Fix NS_E_WMP_CANNOT_BURN_NON_LOCAL_FILE (0XC00D10D6) for good

You've seen this error, and it's annoying

Windows Media Player throws the NS_E_WMP_CANNOT_BURN_NON_LOCAL_FILE error (0XC00D10D6) when you try to burn files that aren't physically on your local drive. The error message says: "This file cannot be burned to a CD because it is not located on your computer." It's frustrating because the file is right there in your playlist, but WMP just refuses to burn it.

The real fix: copy files to your local hard drive first

Skip the registry tweaks and the permission changes. The culprit here is almost always that the files live on a network share, an external USB drive, a cloud sync folder (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive), or a mapped network drive. Windows Media Player is a local-first app—it won't burn anything it can't guarantee is on a local NTFS volume.

Step-by-step fix for Windows 10 and 11

1. Create a local folder—something like C:\Burn_Temp. Don't use your Desktop or Documents folder for this; a root-level folder keeps the path short and avoids weird permission issues.
2. Select all the files you want to burn in File Explorer. Hit Ctrl+C to copy them.
3. Paste them into C:\Burn_Temp using Ctrl+V.
4. Open Windows Media Player. Clear your Burn list if you have one.
5. Drag the files from C:\Burn_Temp into the Burn pane.
6. Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW. Click Start burn.

That's it. No commands, no registry edits, no third-party tools. The error disappears because WMP now sees the files as local.

Why this works

Windows Media Player uses the IMAPI2 (Image Mastering API) for burning CDs and DVDs. That API has a hard requirement: all source files must be on a local NTFS volume. Network drives, FAT32 USB sticks, and cloud-synced folders don't qualify. WMP checks the file path before burning, and if the path starts with \\ (network) or X: (mapped drive), it throws error 0XC00D10D6.

Copying the files to a local folder bypasses that check. The API sees C:\ and proceeds normally.

Less common variations of the same issue

Sometimes the error shows up even with files you think are local. Here's what I've seen in the field:

• Symbolic links or junctions. If you created a symlink pointing to a network share, WMP follows the symlink and sees the remote path. Use dir /al in Command Prompt to check for junctions. Remove them and copy the actual files.
• Files on a mounted ISO. WMP treats virtual drives as removable media, not local storage. Extract the ISO contents to a folder first.
• OneDrive "Files On-Demand." Even if the file shows a green checkmark (locally available), WMP sometimes still borks. Manually copy the file to a non-OneDrive folder to be safe.
• Permissions on the local folder. Rare, but if the Burn_Temp folder is on a drive with restrictive NTFS permissions (like a corporate laptop), WMP may fail. Make sure your user account has Full Control on C:\Burn_Temp.

Prevention for next time

Stop trying to burn files directly from network shares or cloud folders. Create a dedicated local folder for your burn projects. I keep C:\Burn_Queue on every machine I manage. Before burning, I copy everything there. Takes 30 seconds, saves you the headache.

If you're regularly burning from a NAS, map the drive but don't drag files from it into WMP. Copy them first. Or better yet, use a burning tool like ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP that doesn't have this limitation. But if you're stuck with Windows Media Player for some reason, the local copy trick is your only reliable workaround.

Pro tip: After burning, don't forget to delete the files from your burn folder. They're duplicates, and they'll eat up space fast if you burn a lot.