| Media Player | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Media Player running onWindows 11 in Light mode | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Initial release | November 16, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-11-16) |
| Stable release | September 2025 Update (11.2509.7.0) (22 October 2025; 30 days ago (2025-10-22)[1]) [±] |
| Operating system | Windows 10,11 |
| Platform | x86-64,AArch64 |
| Predecessor | Groove Music Microsoft Movies & TV Windows Media Player |
Media Player (also known asWindows Media Player in the Microsoft Store[2]) is amedia player software forWindows, developed byMicrosoft. Written inWindows App SDK, it is built uponGroove Music to add video playback and it’s a modern replacement of the originalWindows Media Player. It was first released in January 2022, built forWindows 11 and later released toWindows 10 on January 2023, and it replaces several separate apps.
A new Media Player from Microsoft was first leaked in September 2021, a few days before the retail release ofWindows 11.[3] It was eventually released on November 16, 2021 to Windows 11 Insider (testing) channels,[4] with Windows 11 initially shipping without the new Media Player. Eventually it started rolling out to all Windows 11 users as a software update in January 2022.[5][6]
Media Player is the successor toGroove Music (previously Xbox Music),Microsoft Movies & TV, and the originalWindows Media Player. Unlike the first two, Media Player is a straightforward player for local content and not tied in with an online media service.[7]
The new Media Player was later released toWindows 10 users in January 2023 and replaced Groove Music through an update.[8]
Media Player, aUWP app built onGroove Music, adds support for video files, as part of Groove Music's rebranding from amusic streaming service to amedia player.[9] Other changes to the app include the album cover view being in fullscreen, and a refresh to the mini player.[10]Accessibility has also been optimized in this new version, with some improvedkeyboard shortcuts andhotkey support for keyboard users and with other assistive technologies.[11]
Some features from theoriginal Windows Media Player were initially not included, such asDLNA local streaming and theripping ofCDs. Ripping was eventually reintroduced in July 2022 for Windows 11, supporting the AAC, WMA, FLAC, and ALAC formats.[12]
This is a list of known supported formats in Media Player on Windows 10 and Windows 11.[13][14][15]
| File Container | File Extension | Number of channels |
|---|---|---|
| MPEG-1 Audio Layer III MPEG-2 Audio Layer III | .mp3 | 2 |
| Free Lossless Audio Codec | .flac | 2 |
| RawAAC stream Audio Data Interchange Format (ADIF) Audio Data Transport Stream (ADTS) | .aac, .adt, .adts | 2 |
| MPEG-4 audio-only file (AAC) | .m4a,.m4r | 5.1 |
| Waveform Audio File Format | .wav | 2 |
| Windows Media Audio | .wma | 5.1 |
| Dolby AC-3 | .ac3 | 5.1 |
| Enhanced Audio Codec 3 | .ec3 | 15 |
| 3GP and 3G2 | .3gp,.3g2 | 2 |
| Adaptive Multi-Rate | .amr | 2 |
| CD-Audio track | .cda | 2 |
| Matroska audio-only file | .mka | 2 |
| Music Module file | .mod | 4 |
| MPEG-2 audio file | .mpa | 2 |
| Ogg audio-only file (may contain variousXiph formats such as:Ogg FLAC,OggPCM, Ogg Vorbis, Ogg Opus)[16] | .oga | 2 |
| Ogg container (Vorbis) | .ogg | 2 |
| Ogg container (Opus) | .opus | 2 |
| Dolby AC-4 | .ac4 | 7.1.4 |
| DTS Audio | .dts | 5.1 and more |
| File Container | File Extension | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MPEG-4 video Apple MPEG-4 video (MPEG-4 Part 2,H.264,H.265,AV1) | .mp4,.m4v,.mp4v | Dolby Vision, H.265, and AV1 playback require installation of an add-on from Microsoft Store. DTS Audio playback requires DTS Sound Unbound from Microsoft Store with a DTS:X Decoder license. |
| QuickTime File Format | .mov | |
| Advanced Systems Format | .asf | |
| Audio Video Interleave | .avi | |
| Windows Media Video | .wmv | |
| BDAV MPEG-2 Transport Stream | .m2ts, .m2t, .mts | |
| MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video file | .mpeg, .mpg, .mpe, .mp2, .mp2v, .m1v, .m2v, .ts | Requires installation of the MPEG-2 add-one from the Microsoft Store. |
| JVC Everio Video Capture File | .tod | |
| 3GP and 3G2 | .3g2, .3gp, .3gp2, .3gpp | |
| Matroska video | .mkv | |
| WebM (VP8,VP9,AV1) | .webm | AV1 playback requires installation of add-on from the Microsoft Store. |
| Ogg container (Theora) | .ogv | |
| Ogg media file | .ogm | |
| DivX video file | .divx | |
| Xvid video file | .xvid |
| Streaming Protocol | URL Identifier |
|---|---|
| Shoutcast /Icecast (ICY) | — |
| HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)[17] | .m3u8 |
At the heart of Media Player is a full-featured music library that allows you to quickly browse and play music, as well as create and manage playlists. If your music collection is in Groove Music today, your library and playlists will automatically migrate to this new experience.
