How to set windows media player as default. How to change the default player. How to set default playback player

The procedure for changing the default player is quite simple and does not require any special knowledge and skills, and in addition, it will save time when working with a computer. Perhaps today it is almost impossible to find the Windows XP operating system, but it is here that changing default programs is much easier.

This operating system has a special “Select your default programs” button, which is located in the “Start” menu. To change standard programs, you need to click on this button, after which a new window will open. In this window, at the very bottom, you need to check the box next to the “Other” item. A special menu will open in which the user will be asked to select a default browser, player, email client, etc.

Changing the player in other versions of Windows

In other versions of Windows operating systems, in order to change the standard player to another, you need to right-click on any multimedia file. After this, a context menu will open in which you need to select the “Open with” item, and then click on the “Select program” button. After these simple manipulations, a new window will appear in which the user will be asked to select one program from those available in the list.

You can not select from those presented, but specify the path to another software (if it is not in the list) with which the file will be opened. To do this, click on the “Browse” icon and specify the path to the program itself. After that, it will appear in the list and the file can be launched using it. In the window, select the program that you want to designate as the default and be sure to check the box next to the item “Use the selected program for all files of this type.” This completes the procedure for replacing the default program for playing media files. You must confirm all actions and click “Ok”.

This procedure can be carried out for absolutely all media files, be it music, videos, photographs, etc. The same is done to change the default program for opening text files. The accepted changes will immediately take effect, and the user will be able to use the program that he chose.

As a result, it turns out that the procedure for changing the default player is quite simple and does not require any special skills, although the change procedure directly depends on the version of the operating system used on your personal computer.

Modern versions of Microsoft's OS are notable for the fact that immediately after installation they offer the user a full range of programs for working with data and searching for information.

For example, if you decide, then after installation and activation you will already have in your system:

• text editor;
• internet explorer
• audio and video player.

However, every experienced user knows that Microsoft firmware cannot boast of much functionality. And the solution to the problem will be to download third-party programs to solve specific problems. For example, many users almost immediately after installing the OS download players to watch videos in order to guarantee a wide range of settings and the ability to play any formats. And here you need to know how to install the software correctly, as well as how to configure the default launch to simplify further work.

Installing software on Windows 7

The installation process in modern OS versions is as simplified and accessible as possible. For example, the same player. All you need is to download a program in .exe format from the developer’s official website, which plays multimedia files, and then run the installation. Depending on the security settings on the system, you will be asked to confirm the installation procedure. Next, select the installation location, downloadable components and wait until the end. Now you know how to install the player on Windows 7.

Installation of other programs is carried out in a similar way. It’s worth adding that in the case of players, you need not only the software itself, but also codecs for various video formats: mp4, mkv and others. But, as a rule, modern versions of players automatically load the necessary components or already have them in their assembly. So you don't have to worry.

Setting the program as default

However, simply installing the software is not enough. Even after this, when you try to run the file, the system will use the standard Win player. Is it possible to somehow remove this to make viewing more comfortable and easier? Of course yes. To do this, you need to understand how to change the default player in Windows 7. The procedure consists of several steps.

1. Right-click on the file for which you want to change the player.
2. Select “Open with...” and “Select a program...”.
3. In the window that appears, select the required software (for example, MPC) and check the box below confirming the use of this format for all files.
4. Click “Ok” to save the settings.

Now, when you launch files of the same type, the selected program will be launched.

Many people think that Windows Media Player is gradually losing its popularity, but this is not entirely true. There have been so many updates and additions to the player lately that you can completely customize it to your liking. While playing various types of files, you can change the player skin and install various add-ons. While the player has always been a core component of the Windows OS, Windows Media has become a really good one in the last few years. The latest, version 12, contains a number of interesting features that will certainly interest you. We will talk about these features and much more in this article.

Player update

If you have an older version of the player installed, we strongly recommend updating it. Windows Media is completely free and always available for download on the official Microsoft website.

Automatic mode: Open Windows Media Player, press Alt, go to the Help menu, and click Check for Updates.

If you don't want to manually check for updates every time, you can turn on "automatic check". To do this, follow these steps:

Step 1

Open Windows Media Player, press the Alt key, expand the Tools menu, and open Settings.

Step 2

In the “Player” tab, specify how often the player checks for updates.

First start

When you launch Windows Media Player for the first time, you need to spend a few minutes setting up the player's initial settings. They consist of several steps:

Step 1

The Windows Media Player installation wizard will appear, which at the first stage will ask you to choose which type of settings to use: recommended or custom. If you select recommended, the player will automatically set all the settings without your intervention. In this case, skip this section and move on to the next one.

If you want to configure the player yourself, select the "Custom Settings" option and click the "Next" button.

Step 2

The first to open is the Privacy Options dialog box. Check the boxes next to the items you really want to use and click Next.

Step 3

At this point, WMP will ask you if you want to add a shortcut to your desktop and Quick Launch, and will also ask you to mark it as the default. Set the required settings and click “Next”.

Step 5

At the final stage, the player will offer to set up an online store to access paid content. Select “Do not set up an online store” and click the “Finish” button.

Always remain anonymous online

When installed, Windows Media Player generates a unique ID for your computer. This identifier is used in many places, including on some web resources. Thanks to it, Windows Media Player can independently request information about media data and exchange service information. Although the developers claim that the player does not transmit any personal information, there are sometimes cases where they can track what you watch. If you do not want information about your player usage to be accidentally leaked online, disable this feature. For this:

Step 1

Hold down the Alt key, then open the Tools menu and select Options.

Step 2

Go to the “Privacy” tab and uncheck the box next to “Send a unique code...”.

Update the codec

Once you have installed a new version of Windows Media Player, you will also need to install additional codecs to support certain file types. A codec is nothing more than an additional add-on for Windows Media Player that helps identify and play many file formats. We recommend installing the K-lite codec package. It alone is enough to enable support for almost all audio and video data formats. You can download it from the official website of the developer.

It is also worth enabling the option to automatically download codecs by going to the player settings and in the “Player” tab, check the “Automatically download codecs” option.

Adding artwork and visuals to the player

Covers and visuals enhance your player's experience and allow you to customize the look and feel of your player. The only problem is that you can no longer download them from the official Microsoft website, so you will have to search for covers and visualizations on the Internet.

If I started to open a video file by default instead of KMPlayer, then most likely the file association settings that were set earlier were somehow violated. Immediately after installation or during the first launch, KMPlayer prompts the user to select which files, or rather what type or format, this player should process. If you later want to change the list of formats related to the player, you can do this at any time using a special configuration section. To get there, click on the KMPlayer window and press F2 to enter the settings window. Next, at the bottom left, look for “Associations/Capture” → “Associations” tab. Here the checkboxes mark those formats for which KMP should be the default player. If necessary, returning the original options is easy - just click “Video only” and “Close” to confirm the changes. Now the program will automatically process all available video files. If you want to use the application as an audio player, then you need to perform a similar procedure by clicking “Audio Only” to link music files to the player.

Using tools built into Windows

Note that associations can also be set through standard OS functionality. Let's try to do this using Windows 7 as an example. To do this, go to “Control Panel” → “All Control Panel Items” → “Default Programs” → “Select default programs.” After some waiting, a list of programs installed on the system will appear, including KMPlayer. Select it from the list and at the very bottom click “Select defaults for this program.” In the window that opens, you can view all formats associated with the player and edit this relationship if necessary.

In the Windows 10 operating system, Groove is used as the default player for playing music files, and Movies & TV is used for videos and movies. This is not always convenient, because not everyone is happy with this state of affairs. Accordingly, they prefer to use alternatives. Now I will tell you how you can set your player as default in Windows 10.
As an example, I will consider VLC and Windows Media Player. You can use others - Winamp, KMPlayer (KMP), etc.
There are two ways to do this and we will look at both of them.

1 Method.

Open Windows 10 settings and go to Applications.

In the menu, select “Default Applications”. To change the default player, on the right side of the window, find the “Video Player” item and click on the plus button. The following menu will appear:

Among the installed programs, we find the video player that we like most and select it. In my example, this is VLC. After that, its icon will appear under the “Video Player” caption. Like this:

Thus, when you try to open a video file on this computer, it will open using VLC.

2 Method.

Open the Control Panel and go to the “Programs” section:

Click on the link “Set default programs”.
The following window will open:

In the list on the left, select your player, and then on the right, left-click on the arrow “Select default values ​​for this program.”

Another window will open with a list of all extensions and file types:

Check the boxes for those media files for which you want to set the default player in Windows 10. Alternatively, check the “Select all” box. All that remains is to click the “Save” button and then “OK”. Profit!