Media Feature Pack for Windows 10/11 N (February 2023)

Prerequisites

To install this update, you must have Windows 10 N or Windows 11 N installed.

Registry information

To apply this update, you don't have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update doesn’t replace a previously released update.

Excluded features

Windows 10/11 N includes the same functionality as other Windows 10/11 editions, except for Windows Media Player and related technologies. Customers can restore the functionality of these technologies by installing the Media Feature Pack for N versions of Windows 10/11. These technologies include, but are not limited to, the following features:

• Windows Media Player Legacy application: Enables Windows Media Player features, such as the ability to play media files and audio CDs, manage media in a library, create a playlist, provide metadata (including album art) for media, create an audio CD, transfer music to a portable music player, and play streaming content from a website.

• Windows Media Player Runtime: Exposes methods and properties to manipulate multimedia playback from a webpage or an application.

• Windows Media Format: Provides support for the Advanced Systems Format (ASF) file container, the Windows Media audio and video codecs, basic network streaming capability, and digital rights management (DRM).

• Windows Media DRM: Enables the secure delivery of protected content for playback on a computer, portable device, or network device.

• Media sharing and Play To: Enables music, pictures, and videos on a networked computer to be shared with other computers and devices on the same network. Also enables computers to find those kinds of files on the network.

• Media Foundation: Provides support for content protection, audio and video quality, and interoperability for DRM.

• Windows Portable Devices (WPD) infrastructure: Communicates with attached media and storage devices that include devices that support the Media Transfer Protocol.

• MPEG, WMA, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, AMR, and Dolby Digital audio codecs: Enable the playback of digital audio content, such as MP3, WMA, MPEG-2 audio, AAC audio, FLAC and ALAC audio, and AC-3 audio.

• VC-1, MPEG-4, and H.264, H.265, and H.263 codecs: Collectively known as "Standards-based codec components." Enable Windows 10 programs such as Windows Media Player to support activities that include the playback and recording of multimedia files that are encoded with standards-based codecs.

• Windows Media Player: An application to play video and audio.

• Movies & TV: An app that's used to play digital video.

• Windows Voice Recorder: A pre-installed app that's used to record sounds.

• Skype: An app that's used for messaging and communications.

Effects on other features

Some features aren't excluded directly from Windows N edition, but they are affected by the media technology exclusions. The following features won’t work properly if the Media Feature Pack isn’t installed on a PC running Windows 10/11 N. Note that some of these may not work properly after installing the Media Feature Pack: 

• Alarms and clock: Alarm and timer sounds don't play.

• Application Sync: This feature doesn't work.

• Cortana Personal Assistant: Cortana with Voice (speech interaction with Cortana) doesn't work.

• Features with audio and video functionality. Many features that come as part of Windows can be used to view or play video or audio content, such as the OneNote app which allows users to record or play audio, the Microsoft Edge web browser which can play internet-based media content, the Photos app, the OneDrive app, and others.  If a user tries to access and play video content in any of these apps by, for example, opening a video file stored in OneDrive, these media features will not work on the N edition of Windows 10 or Windows 11.

• Group Policy for removable disks: This feature is not available in the N edition of Windows 10 Pro.

• Live Captions. This feature uses AI to perform high-quality machine speech-to-text conversion and will not work without Media Feature Pack. 

• Microsoft Edge browser: Certain video streaming websites may have incomplete functionality when accessed via the new Microsoft Edge browser.

• Microsoft Teams: Some functionality such as audio or video calling will not work.

• Narrator: Voice navigation using the Narrator app doesn’t work.

• Microsoft OneDrive and Photos: These applications cannot play videos.

• PDF Viewing in Microsoft Edge: This feature doesn’t work on older versions of Microsoft Edge but will work on the New Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser even without the Media Feature Pack installed.

• Voice Recorder: This app is not available on N editions. After the Media Feature Pack is installed, the user can download this app from the Microsoft Store.

• Snipping tool: The screen recording feature is not available.

• Video Editor: This app doesn’t work.

• Voice typing: This feature doesn’t work.

• Webcam: This feature doesn't work.

• Windows camera devices: Cameras and applications that use capture functionality don't work.

• Windows Hello: This feature doesn't work.

• Windows Mixed Reality: Windows 10/11 N is not compatible with Windows Mixed Reality.

• Windows Portable Devices: There is no support for media synchronization, image acquisition, or file browsing.

• Microsoft Store Media Content: Audio and video content that was obtained through the Store cannot be played. Also, the preview of audio or video content in the Store doesn't work.

• Wireless Display: This feature doesn't work.

• Xbox: Some functionality that's associated with this app, such as Game Bar, Game DVR, and signing in to Xbox Live, doesn't work.