"I just upgraded the Windows System and now I can't get the Windows Media Player 13 to play .mov files. It will play some old ones but not the new ones. I even tried to play with QuicktTime and no good."

Such question is often bothering some users. And I would suggest the user to download and install the latest codec on the computer at first. If it doesn't work well still, it would be more preferred to convert MOV to Windows Media Player formats so that the user can play MOV files on Windows Media Player freely.

Part1. Can I Play MOV Files in Windows Media Player?

Windows Media Player (commonly short for WMP) is a software application developed by Microsoft for playing, storing and organizing digital audio, images and video, which often supports the WMV, WMA and ASF file formats to encode audio and video that are downloaded from the Internet or ripped from compact discs or other storage media.

While MOV files are often defaulted to be played in QuickTime which is designed by Apple. Although there is an announcement from Microsoft that Windows is with great compatibility, there are also some problems when you are willing to play MOV files on Windows Media Player because of the license and codec limitations. Therefore, it would be strongly recommended to convert MOV to Windows Media Player format like WMV or ASF. And here comes the solution.

Part2. Convert MOV to Windows Media Player with best MOV to Windows Media Player Converter

Leawo Video Converter is the professional application software that is developed for solving the incompatibility problems among the different video and audio formats. It is working for over 180 formats including a variety of video files such as MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, MTS, FLV, HD Video etc., and various audio files like MP3, AAC, FLAC, AC3, WMA, etc. Besides, it also supports conversion for iPhone, iPad and all portable devices. And as one of the best converters, Leawo Video Converter could convert video and audio files with 100% quality reserved in 6X Faster Speed. The user-friendly design of the interface, furthermore, makes it one of the most popular converters for changing the formats from one to another.

  • Leawo Video Converter
  • Leawo Video Converter

    1. Convert video and audio files between 180+ formats without quality loss
    2. Support 720P, 1080P and even real 4K video output
    3. Create photo slideshows from photos stored on camera, computer, camcorder, etc
    4. Built-in video editor to trim, crop, add watermark, apply special effect, etc
    5. 2D to 3D converter with 6 different 3D movie effects available

What's more, it is the basic function for Leawo Video Converter to be a MOV to Windows Media Player converter to convert MOV to Windows Media Player with video quality guaranteed. With Leawo Video Converter, MOV to Windows Media Player conversion can be easily achieved. And the guide on how to play MOV files to Windows Media Player with Leawo Video Converter is following.

Leawo Video Converter is contained in the application Leawo Prof. Media. You can click the buttons to download it directly. After downloading the package, install it and launch Leawo Video Converter, you can click "Convert" in the top bar to enter the interface of this program. And follow the steps below to convert MOV to Windows Media Player.

Step 1: Import MOV Files into the Program

Click "Add Video" on the left top corner of the program to import MOV files or file folder. Except that, you can directly drag and drop the MOV video files into the program as well.

import-mov-to-program-1

Note: If you would like to make several video files into one, it is available to merge all the needed files into one big file by clicking the blue "Merge all files into one" button next to the big green "Convert" button.

Step 2: Choose WMV as the output format

After adding the MOV files, open the drop-down box next to the big green "Convert" button and then click "Change" to enter the "Profile" panel and select WMV as output format.

choose-mwv-as-output-format-2

Step 3: Edit the source video if necessary (Optional)

On the main panel, click "Edit" icon at the right of video title on the processing panel, and you will enter a real-time video previewing window where you can edit and customize the source video for output, including trimming video length, cropping video size, adding watermark for the video and adjusting video effect as well as setting 3D effect.

edit-source-video-3

Step 4: Set parameters for the video

On the same drop-down box next to the green "Convert" button, click "Edit" to enter the panel and set Video Parameters if needed.

set-video-parameters-4

Step 5: Set output directory

Back to the main interface, click the green "Convert" to pop up a sidebar and set a directory for containing output video files in the "Save to" box.

set-output-directory-5

Step 6: Start to Convert MOV files

Start converting MOV video by clicking the "Convert" button at the bottom of pop-up sidebar. After finishing conversion process in minutes, the converted files will be saved in the targeted directory and you can play it on Windows Media Player right away.

start-to-convert-6

Part3. Download and Install MOV Codec to Play MOV Files in Windows Media Player

MOV is a container format that can be encoded with different video and audio formats. Tha lack of MOV codec will prevent you from playing MOV files in Windows Media Player. But you can download and install MOV codec to fix this problem. Then you can choose K-Lite Codec Pack, which is a popular MOV codec pack for Windows Media Player on Windows 10. The pack has four different variants, they are Basic, Standard, Full, and Mega. The Basic version contains the most common video and audio formats, covering MOV, MKV, AVI, MP4, TS, WebM, M2TS, FLAC, MP3, AAC, M4A, etc. Here is the guide on how to get this on your PC.

Step 1: Go to K-Lite Codec Mega download page: https://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

Step 2: Choose the version to get the .exe file of the codec pack according to your needs and download.

Step 3: After downloading it, click K-Lite_Codec to open the pack's installer and install it with the help of setup wizard. (You're suggested to uncheck unnecessary 3rd-party software programs bundled with the codec pack.)

Step 4: Reboot your computer and see if Windows Media Player can play MOV files well or not.

Part4. Alternative to Windows Media Player to Play MOV Files

There is a easier way for you to play MOV files instead of Windows Media Player - Leawo Blu-ray Player. Leawo Blu-ray Player is a free open source MOV player. 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 MOV, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV/MKA and other popular formats supported. Therefore, if you prefer another excellent way to play MOV files on your computer, you can turn to Leawo Blu-ray Player for the further viewing experience.

Step 1. Download and install Leawo Blu-ray Player on your computer

  • Leawo Blu-ray Player
  • Leawo Blu-ray Player

    Region-free Blu-ray player software to play Blu-ray disc and DVD disc for free, regardless of disc protection and region restriction.
    Play 4K FLV videos, 4K MKV videos, 4K MP4 videos, etc. without quality loss.
    Play 1080P videos, 720P videos with lossless quality.

Step 2. Load MOV file

Enter the main interface and load the MOV video on the computer by clicking the "Open File" button on the home interface. Once you have loaded the MOV file to the media player, then you can immediately watch the MOV files on your computer with the respectable audio and picture effects.

Step 3. Set subtitles

After loading the MOV file, it will be played automatically. During the playback, you can move mouse to the title area. Then you could see 4 icons.

Step 4. Set subtitle

Set the subtitle for MOV if applicable. If your MOV file has contained the subtitle, then select the first icon and a pop-up window for subtitles setting will appear which includes "Enable subtitles", "Subtitle offset", "Subtitle selecting", "Browse for subtitle".

Step 5. Set video and audio parameters.

Furthermore, you can click the second icon and the third icon in the title area to set video parameters and audio parameters respectively. The editing features of Leawo Blu-ray Player could allow you to obtain a customized video and will give you more special watching experience.

Part5. Conclusion

Playing MOV in Windows Media Player is not a tough task if you follow the guidance in this article. The trouble mentioned at the beginning will never bother you any more if you make use of the converter and player. And you could convert MOV to MP4 so that it can be played on non-Apple products as well.