Find items in the Windows Media Player Library

Use Windows Media Player to quickly find and play your music, video, and picture files.

Note

Note

Although you can play your media files in the Windows Media Player Library, the actual files are in Windows libraries (Music, Videos, Pictures, and Recorded TV) on your PC.

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To search for items in the Player Library

It's a good idea to add accurate and complete media info to your files because the Player uses it when you search the library.

  1. Open Windows Media Player:

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
      (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

    2. Enter Windows Media Player in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Windows Media Player.

    If the Player is currently open and you’re in Now Playing mode, tap or click the Switch to Library button Switch to Library button in the upper-right corner of the Player.
  2. In the search box, enter the text you want to find. Note that you can't use wildcard characters such as '*' and '?' when you search the Player Library.

To find where a file is stored on your PC

To find a file on your PC, do the following:

  1. Open Windows Media Player:

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
      (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

    2. Enter Windows Media Player in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Windows Media Player.

    If the Player is currently open and you’re in Now Playing mode, tap or click the Switch to Library button Switch to Library button in the upper-right corner of the Player.
  2. In the Player Library, browse to the file you want to find on your PC.

  3. Swipe across or right-click the file, and then tap or click Open file location.

To find all the folders where a media type is stored on your PC

To find where all files of a certain media type (for example, Music) are stored, do the following:

  1. Open Windows Media Player:

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
      (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

    2. Enter Windows Media Player in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Windows Media Player.

    If the Player is currently open and you’re in Now Playing mode, tap or click the Switch to Library button Switch to Library button in the upper-right corner of the Player.
  2. In the Player Library, tap or click Organize, and then tap or click Customize navigation pane.

  3. Select the Folder check box for a media type, like Music or Video, and then tap or click OK.

  4. In the navigation pane, tap or click Folder, and then tap or click OK.

    The Folder column in the details pane will show you the path for all of the files, organized by category.

To find files you downloaded from an online store

To see which media items you purchased online, do the following:

  1. Open Windows Media Player:

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
      (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

    2. Enter Windows Media Player in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Windows Media Player.

    If the Player is currently open and you’re in Now Playing mode, tap or click the Switch to Library button Switch to Library button in the upper-right corner of the Player.
  2. Tap or click Organize, and then tap or click Customize navigation pane.

  3. Select the Online stores check box for a media type, like Music or Video, and then tap or click OK.

  4. In the navigation pane, tap or click Online stores, and then tap or click OK.

    In the details pane, the files in your Player Library will be grouped by the online stores where they were purchased. Files that were not purchased from an online store are categorized as Unknown.

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