Windows Media Player is a built-in multimedia player that comes with Windows. While it is a reliable and widely used application, users may encounter errors and issues from time to time. This article aims to provide guidance on troubleshooting common Windows Media Player errors.

Windows Media Player 12: Video codecs. To properly play video (and even music files), Windows Media Player required an appropriate codec. Codecs are small programs that encode digital signals in a file or data and decode. Only in this way, the player can interpret the streams as a music or film and play correctly.

Codecs in Media Player. Windows 11 Windows 10. Codecs allow you to play different formats of audio and video files. Media Player supports a wide variety of codecs. Most are included out of the box; some additional codecs can be installed from the Microsoft Store.

Windows Media player should now be reinstalled. Note: To troubleshoot issues like playback and codec problems, see the "Get help" section in Windows Media Player. Learn how to get Windows Media Player 12 for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7.

Fixes a playback issue that occurs after you set the ThreadPriority registry key entry to raise the video or audio thread priority on a Windows Embedded Compact 7-based device.

For these apps, you can control video playback using the video playback settings in Windows 11. For example, you can have your PC process video to enhance it (depending on your PC’s hardware) or choose to play video at a lower resolution to help save network bandwidth.

Plays more media in more places. Windows Media Player 12 has built-in support for many popular audio and video formats. Sync music, videos, and photos, or stream media to your devices so you can enjoy your library anywhere, at home or on the road.

File types supported by Windows Media Player. This article lists the multimedia file types that are supported by Windows Media Player 12. (How to determine your version of Windows Media Player). Note: Additional file formats might be supported if you install new codecs in Windows.

A codec compresses or decompresses media files such as songs or videos. Windows Media Player and other apps use codecs to play and create media files. A codec can consist of two parts: an encoder that compresses the media file (encoding) and a decoder that decompresses the file (decoding).

The Movies & TV app in Windows 10 supports most Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free videos, including the following formats: For a detailed table of supported codecs for each format, see Supported audio and video formats.