Reset Windows Media Player 12 to Default Settings

I cannot emphasize enough the power of search engines when it comes to troubleshooting. I have been having some issues with Windows Media Player 12 for a while now. Song albums just refuse to display when a song is playing, and visualizations do not work anymore (they are enabled, but all that shows is a black screen).

I found some suggestions online to reinstall Windows Media Player altogether, but that is burdensome. Fortunately, Google led me to another quick and easy fix, which I will share here for anyone else experiencing similar problems. Apparently, just resetting Windows Media Player to default settings will fix a lot of problems. Here’s how:

  • Hold down the Windows Key, and press R. (this will open the Run Dialog)
  • Paste this: msdt.exe -id WindowsMediaPlayerConfigurationDiagnostic
  • Click OK and you should get the following:

  • Next > Apply this fix.

This should take care of most problems. Note that this might also reset your Media Library.

9 comments

9 Comments


  1. Dont work on win 8 why ?
    or dont work on my pc my wmp12 dont work i need help an this dont work.

  2. @VirusPayer96: Can you tell me what kind of error you get?

  3. Anonymous

    I get "configuration settings might be set incorrectly"

  4. Anonymous

    I found an easy way to reset WMP 12.
    1. Open WMP
    2. If you don't see the menu bar [File, View, Play, Tools, Help] click on Organize>Layout>Show Menu Bar
    3. In the Menu bar click Tools>Avdanced>Restore Media Library.
    4. Pop up will say "Continuing will empty your media library and close the WMP. Do you wish to continue?
    5. Click Yes and your done!

  5. @above: Thanks for the input. I think your method just resets the Media Library, not the settings of the entire program itself. However, anyone with a corrupted Media Library can refer to your fix.

  6. I also get 'configuration settings might be set incorrectly'

  7. Anonymous 5/26/2013
    I found an easy way to reset WMP 12.
    1. Open WMP
    2. If you don't see the menu bar [File, View, Play, Tools, Help] click on Organize>Layout>Show Menu Bar
    3. In the Menu bar click Tools>Avdanced>Restore Media Library.
    4. Pop up will say "Continuing will empty your media library and close the WMP. Do you wish to continue?
    5. Click Yes and your done!




    wow awesome best fix

  8. Anonymous

    Awesome fix.......except IF you spent a lot of time making changes to meta data-----you will lose it!

  9. Anonymous

    Thanks for this solution.

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