After coming to enjoy different forms of digital media on Windows 10, Microsoft includes Groove Music, Movies & TV, and its Photos apps. Those are elegant apps which work well, but if you have upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 10, you may be more comfortable using Windows Media Player.
If you are a fan of Windows Media Player, you have to know that it is still in Windows 10. Here is a guide at how to find Windows Media Player on Windows 10 and set it as the default app for your digital media.
FINDING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 12 ON WINDOWS 10
To find Windows Media Player, you are able to click Start, type media player and choose it from the results at the top. Alternately, you are able to right-click the Start button to bring up the hidden quick access menu and select Run or use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + R.
After that, you are able to type: wmplayer.exe and hit Enter. If you plan on using Windows Media Player a lot, you may want to pin it to the Taskbar. To do that, simply right-click on it and choose Pin to taskbar, Pin to Start, or both.

Once you first dive into Windows 10, you are going to find that your media is already set to open in its new universal apps (Groove, Photos, Movies & TV). However, if you want to stick with Windows Media Player, you are able to set it as your default player by adjusting file associations.
You have to note that while DVD support has been taken away, support for FLAC and MKV files is added to Windows 10, and you will be able to use WMP for that.
GETTING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 12
Some of you may not realize this. Remember that you do not need to download Windows Media Player 12 on Windows 10. While it is not officially supported, Windows Media Player is still available on Windows, hidden in your Start menu for you to use in the Windows Accessories folder.
If it is not there, you are able to enable it quickly, as Microsoft includes it as an optional Windows feature. It still works to play several types of media files, although DVD playback through Windows Media Player 12 is no longer supported. Also, you are going to need alternative software to play Blu-Ray discs.
To enable Windows Media Player 12, simply press Win+R on your keyboard, or right-click the Start menu and click Run. In the Run command box, you are able to type optional features and press OK. This is going to open the Windows feature settings menu, where you are able to enable or disable Windows features.
In the Windows Features box, you are able to press the + icon next to the Media Features category. Ensure that the checkbox next to Windows Media Player is enabled, then click OK to confirm.
If Windows Media Player is not installed on your computer, it is going to be installed at this point. To take the changes, you have to restart your computer. After your computer has restarted, you will be able to find and open Windows Media Player in your Windows Start menu, under the Windows Accessories folder.
Apparently, Windows Media Player will not be used as the default app for media playback, even after you enable it. If you want to change this, you are able to open the Windows Settings menu by right-clicking the Start menu -> Windows Settings.
From here, please press Apps -> Default apps and choose Windows Media Player for both the Video player and Music player options.
USING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 12 ON WINDOWS 10
You are able to load Windows Media Player in Windows 10 by double-clicking its icon in the Start menu or taskbar. Once you run Windows Media Player, automatically the program sorts through your PC’s stash of digital music, videos and pictures, automatically cataloging everything it finds.
However, if you have noticed that some of your PC’s media is missing from the Windows Media Player Library, you will be able to find those items by doing these steps. For note: Unlike the Music app, Windows Media Player is able to play OneDrive files only if they are synced to your PC.
It cannot play music files which are available on OneDrive only through the Internet.
- At the first step, you have to click Windows Media Player’s Organize button and select Manage Libraries from the drop-down menu to show a pop-out menu. The pop-out menu lists the four types of media which Windows Media Player can handle: Pictures, Music, Videos, and Recorded TV.
- From the pop-out menu, you are able to select the name of the type of files you are missing. A window appears, listing your monitored folders. For instance, the player monitors the contents of your Music folder, so anything you add to your Music folder automatically appears in the Media Player Library too. However, if you are storing the items elsewhere, might on a portable hard drive, flash drive, network location, or your Public folder.
- Now, you have to click the Add button, choose the folder or drive containing your files, click the Include Folder button, and click OK. Clicking the Add button takes the include Folder window to the screen. Please navigate to the folder you want to add. the folder on your portable hard drive.
To add music from more folders or drives, you are able to repeat these steps until you have added all the places Windows Media Player must search for media.
To stop the player from monitoring a folder, please follow those steps, but in the third step, you have to click the folder which you no longer want monitored and then click the Remove button. Once you run Windows Media Player, the program shows the media has collected and continues to stock its library.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…
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