How to Enable Windows Media Player in Windows 10

Windows Media Player is Microsoft’s default media player for the Windows operating system for many years now. Unfortunately, that’s changed for Windows 10. It now needs installing before it’s available. So, in this guide, you are going to learn how to enable the Windows Media Player on Windows 10 PC.

Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player (WMP) is a software application developed by Microsoft mainly for Windows operating systems. It’s used to play, store, and organize digital audio, photographs, and video. When you run Windows Media Player, the software will automatically search your Computer and Digital Music Collection, Pictures, and Videos. And it even catalogues everything it finds automatically.

However, You can choose a specific folder to find music files from your device, and even Windows Media Player can play songs from a single drive, but you need to sync a single drive before you choose a route.

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Furthermore, Windows Media Player uses WMV, WMA, and ASF file formats to encode audio and video downloaded from the Internet or erased from compact disks or other storage media.

Recent iterations of WMP also include the ability to synchronize digital media with portable media devices, such as Microsoft’s Zune or Creative’s Zen, and to buy or rent content from online media stores. Since WMP uses Microsoft Windows Media DRM, not FairPlay DRM, WMP encoded files are not compatible with iPod.

How to Install WMP

To enable a media player, you’ll need to install it. By default, Windows Media Player isn’t installed on your Windows 10 PCs, you have to manually install it. Here’s how to install it:

Step 1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.

Step 2. Click Apps.

Step 3. Click Optional features under Apps & features.

Step 4. Click Add a feature.

Step 5. Now, from the list find Windows Media Player and for that, you have to scroll all the way down.

Step 6. Click on it and select Install.

How to Open Windows Media Player in Windows 10

There are several ways to launch Windows Media Player in Windows 10 and here I will show you two different ways:

Method 1:

• Open the Start Menu.
• Now, search for Windows Media Player.
• In the search results, click Open to launch Windows Media Player.

Method 2:

• Press Windows + R to open Run.
• Type wmplayer.exe and click OK.

How to Disable Windows Media Player in Windows 10

If you don’t like to use Windows Media Player anymore on your Windows computer then you can disable it. Here’s how to disable it:

Open Control Panel. You can open the Control Panel through the Start Menu by searching it.

Click Programs and Features.

Now, click Turn Windows features on or off on the top left-hand side of the screen.

Search for Media Features and click the + button next to it to expand.

Here, you will see Windows Media Player, uncheck the box next to it and click Yes and then click OK.

Wait for a while for applying changes. When you’re done click Close.

Wrapping Up

This is how you can enable and find your beloved media player the Windows Media Player in Windows 10. Do you still use and enjoy the Windows Media Player on your Windows 10 desktop for music and video playback? Let us know your thoughts and give us a message below.