available in software sources. You’ll be able to easily install the program on your computer by entering the following Apt command below in the terminal.
sudo apt install lollypop
Debian
Lollypop is available for Debian Sid and Debian 11 through the “Main” software repositories. That said, for the current stable release (Debian 10), there is no package available.
If you are using Sid or Debian 11, you can use the Apt-get command below to get Lollypop working.
Are you using Debian 10 or older? You will need to follow the Flatpak installation instructions to get it working instead.
sudo apt-get install lollypop
Arch Linux
Those using Arch Linux will be able to quickly get the Lollypop app working through the “Community” software repository. To start the installation, ensure that “Community” is enabled in your Pacman configuration file. Then, enter the pacman command below.
sudo pacman -S lollypop
Fedora
The Lollypop music player is available to all Fedora 32, Rawhide, and 31 users via the main Fedora software repositories. To start the installation on your system, use the following Dnf command below.
sudo dnf install lollypop
OpenSUSE
Are you an OpenSUSE Linux user? Are you trying to install Lollypop on your version of OpenSUSE? If so, ensure you have the OpenSUSE Oss software repository enabled on your system. Then, run the Zypper command below to install the software.
sudo zypper install lollypop
Flatpak
The Lollypop music player is available on the Flathub app store as a Flatpak. To start the installation of Lollypop on your computer, ensure that you have the Flatpak runtime set up on your computer by following this guide on the subject.
After setting up the Flatpak runtime, use the flatpak remote-add command to add the Flathub app store to your Flatpak sources.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Once the Flathub app store is added to your Flatpak configuration, run the flatpak install command to set up Lollypop.
flatpak install flathub org.gnome.Lollypop
Add music files to Lollypop
To add music to Lollypop, start by opening up the app on the desktop by searching for it in your app menu. Then, from there, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: Find the Lollypop menu, and click on it with the mouse. Can’t locate the menu? Click on the button to the left of the minimize button.
Step 2: Inside of the Lollypop menu, find the “Preferences” option and select it to access the Lollypop settings window.
Once in the “Preferences” window, locate the “Music” tab, and click it with the mouse. By selecting the “Music” tab, you’ll be able to access the Lollypop music configuration area.
Step 3: Inside of the Lollypop music configuration area, you’ll see the “Music” folder set as the default location in which Lollypop searches for music files. If you prefer to keep the default, simply move all of your music to the “Music” folder and close the preferences window.
If you’re not satisfied with the default folder, click on the plus icon “+” to open up the file browser window. Inside of the file browser, locate the directory on your computer that you store all of your music files in, and select it with the mouse.
Step 4: After setting the “Music” tab up to scan for your music files, close the preferences window. As soon as you close the window, you’ll notice that the Lollypop application will start to search for the music files on your system. Sit back and be patient.
When Lollypop finishes scanning for your music, click on any of the lists in the left-hand sidebar to listen to your favorite music.
Reset your library
If you’re looking to reset your music library in Lollypop, do the following. First, open up the Lollypop “Preferences” window. Then, click on “Music.” Inside of the “Music” tab, click on the “Reset database” to erase your current music database.
From there, you can add new music and start fresh!
