Just as you know, Windows Media Player is the default media player in most cases in Windows. However, things may have different directions because you may have different requirements toward the media player based on the different types of your media files, or you simply like other media players’ interface or control panel. But if you prefer to play the file in other players, such as VLC Media Player or Leawo Blu-ray Player, in such as case, how to change my default media player then? If you are facing such a problem, then you can stop here because this article can help you to solve the question on how to change default video player with several steps.

Part 1: Set Default Media Player on Windows 7 (VLC Media Player)

Regarded as one of the most stable and best open-source video player today, VLC multimedia has been welcomed by users for a lot of years. Originally called VideoLAN client, VLC multimedia player is the VideoLAN intended multimedia player which supports a wide range of audio and video decoders and file formats. It can also play DVD, VCD and various streaming protocols. It can also serve as a streaming server for unicast or multicast with multicast on IPv4 or IPv6 connections for high-speed networks. It combines the FFmpeg program decoder with the libdvdcss library to play multimedia files and encrypt DVDS. If you prefer to set VLC Media Player as the default media player on Windows 7, then you can follow the steps below.

Step 1. Download VLC and install it on your computer.

Step 2. First, enter the “Start” menu by clicking the icon on the left bottom corner, and click “Settings” to enter the settings panel.

Step 3. After opening the “Settings” application, click “System”. Under the “System” subtitle, find “Default apps”, scroll down to find “Music player” option.

Step 4. Once you have installed VLC in Windows 10, then VLC will be automatically appear in the list of “Choose an app”. Select VLC media player and then it will be changed to the default media in Windows 10. The change will be saved immediately. Next time, when you open multimedia files, VLC will be the default media player in Windows 10.

Part 2: Set Default Media Player on Windows 8 (Windows Media Player)

As a totally free media player produced by Microsoft, Windows Media Player can be short for WMP which is developed by Microsoft and used as a digital media player for playing audio and video files and viewing images. Yes, this media player can only be available in Windows operating system. It also supports skin changing and MMS and RTSP streaming media. If the audio file that the user plays matches the data on the site, the user can see the relevant album information. But, Windows Media Player accounts for a significant portion of the system’s resources among players with similar capabilities, the newer version it is, the larger it accounts for.

What's more, decoders need to be downloaded separately. Then, how to change Windows Media Player as the default media player in Windows? Just refer to the followings steps. Sometimes if you have changed the default media on Windows, now you would like to reset WMP as the default media player again, simply follow the steps below.

Step 1. First, enter the “Start” menu by clicking the icon on the left bottom corner, and click “Settings” to enter the settings panel.

Step 2. After opening the “Settings” application, click “System”.

Step 3. Under the “System” subtitle, find “Default apps”, scroll down to find “Music Player” option.

Part 3: Set Default Media Player on Windows 10 (Leawo Blu-ray Player)

Here, I will introduce another powerful media player for your further references. That is Leawo Blu-ray Player. For the main features of Leawo Blu-ray Player, you can refer to the following points.

1. As a 100% free and 6-in-1 media player software, Leawo Blu-ray Player contains all media playback solutions you need for your leisure entertainment, including Blu-ray, DVD, CD, HD (4K), ISO file with AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV/MKA and other popular formats supported.
2. With advanced image and audio processing technology, Leawo Free Blu-ray Player software could provide you quality-lossless image for even 4K video playback, stereo audio enjoyment, all DVD/Blu-ray regions decryption and user-oriented playback control.
3. Fantastic audio and video quality. One of the most attractive features of Leawo Blu-ray Player is that it supports 5.1 surround sound as well as high resolution quality due to the built-in processing technology.
4. Besides, Leawo Blu-ray Player’s practical bonus features including useful power manager, custom skin language/background, snap screenshots, especially virtual remote controller make it a better choice for all playback choice.
5. Furthermore, within Leawo Blu-ray Player, you could obtain the personalized settings according to your preference and all the settings could be done automatically. The instructions for playing are quite easy.

How to change default media player in Windows to Leawo Blu-ray Player? For the details, please refer to the following.

Step 1. Download Leawo Blu-ray Player and install it on your computer.
Step 2. Run Leawo Blu-ray Player and click the “Player setting” on the drop-down menu panel. On the left hand, you can see some setting tab. Click “File Association”, simply click the “Select All” button and click “Apply” to save your change.

Step 3. Enter the “Start” menu by clicking the icon on the left bottom corner, and click “Settings” to enter the settings panel.
Step 4. After opening the “Settings” application, click “System” to choose “Default apps” – “Music Player”.

Step 5. Then choose “Leawo Blu-ray Player” and you can save your change immediately. Next time, when you open multimedia files, Leawo Blu-ray Player will be called up to play the files for you.

Part 4: Set Default Media Player on Mac (QuickTime Player)

Now, if you are running on Mac computers, then QuickTime Player can be quite familiar to you. You can even speed up QuickTime on Mac. Sometimes if you also have adopted other media players as the default media player for Mac, and now you would like to reset to QuickTime player, how to carry out the steps? The details can be shown below.

Step 1. Open the file folder on your Mac and select a video file you would like to play.
Step 2. Right click on the target video file instead of double clicking on it to open, then select the option “Open With”. Next, you can open a drop-down list.
Step 3. Select QuickTime Player in the drop-down list and it will make the selected media player for Mac.

Part 5: Conclusion

By referring to the above introduction about the three media players and their detailed steps on how to set them as the default media player in Windows, it is easily found that each media player has its own pros and cons, so it is difficult to tell which one is the best.

For the Windows Media Player, it is easy to be used since it has been planted in the Windows operating system and you don’t need to download it again. But it is limited to a small part of multimedia formats and you have to download some specific video codecs in order to play the files correctly. Furthermore, it always occupies a large amount of space on your Windows which may slow down the operating speed. In terms of VLC media player, it is a good choice for you due to its simple interface and powerful features. It can meet your basic needs to play the common multimedia files for most of the time. But it lacks the customization features and doesn’t allow you to further edit your files. For QuickTime Player, you can easily set it as the default media player for Mac.

Last of all, Leawo Blu-ray Player is much more comprehensive than the above two media players. Leawo Blu-ray Player can’t only provide the solutions for the common multimedia files, but also can support Blu-ray discs and all kinds of DVD types. It allows users to edit videos for different purposes. And its various editing functions can provide you the best personal watching experience. Therefore, if you prefer to own a more professional media player, I will strongly recommend you to take a try on Leawo Blu-ray Player.