Fix NS_E_PLAYLIST_ENTRY_NOT_IN_PLAYLIST on Windows

The 30-Second Fix: Rebuild the Playlist

What's actually happening here is that Windows Media Player (WMP) is holding a reference to a playlist entry that no longer exists in the current playlist file. This usually happens when you edit a playlist in another program, or when a file gets moved or renamed while the playlist is open.

The fastest way to clear it:

1. Close Windows Media Player completely.
2. Reopen it.
3. Go to your playlist and press Ctrl + S to save it again.
4. Try jumping to the entry.

If that doesn't work, the playlist file itself is corrupted. Do this:

1. In WMP, right-click the playlist name in the left pane.
2. Choose Delete and select Delete only from library.
3. Recreate the playlist by dragging your files back in.

This takes under a minute. Most of the time, that's all you need. The reason this works is that WMP stores a list of GUIDs for each playlist entry. When the underlying file changes, the GUID stays but the pointer to the file breaks. Rebuilding forces WMP to re-resolve those pointers.

The 5-Minute Fix: Clear the Media Database

If rebuilding the playlist didn't help, the problem is deeper. WMP keeps a database of all your media files and their metadata. When that database gets out of sync with what's actually on disk, you get these phantom playlist entries.

Here's the real fix:

1. Close WMP.
2. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator. (Press Win, type cmd, right-click, and select Run as administrator.)
3. Type this and press Enter:

regsvr32 /u wmp.dll

Then re-register it:

regsvr32 wmp.dll

That alone sometimes clears the stale references. But if the error persists, you need to nuke the media database itself. Close WMP, then open File Explorer and navigate to:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player

You'll see files like CurrentDatabase_372.wmdb. Delete everything in that folder. Don't worry — WMP will rebuild it from scratch on next launch. It'll rescan your monitored folders, so it might take a few minutes if you have a large library.

The reason deleting the database works is that the error 0XC00D14B8 is fundamentally a broken pointer. The playlist entry points to a row in the database that no longer matches any actual file. Clearing the database forces a full rescan, which fixes all those broken links at once.

The 15-Minute Fix: Rebuild the WMP Library from Scratch

If you're still stuck, the database is probably corrupted beyond repair. Your last resort is a clean slate. This is the nuclear option, but it's safe — you lose only your playlists and ratings, not your files.

Do this:

1. Close WMP.
2. Delete the entire Media Player folder we just looked at. The whole thing.
3. Open WMP again. It'll act like a fresh install — you'll get the initial setup wizard.
4. Choose your music and video folders again.

That's it. It takes a few minutes because WMP has to rescan everything, but it wipes out any lingering corruption.

A word of caution: if you have custom playlists you care about, export them first. Right-click each playlist and choose Export to M3U. Then after the rebuild, import them back with File → Open.

Why This Error Happens in the First Place

This error is almost always triggered by one of three scenarios:

• You moved or renamed a file that's in a playlist while WMP was running.
• A playlist file (.wpl, .m3u) was edited by another app that didn't update WMP's database.
• A network drive went offline, and the playlist entries are pointing to a path that no longer exists.

In my experience, the network drive scenario is the most common. WMP doesn't handle sudden disconnects gracefully. It caches the entry, and when you try to jump to it, the lookup fails because the path is gone.

Preventing This From Happening Again

There's no official fix from Microsoft for this — it's been around since Windows 7 and still happens on Windows 11. The best prevention is to stop editing playlists while WMP is running. If you need to manage your media files, do it with WMP closed.

Also, if you're using a NAS or external drive, make sure it's connected before you open WMP. A playlist that references a disconnected drive will trigger this exact error.

None of these steps require special tools or registry edits. Start with the 30-second fix, and only move down the list if you're still seeing 0XC00D14B8. Most people never get past the first one.