All Windows comes with Windows Media Player (WMP) as default. You may use Windows Media Player to play audio and video files locally and over the Internet. With Windows Media Player, you can also organize your digital media collection, sync digital media files to a portable device, shop for digital media material online, and more.
However, in Windows 10, Windows Media Player is not the default app. The default music player is the Groove Music app, the default video player is the Movies & TV app, and the default photo viewer is the Photos app. You can switch off the WMP feature if you don’t want it to be available to all users on the PC. Windows Media Player will not be uninstalled, or any hard drive space will be saved by turning it off.
You can install or uninstall the Windows Media Player feature to make it unavailable to all users on the PC if you like. This Player will no longer be available to toggle on or off after uninstalling it, freeing up roughly 57.4 MB of space on the Windows system.
This blog post will show you how to disable, uninstall, and re-install windows media player in all windows.
Windows 10: Disable Windows Media Player
Let’s start by disabling Media Player, which is a simple process. You won’t notice Media Player is installed on your Windows 10 PC after disabling it.
- To start the process, press the Windows Key and type appwiz.cpl on your keyboard. Then, from the top, select the app result.
- When the original Control Panel appears, click the “Turn Windows features on or off” link.
- Scroll down and uncheck the Media Features option in the next window. Uncheck the box that states “Windows Media Player” and then click OK.
- Finally, to finish the process, restart your computer, and Windows Media Player will be disabled on your Windows 10 computer.
Windows 10: Uninstall Windows Media Player
From Settings App
- Open the Settings app if you’re running Windows 10. You may accomplish it quickly by clicking or tapping on its shortcut in the Start Menu or by pressing the Windows + I keys on your keyboard simultaneously. Go to the Apps area of the Settings app.
- Look for a link labeled “Manage optional features” on the Apps & Features tab, and click or tap on it.
- The Manage optional features screen appears when you open the Settings app. Scroll down the list of features until you reach Windows Media Player, which should be at the bottom of the list. Then select the Uninstall option by clicking or tapping on it.
- Wait for the uninstall process to complete: it should just take a few minutes.
All Versions Of Windows: Uninstall Windows Media Player
From Control Panel
- Open the Control Panel, regardless of whether you’re using Windows 10, Windows 7, or Windows 8.1. An easy approach to do this in all Windows versions is to search for it. Go to the Programs category of the Control Panel’s settings.
- From the Programs and Features section of Programs, click or tap the “Turn Windows features on or off” link.
- It contains a list of all Windows features available for your computer or device, both installed and uninstalled. Turn Windows features on or off by clicking the “Turn Windows features on or off button”. Expand “Media Features” and uncheck Windows Media Player to remove it. Then press the OK button.
- If you still wish to uninstall it, click Yes to dismiss the warning that “Turning off Windows Media Player can compromise other Windows features and programs installed on your computer, including default settings.”
- Wait a few moments for Windows Media Player to be completely uninstalled.
- If you’re using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, you might need to restart your computer for the procedure to finish properly.
Read also: How To Find PC Specs in Windows 7?
Use The Command Prompt
You can also use Command Prompt to uninstall Windows Media Player.
- To begin, run the Command Prompt as an administrator. Then type
DISM /online /disable-feature /featurename:WindowsMediaPlayer into the command prompt and hit Enter.
- After the uninstallation, you may be prompted to restart Windows to finish the procedure.
- When this happens, press the Y key on your keyboard and wait for Windows to reboot.
- Windows Media Player will then be uninstalled.
All Versions Of Windows: Re-Install Windows Media Player
- To access Control Panel, enter the Windows key, type Control Panel, and then click Enter.
- Uninstall an application is located in the Programs section.
- Click Turn Windows features on or off on the left side of the screen.
- Check the box next to Windows Media Player in step four, then click the OK button.
- Click the Close button once the installation is complete.
