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Aldaviva/wmp_h.265_hevc.md

Last active May 8, 2024 22:30
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Play H.265/HEVC videos in Windows Media Player (Classic) without a third-party codec pack or media player. Tested using Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension_2.0.60091.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe with WMP 12.0.20348.1311 on Windows Server 2022 21H2 and 12.0.22621.1105 on Windows 11 22H2.
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wmp_h.265_hevc.md

Download

  1. Go to https://store.rg-adguard.net.
  2. Search for the HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer (Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension) app by entering the following store URL. 
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hevc-video-extensions-from-device-manufacturer/9n4wgh0z6vhq
    • Do not use the normal HEVC Video Extensions app URL, because that can't play HEVC videos in Windows Media Player for some inscrutable reason.
  3. Download the x64 appx file, or whatever your Windows architecture is.
    • You may have to right click › Save Link As because the URL scheme is http, not https, if your browser is set to enforce HTTPS-only mode.
    • If it tries to save as a filename that's just a GUID, you may copy the correct .appx filename and save it as that instead.

Install

  • If you have App Installer, you can double-click the appx file, then click Install.
  • Otherwise, if you don't have App Installer (e.g. on Windows Server), you can install the appx using PowerShell: 
    Add-AppxPackage ".\Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension_2.0.60091.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx"

Verify

  1. Exit and restart Windows Media Player if it was already running.
  2. Try to play a video that uses the H.265/HEVC codec in Windows Media Player.
  3. If it doesn't work, go to Help › About Windows Media Player Legacy and click Technical Support Information. Ensure HEVCDECODER_STORE.dll appears in the Other Binaries section.
  4. If it doesn't work, run Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension in PowerShell to see the app, which should have Status set to OK. Note that the app name is not Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtensions (plural), the $0.99 app not from device manufacturers, which is broken in WMP. If Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtensions is installed, you may want to uninstall it.
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