--- title: Microsoft is slowly breaking Windows Media Player Legacy... description: Microsoft appears to be winding down Windows Media Player Legacy as part of the Windows K2 initiative, which pushes users toward the newer Windows Media Player... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Microsoft is slowly breaking Windows Media Player Legacy to force people over to the new app | daily.dev og:description: Microsoft appears to be winding down Windows Media Player Legacy as part of the Windows K2 initiative, which pushes users toward the newer Windows Media Player... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/PnUGIB6Y1.png og:image:alt: Microsoft is slowly breaking Windows Media Player Legacy to force people over to the new app og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Microsoft is slowly breaking Windows Media Player Legacy to force people over to the new app **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary Microsoft appears to be winding down Windows Media Player Legacy as part of the Windows K2 initiative, which pushes users toward the newer Windows Media Player app. In build 29648, the Legacy player's lyrics, captions, and subtitles toggle has been removed, leaving only an 'On if available' option that triggers an error message directing users to the new app. The new Windows Media Player still lacks some capabilities found in third-party players like VLC. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why did captions and subtitles stop working in Windows Media Player Legacy? Windows build 29648, part of the Windows K2 initiative, removed the ability to toggle lyrics, captions, and subtitles in Windows Media Player Legacy. The setting now only offers an 'On if available' option, and attempting to use captions triggers an error message directing users to switch to the newer Windows Media Player app instead. _daily.dev helps developers track OS-level app deprecations before they break user workflows._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@theskinsfactory** · 0 upvotes > It's the end of an era. I remember bothering Microsoft for 4 months to hire the company i worked for to create WMP skins for the launch of Windows Media Player 7. We ended up doing 30 skins in 6 weeks. > > When i left that company a few months later i took Microsoft as a client with me. We would end up doing more than 125 skins for them over the decade. > > Now it's all ending. > > I own [The Skins Factory. ](https://www.theskinsfactory.com/)If you go to the footer of our site you'll see some of the skins we designed in the Legacy section. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Microsoft Windows Media Player stops serving up CD info](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-windows-media-player-stops-serving-up-cd-info-ouksll6hq) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [After 20 years together, VLC and I are finally breaking up, and it's because of this app](https://daily.dev/posts/after-20-years-together-vlc-and-i-are-finally-breaking-up-and-it-s-because-of-this-app-3cugbisim) · XDA Developers · 67 upvotes · 13 comments - [Microsoft tests faster Windows File Explorer, new context menu](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-tests-faster-windows-file-explorer-new-context-menu-fng7h5kcm) · BleepingComputer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 29634.1000 for Experimental \(Future Platforms\)](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-29634-1000-for-experimental-future-platforms--pdaxr8zol) · Windows Blogs · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#microsoft](https://daily.dev/tags/microsoft), [#windows](https://daily.dev/tags/windows) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Microsoft is slowly breaking Windows Media Player Legacy to force people over to the new app","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T01:14:11.030Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:37:04.165Z","description":"Microsoft appears to be winding down Windows Media Player Legacy as part of the Windows K2 initiative, which pushes users toward the newer Windows Media Player...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c4239c4dceeb68541b71f282a3e1e5b8?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c4239c4dceeb68541b71f282a3e1e5b8?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"microsoft,windows","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Microsoft is slowly breaking Windows Media Player Legacy to force people over to the new app"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"It’s the end of an era. I remember bothering Microsoft for 4 months to hire the company i worked for to create WMP skins for the launch of Windows Media Player 7. We ended up doing 30 skins in 6 weeks.\nWhen i left that company a few months later i took Microsoft as a client with me. We would end up doing more than 125 skins for them over the decade.\nNow it’s all ending.\nI own The Skins Factory. If you go to the footer of our site you’ll see some of the skins we designed in the Legacy section.","datePublished":"2026-08-26T23:13:45.248Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/PnUGIB6Y1#c-x2V9BG35a","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeff Schader","url":"https://daily.dev/theskinsfactory","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocJC-xjWjCcaOXKPMuLPnElKGiY1N8mHlYREXPdUZW0hg9HUU70cLw=s96-c"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-slowly-breaking-windows-media-player-legacy-to-force-people-over-to-the-new-app-pnugib6y1#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did captions and subtitles stop working in Windows Media Player Legacy?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Windows build 29648, part of the Windows K2 initiative, removed the ability to toggle lyrics, captions, and subtitles in Windows Media Player Legacy. The setting now only offers an 'On if available' option, and attempting to use captions triggers an error message directing users to switch to the newer Windows Media Player app instead. daily.dev helps developers track OS-level app deprecations before they break user workflows."}}]} ```