Watch movies and TV shows on the Microsoft Movies & TV app

To buy or rent movies and TV shows:

1. Select Start  and search for or select the Movies & TV app.

2. Browse the selections or use the Search to find the movie or TV show your want to watch.

3. Buy or rent depending on the type of movie or show you want:

   1. If you selected a movie, tap or select Buy or Rent and follow the instructions.

   2. If you selected a TV show, tap or select Buy and follow the instructions. You can't rent tv shows.

   3. If you want to buy a season pass to the TV show, tap or select Season pass and follow the instructions.

Need to watch the latest programs right now? If you have a broadband connection, stream to watch instantly. Travelling? Download to your Windows device and enjoy it on the road.

All of your purchased movies and TV shows are stored online and synced across the devices you use with your Microsoft account. Start a movie on your Windows tablet while riding the bus, then finish it on your TV at home using Xbox Series X and Series S consoles. The Movies & TV app makes it easy to pick up where you left off.

To enjoy high-definition quality, make sure that:

• The video itself is HD or 4K (not SD)

• Your hardware (device and screen) can play high-definition (check the manufacturer’s website)

• If you're using an external screen, make sure the screen is connected using the appropriate cable—HDMI, DVI, or DisplayPort (check the manufacturer's website)

You can download purchased content to devices (maximum of five devices) and redownload the content as many times as you like.

To view your devices

To find which and how many devices are currently associated with the Movies & TV app:

1. Select Start  and search for or select the Movies & TV app.

2. Go to Settings and tap or select Show my download devices. The pop-up window displays the various devices to which you can download your purchases.

To add a device

When you sign in to the app and purchase content, the device you signed in from will be automatically added.

To remove a device:

1. Sign in to the device that you want to remove.

2. Open the Movies & TV app.

3. Go to Settings and tap or select Download devices.

4. Tap or select Remove this device.

Once you've successfully removed the device, you’ll see a message that says your downloaded items will be removed from the current device. You can redownload the items to the device later if you add it again.

Download errors

If you have reached the limit of five devices, you’ll see the following message when you try to purchase or rent content on any additional device: 

     To download this rental, remove one of your other devices.

To resolve this problem, you’ll need to remove one of the devices.

Closed captions let you read the words that are spoken in the audio part of a video or television show. When closed captioning is turned on, closed captions are usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. Closed captions are often used by people with hearing disabilities and by viewers who would rather read than listen to the audio portion of a video.

For more information about closed caption guidelines in the United States, see the Federal Communications Commission Closed Captioning Guide.

To turn on closed captions:

1. When the video is playing, right-click or tap and hold anywhere on the video. A menu bar appears at the bottom of the screen. If closed captioning is available, the CC icon is displayed.

2. Tap or select the CC icon.

3. Tap or select the language you want to see closed captions in. Closed captioning appears on your screen.​​​​​​​

To customize closed captions:

1. Select Start  > Settings .

2. Tap or select Accessibility.

3. Under Hearing, select Captions.

4. Under Caption style, select Edit. You can customize the following settings:​​​​​​​

   1. Caption color

   2. Caption opacity

   3. Caption font

   4. Caption size

   5. Caption effects

   6. Background color and transparency

   7. ​​​​​​​Window color and transparency

Your changes will be reflected in the Theme preview pane at the top of the window as you make them.

The Movies & TV app allows SRT files to be used for adding subtitles to videos. If you’ve added the file correctly, the “CC” Closed Captioning control is displayed during video playback, allowing you to turn on and off the subtitles.

To add an SRT file:

1. Copy the SRT file to the same video library folder as the video you’re trying to watch. For example, if your video is in the Videos folder, the SRT file must be located there as well.

2. Make sure that the SRT name matches the name of the video. For example, if your video is titled “MyVideo123.mkv,” your SRT file must be titled “MyVideo123.srt” to work.

If you’re still having problems configuring your SRT files, head to the Movies & TV discussion forum.

The Movies & TV app can play most DRM-free videos that have a file extension in the following list. If a file with one of these file extensions won’t play, it might be using an unsupported codec.

• .3g2

• .3gp

• .3gp2

• .3gpp

• .3gpp2

• .avi

• .divx

• .m2t

• .m2ts

• .m4v

• .mkv

• .mod

• .mov

• .mp4

• .mp4v

• .mpe

• .mpeg

• .mpg

• .mpv2

• .mts

• .tod

• .ts

• .tts

• .wm

• .wmv

• .xvid

Solution 1: Verify your settings

1. Select Start  > Settings .

2. Tap or select Time & language.

3. Select either Date & time or Language & region and check all settings.

Solution 2: Clear the temp folder

1. Press the Windows  key + R.

2. In the Run box, enter Temp, and press Enter.

3. Select all files and folders, right-click them, and then tap or select Delete.​​​​​​​ If you are notified that some files or folders are in use, select Skip​​​​​​​.

Solution 3: Reset Microsoft Edge settings

1. Open Edge.

2. Select the menu icon (three horizontal dots) in the upper-right corner.

3. Select Settings.

4. Select Reset settings > Restore settings to their default values.

5. Select Reset.

​​​​​​​Solution 4: Restore default libraries

1. Open File Explorer.

2. In the left pane, tap and hold or right-click each library (Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos), and select Properties > Location tab > Restore default. This action re-creates the libraries. All the data in the library folders should now be accessible again.​​​​​​​

Solution 5: Use System File Checker

Some of your files might have become corrupted or accidentally removed from your computer, which could interfere with your computer’s ability to play media files. For more information, see Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files.

If you’re still having problems, head to the Movies & TV app discussion forum.