Getting started with Windows Media Player

In Windows Media Player you can toggle between two modes: the Player Library, which gives you control over the Player's many features, and Now Playing mode, which gives you a simplified view of your media that's ideal for playback.

From the Player Library, you can go to Now Playing mode by tapping or clicking the Switch to Now Playing button in the lower-right corner of the Player. To return to the Player Library, tap or click the Switch to Library button in the upper-right corner of the Player.

In the Player Library, you can access and organize your digital media collection. Within the navigation pane, you can choose a category, such as Music, Pictures, or Videos, to view in the details pane. For example, to see all of your music organized by genre, double-tap or double-click Music, and then tap or click Genre. Then, drag items from the details pane to the list pane to create playlists, burn CDs or DVDs, or sync to devices, such as portable music players.

As you move between views in the Player Library, you can use the Back and Forward buttons in the upper-left corner of the Player to retrace your steps.

In Now Playing mode, you can view DVDs and videos or see what music is currently playing. You can decide to view only the currently playing item, or you can swipe or right-click the Player, and then click Show list to view a selection of available items.

You can also control the Player when it's minimized. You can play or pause the current item, advance to the next item, and go back to the previous item using the controls in the thumbnail preview. The thumbnail preview appears when you press and hold or point to the Windows Media Player icon on the taskbar.

Windows Media Player looks for files in specific Windows libraries on your PC to add to the Player Library: Music, Videos, Pictures, and Recorded TV.

To build your media library, you can include folders in the libraries from other locations on your PC or external devices, such as a portable hard drive.

You can add music to the Player Library by using your PC's CD drive to copy CDs and store them on your PC as digital files. This is known as ripping.

The tabs at the top right of the Player open the list pane in the Player Library so you can easily do things like creating playlists of your favorite songs, burning custom song lists to a recordable CD, or syncing playlists in your media library to a portable media player.

To get started, tap or click the tab for the task you want to perform in the Player Library. To hide the list pane, tap or click the tab that's currently open.