WMP: How to Erase, Reset, and Correct Your Windows Media Library

Contributor Icon Contributed by AlexTheBeast Date Icon November 4, 2005  
Tag Icon Tagged: Windows

Your media library in Microsoft Media Player giving you fits? Just blast it and start over. This is a easy way to get WMP to reindex your music files.


If you move a ton of music around like I do, your media library through Microsoft Media Player gets jacked up. To fix it, the easiest thing to do is just to erase your old library files… and have WMP find your new files.

This will not erase your music files.

How to Get WMP to re-index your music:

    1. Close Microsoft Media Player for at least 30 seconds
    2. Click Start and then Run
    3. Type the following into the textbox:
    [list]%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player

4. Click OK and a folder showing you your library files will appear
5. Erase all the files that end with .wmdb
6. Open Microsoft Media Player
7. Push F3
8. Select the locations for your music files
9. WMP will reindex your music

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  • parkins73
    Excellent Advice! Worked perfectly!
  • Excellent if windows media player is using 100% CPU and freezing or stuttering
  • BroVic
    didn't work for me. In the Add to Library dialog folders didn't show and when I manually added the folders and clicked 'OK' nothing happened.

    What else should I do?
  • Brandon
    This is why media player is crap. Wake up microsoft , the fact that people have to do this should be a great clue to what to do with your player in the future. How hard is it to fix it, really? Apple seems to be able to do this. Do the people at micorsoft that work on this just sit around and do nothing all day???
  • Tony
    This is really useful if your XBox refuses to update the videos in its media library and nothing you do seems to work.
  • sd
    thanks
  • James C
    If WMP is still not adding files, it might be because they're marked as "Hidden" on the filing system. Files copied from out from an iPod, for instance, are hidden by default.

    Right click on the top of your music folder and untick the "Hidden" box, then make sure you select the option to apply to all files and subfolders when asked.
  • Daniel
    Excellant, thank you!
  • Great, thanks. Works fine with Media Player 12 on Vista too.
  • IceFyre
    Gotta a PS3. It detects the Media Player Sharing device (my PC), but when navigating thru folders on PS3, it says no titles. This started to happen after I renamed a folder on my PC.

    Any ideas as how to reset Devices list on the sharing list in Media Player in Vista...???
  • carrolltrentham
    I HAVE TWO C.D.'S IN MY LIBRARY NAMED "UNKNOWN NAME 10/31/09".
    I CNNOT MAKE A COPY OF THEM BECAUSE A SIGN COMES UP THAT SAYS
    "MISSING MEDIA USEAGE WRIGHTS,CONNECT TO INTERNET AND ADD MEDIA INFORMATION. HOW DO I DO THIS?
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