Windows Media Player

Video preview unavailable — Windows Media Player is missing

Annotation Pro uses Windows Media Player to show video in the editor. The application starts normally even when Windows Media Player is missing: audio annotation still works, but video preview stays disabled until you install the feature.

When Media Player is unavailable, Annotation Pro may show a warning and a link to this page in the video panel. This is not a problem with your annotation file. It happens on computers where Windows Media Player (or the media components behind it) is not installed — common on Windows N and KN editions, and on PCs where Media Player was turned off as an optional feature.

Install the missing Windows feature, restart the computer, then start Annotation Pro again to enable video preview.

Microsoft no longer provides a separate download page for this. You add the feature in Windows Settings.

Step 1. Check your Windows edition

  1. Press Win + R.
  2. Type winver and click OK.
  3. Note what you see, for example Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Pro N, or Windows 10 Home.
  • If the name contains N or KN, this edition ships without media components. Install Media Feature Pack.
  • If there is no N/KN in the name, you only need to enable Windows Media Player.

Then follow the steps for your version of Windows.

Windows 11 (Home / Pro / Education / Enterprise)

  1. Open Settings (Win + I).
  2. Go to Apps → Optional features.
  3. Next to Add an optional feature, click View features.
  4. Search for Media Player.
  5. Select Windows Media Player or Windows Media Player Legacy.
  6. Click Next → Add.
  7. Restart the computer.
  8. Start Annotation Pro.

Windows 11 N / KN

  1. Open Settings (Win + I).
  2. Go to Apps → Optional features.
  3. Next to Add an optional feature, click View features.
  4. Search for Media Feature Pack.
  5. Select it, then click Next → Add.
  6. If Windows Media Player or Windows Media Player Legacy is also in the list, add that too.
  7. Restart the computer (even if Windows does not ask you to).
  8. Start Annotation Pro.

Windows 10 (Home / Pro / Education / Enterprise)

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to Apps → Apps & features.
  3. Click Optional features.
  4. Click Add a feature.
  5. Find Windows Media Player.
  6. Click Install.
  7. Restart the computer.
  8. Start Annotation Pro.

Alternative method:

  1. Press Win + R, type optionalfeatures, and click OK.
  2. Expand Media Features.
  3. Select Windows Media Player.
  4. Click OK, wait for the installation to finish, then restart.

Windows 10 N / KN

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to Apps → Apps & features.
  3. Click Optional features → Add a feature.
  4. Find Media Feature Pack.
  5. Click Install.
  6. Restart the computer.
  7. Start Annotation Pro.

Check that it worked

After restarting, press Win + R and type:

wmplayer
  • If Windows Media Player opens, start Annotation Pro again — video preview should work.
  • If Media Player does not open, Annotation Pro still runs, but video preview remains unavailable.

If the feature is not in the list

Typical causes:

  • the computer is offline, or Windows Update is not working,
  • a company PC uses WSUS and optional features are blocked,
  • this is not an N edition, so Media Feature Pack will not appear — look for Windows Media Player instead.

Ask IT for help, or open PowerShell as Administrator and run the matching command.

Regular Windows (not N):

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName WindowsMediaPlayer

Windows N / KN:

Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name Media.MediaFeaturePack~~~~0.0.1.0

When it finishes, restart, test wmplayer, then start Annotation Pro.

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