Three Effective Fixes to Windows Media Player MP4 Not Playing

According to the official document on File types supported by Windows Media Player, MP4 is among the supported format. Yet, while Windows Media Player plays most MP4 videos, it fails to play some other MP4 files.

• Why Windows Media Player Not Playing MP4?

The reason why Windows Media Player can’t play MP4 varies. But with file corruption excluded, the most likely reason is that your MP4 is encoded with unsupported codecs, especially if your MP4 plays without audio or video.

Codecs are software to compress or decompress media files such as audio and videos. Windows Media Player must have the corresponding codecs to play media files correctly. However, Windows Media Player includes only a smaller number of codecs. The common codecs used in MP4 files, such as HEVC (video codec) and AC3 (audio codec), are not included. When these video and audio codecs are not supported, you may experience troubles like ‘Windows Media Player MP4 no video’ or ‘Windows Media Player no audio in MP4’.

Luckily, this problem can be easily resolved by converting MP4 to a Windows Media Player-friendly format like WMV or installing the missing MP4 codec for Windows Media Player. What’s more, you can even try a different media player. Read the next part to learn more details.

Solution 1: Convert MP4 to Windows Media Player-compatible Format

Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and formats developed by Microsoft to work within the Windows Media framework. You can change your unplayable MP4 into WMV to play the video in Windows Media Player without error. The simple and free video converter WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory can help you easily change the video formats to WMV in just a few clicks. Free download Free download the software and follow the instructions below to start your conversion.

Step 1. Open Free HD Video Converter Factory on your PC and enter the Converter program. Next, click Add Files or drag your unplayable MP4 into the interface.

Tips. Click the video thumbnail and you can start playing the MP4 video right away. You can also use editing tools to refine your video if necessary.

Step 2. Click the format image on the right side of the interface to open the output format list. Under the Video format category, choose WMV as the output format.

Tips. You can also choose MP4 as the export profile. Then, you need to go to the Parameter settings and change the video and audio codec to be supported by Windows Media Player. Such as choosing the H264 video encoder and the AAC audio encoder.

Step 3. Finally, select an output folder at the bottom of the program and click Run to start the conversion.

After the conversion, you should have no problem playing the converted file or MP4 in Windows Media Player.

Solution 2: Windows Media Player MP4 Codec Download

As said earlier, Windows Media Player needs the relevant codecs to play a media file. Therefore, you can install the MP4 codec to get Windows Media Player to play MP4. Fortunately, you don’t need to know the exact missing codec, for you can install the full codec pack K-Lite Codec Pack that contains all the mainstream codecs you may need now and later. Simply follow the steps below to download the MP4 codec for Windows Media Player.

Step 1. Go to the K-Lite Codec Pack website at https://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm.

Step 2. Download the standard version of the K-Lite Codec Pack.

Step 3. Click the downloaded .exe file to launch the installer. Next, follow the onscreen tips to finish the installation.

Step 4. Now, open your MP4 in Windows Media Player and see if it works.

Extra: Update Windows Media Player to Include the Latest Codec

There is a small chance that your Windows Media Player is not the latest version and the codec library isn’t up to date. By updating Windows Media Player, you can also have the codec library updated with new codecs that might be just what’s needed to play your MP4 files. Here are the steps to update Windows Media Player.

1. On your Windows desktop, type in “Turn Windows features on or off” in the Windows search box and press Enter.

2. In the appearing window, scroll down the options to find Media Features. Click the + before the option to expand it and uncheck the box before Windows Media Player. Click OK.

3. Restart your computer, and the old Windows Media Player should be uninstalled.

4. Repeat step 1.

5. Navigate to Media Features and unfold the option again. Next, check the Windows Media Player box. Then click OK.

6. Restart your PC again. The latest version of Windows Media Player should be reinstalled on your system now.

7. Now, check whether the latest Windows Media Player plays your MP4 or not.

Solution 3: Try a Windows Media Player Alternative

Instead of playing MP4 in Windows Media Player, you can try other MP4 players. VLC is the most recommended free, open-source, and multiplatform media player that plays nearly all video and audio files. And it is the best alternative to Windows Media Player to help you play MP4 on Windows perfectly. Download VLC Media Player at the official website to have a try.

The three methods provided here are supposed to help you resolve the Windows Media Player MP4 issue properly. Personally, I would suggest converting MP4 to the Windows Media Player-supported format because, in this way, you can fix the MP4 playback problem once and for all. Moreover, the converter tool will help you deal with other format compatibility issues you may meet in the future and it costs nothing [Free download the Free HD video converter Free download the Free HD video converter]. Installing codec is efficient but some are afraid that the codec could mess up the system environment. As for switching to another media player, it is the easiest solution without a doubt. But like Windows Media Player, it does not include all the codecs required for your videos. In the end, you may still need to perform a file conversion to enable the playback.

Now, I’ve shown you why Windows Media Player not playing MP4 and the ways to fix it. That’s pretty much everything I want to share. I hope you’ll find this article helpful. Thanks for reading. Have a great day!