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.

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. For more information, see Codecs: frequently asked questions.

This step-by-step article describes how to troubleshoot playback problems with Microsoft Windows Media Player 9. back to the top. Troubleshooting audio and video playback. Most of the time, playback issues in Windows Media Player 9 are caused by one of the following problems: Corrupted media.

Find answers to commonly asked questions about video, photo, and audio content using the Media Player app on your Xbox console.

Run the Windows Media Player troubleshooter. Alternatively, you can go to Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters, and then select Windows Media Player to run the troubleshooter.

If you are having issues installing or updating Gaming Services on your PC, or if you are noticing that the Xbox app for PC is launching with missing content, you may want to download and run the Gaming Services Repair Tool for PC.

Because Windows Media Player is well equipped with and all major audio and video formats - including 3GP, AAC, AVCHD, MPEG-4, WMV and WMA and AVI, DivX, mov, and XviD files, this error message generally does not appear.

For more information about these file formats and to test your Windows Media Player client using sample files, visit the following Microsoft Windows Media Player Web page: http://ask.support.microsoft.com/kb/316992 For additional information about file formats supported on older versions of Windows Media Player, click the article number below ...

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.

The Player comes with a number of visualizations, and you can download more on this page. Visualizations are colors, shapes, and patterns that move to the music in Windows Media Player Now Playing mode.