Windows 10: Windows 11 - Media Player will not rebuild database properly - hundreds of albums not showing

I had some WMP problems albums not showing, wrong album art etc.So I deleted all files in %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Media PlayerThis is a process I have had to do on occasion over the years.On opening WMP I got the message Indexing - as expected.Several hours later it was still indexing.I noted that there were 139 albums showing in WMPA couple of hours later it was still indexing and still only showing 139 albums - there are 703 albums in total.By the following day, it was still indexing and only showing 139 albums.So I went back to %userprofile%\Local Settings\

:)

 

Windows Media Player "Find Album Info" Issue

Hi,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community. I understand that you have an issue with finding album information in Windows Media Player.
I will surely help you to fix this issue.

This issue could have occurred due to these reasons:

• 
  Incorrect Windows Media Player settings.
  
• 
  Corrupt Windows Media player library database.
  

Try the steps listed here and check if it helps.

Method 1:

I would suggest you to run Windows Media Player Library Troubleshooter.

a. Press “Windows Key + W”.

b. Type “Troubleshooting” in the search box and hit Enter.

c. Click on Programs and click on Windows Media Player Library Troubleshooter.

d. Follow the on-screen instructions.



Method 2:

If the issue persists, I suggest you to rebuild the Windows Media player library database and check if it helps.

a. Exit Windows Media Player.

b. Press Windows Key + R in keyboard to open Run, type
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player, and then click OK.

c. Select all the files in the folder, and then click Delete
on the File menu.

Note: You do not have to delete the folders that are in this folder.

d. Restart Windows Media Player.

Note: Windows Media Player automatically rebuilds the database.

Hope this information helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of the issue so that we can assist you further.

 

Groove Shows Unknown Artist & Unknown Album


I solved it by doing the following! I'm not sure which step cracked the problem.

1. Set indexing to index the content of my music files by right clicking on the top level folder, setting the option and applying to all files and sub-folders
2. Rebuilt the index via the Control Panel Indexing options
3. Deleted the folders watched in Groove
4. Deleted the Groove database at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.ZuneMusic_<random>\LocalState\Database
5. Started Groove
6. Reassigned the folders to watch

All songs now appear with the right artist & album but some album art was missing in Groove and Media Player despite being displayed correctly in iTunes. I manually updated the missing album art in Media Player and Groove then synchronised to match the Media Player album art.

 

Windows Media Player

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



There are two ways where Windows Media Player stores the album art.

1. From the online database

2. Your choice which will be done manually.

The Player downloads album art from an online database where the information is supplied by a variety of non-Microsoft data providers.

The Player downloads album art when you rip a CD. To do so, the Player attempts to match the CD to an entry in the online database. If it finds a match, the Player automatically downloads the media information that is available for the CD, including album
art. In addition, the Player periodically scans your library for songs that are missing album art. If it can match a song that is missing album art to an entry in the online database, the Player will download the missing album art.

To resolve this problem, clear the Windows Media Player database. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Exit Windows Media Player.

2. Press Windows key + R, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player, and then click OK.

3. Select all the files in the folder, and then click Delete on the File menu.

Note You do not have to delete the folders that are in this folder.

4. Restart Windows Media Player.

Note Windows Media Player automatically rebuilds the database.

If this does not resolve the problem, clear the Windows Media Player database cache files. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Exit Windows Media Player.

2. Press Windows key + R, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft, and then click OK.

3. Select the Media Player folder, and then click Delete on the File menu (or rename it).

Restart Windows Media Player.

Hope it helps.

Let us know if you got the help you needed by clicking Yes or No.