Windows 11 Media Player Cache Cleaning, Deduplication

Vikas Solutions

Much like any other application, Windows Media Player generates a cache of your media files. The cache helps the player to quickly bump the file loading speed and smoothly play your videos and music. While the cache can be beneficial to give a quick performance boost, there are several downsides.

Deduplicating Windows 11 Media Player library can be really tough ask. Worry not, Clone Files Checker will run a scan with a single click and give perfect results in no time. You don’t have to worry about putting in too much time or effort.

Delete Windows 11 Media Player Duplicates

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Another Reason to Delete Cache: Your Cache may become Corrupted

It’s not just about the storage space. If you don’t regularly clean your WMP cache, it may become corrupted due to one or more of the following reasons:

  • Windows Media Player closes unexpectedly during a video playback.
  • You’re streaming an Internet video. You attempted to play the video even before the buffering process was completed.
  • Running media files (music and videos) from corrupted/ damaged media storages (such as USB sticks, DVDs) can cause the Windows Media Player cache to become corrupted.
  • A technical malfunction or bug in the WMP.

Symptoms of a Corrupt Cache

What happens when your Windows 11 Media Player cache becomes corrupted? Here are some possibilities:

  • When the cache is corrupted, your videos and clips will play only to the point the cache is intact. Your media player will not be able to play the full video.
  • If the cache is severely corrupted, you may not be able to play any videos and get an error message during the playback process.

Solution 1: Clean-Up the Cache & Free-Up your Storage

Deleting the Windows Media Player cache on a regular basis will help you free-up disk space. It can clear up significant storage issues.

Method 1: Delete Transcoded Files Cache

You can delete the Transcoded files cache using the File Explorer:

  1. Exit Windows Media Player.
  2. Press the Windows Key + R keys simultaneously.
  3. Type AppData.
  4. Open the following folder:
    • ..\Local\Microsoft\Media Player\Transcoded Files Cache
  5. Delete all the files and subfolders from the Transcoded Files Cache folder.

Method 2: Delete File Conversion Cache

There is yet another cache: A cache that contains temporarily stored files during the file conversion process.

  1. Open Windows Media Player.
  2. Press the Alt key to show the menu bar.
  3. Click on Tools, followed by Options.
  4. In the new dialog, click on the Devices tab.
  5. Click on Advanced.
  6. Click on the Delete Files button under the Store files temporarily to this location heading.
  7. Click on OK.
  8. Exit and re-open WMP.

Method 3: Clear MRU Cache

MRU refers to Most Recently Used. This cache contains information about the most recently played media files, their paths and other information.

  1. Open the Options dialog again (refer to steps # 1-3 under the Delete File Conversion Cache section).
  2. Click on the Privacy tab.
  3. Click on Clear Caches.
  4. In the warning dialog, click on OK.
  5. Click on OK.
  6. Exit and re-open WMP.

Method 4: Clear Cookies

Similarly, you can also clear the cookies to make room for new files:

  1. Open the Options dialog again.
  2. Click on the Privacy tab.
  3. Click on Cookies under the Enhanced Content Provider Services section.
  4. Click on OK and follow the on-screen instructions.

Method 5: Delete Temporary Files

Sometimes, Windows Media Player may store your temporary data into the Temp folder in the Windows folder.

  1. Press Windows Key + R.
  2. Type Temp and click on OK.
  3. Delete all the files and subfolders from the Temp folder.

Solution 2: Deduplicate your Music Library

De-duping your music collection will free-up precious storage. You can find and delete duplicate music on your computer by various music tags such as album, year, track, title, bit rate, duration, file content, etc. Here’s how:

  1. Download Clone Files Checker.
  2. Click on the System Scan > Music Search tab.
  3. Click on Add and select the folders you want to scan for duplicate music files.
  4. Select the music tags you want to scan for duplicates. For example: Album, Year, Title, Track, Bit Rate, Duration, File Content, etc.
  5. If you want to exclude files above/ below a specific size, use the Ignore files smaller/ larger than checkboxes.
  6. Click on Start Search.
  7. Wait for a while as your duplicate music list is accumulated.
  8. Click on Select Duplicates and choose one of the following selection criteria:
    • Retain the newest file in each group: Use this option to keep the newest versions of your songs and delete the older versions.
    • Retain the oldest file in each group: Use this option to keep the oldest songs and delete all the newer ones.
    • Retain the most modified file in each group: Use this option to keep the songs that were the most modified ones.
    • Retain the least modified file in each group: Use this option to keep the songs that were the least modified.
    • Retain the smallest file in each group: Use this option to free-up the maximum storage by deleting the largest songs.
    • Retain the largest file in each group: Use this option to keep the largest songs and delete the smallest ones.
    • Retain the highest bitrate file in each group: Use this option to keep files with highest bitrate
    • Retain the lowest bitrate file in each group: Use this option to keep files with lowest bitrate.

9. Once you’re done marking the files to delete, click on Select Action and choose the Permanently Delete option.