Fix NS_E_WMP_IMAGE_FILETYPE_UNSUPPORTED (0XC00D1022)
Windows Media Player can't load the image — usually a corrupt or unsupported file. The fix is straightforward: convert or rename the file.
Quick Answer
Convert the image to JPEG using Paint or a free tool, then try again. If that doesn't work, rename the file to remove special characters.
Why This Happens
You're seeing NS_E_WMP_IMAGE_FILETYPE_UNSUPPORTED (0XC00D1022) when Windows Media Player tries to load an image file — usually an album art thumbnail or a metadata image embedded in a music file. The culprit here is almost always a corrupt image or a file format that WMP doesn't fully support. Windows Media Player 12 on Windows 7 through 11 handles JPEG, PNG, and BMP just fine, but it chokes on WebP, HEIC, or images with broken headers. I've seen this happen when someone drags a screenshot taken on an iPhone (HEIC format) into a playlist, or when album art from a dodgy MP3 tag editor gets corrupted.
Another common trigger: WMP tries to fetch album art from the internet, the image downloads incomplete, and the player barfs. The error pops up mid-playlist or when you browse folders in the library. Don't bother reinstalling WMP — that rarely fixes it.
Step-by-Step Fix
- Convert the image to JPEG. Open the image in Paint (Windows built-in). Go to File > Save as > JPEG picture. Save it with a simple name like
cover.jpg. Then re-assign it in WMP or re-embed it into the music file. - Rename the file. If converting didn't help, right-click the image file and rename it. Remove any spaces, special characters (#, %, &, brackets), or long filenames. Keep it short:
album_art.jpg. WMP's library index sometimes trips over Unicode characters or weird punctuation. - Clear the WMP album art cache. Close WMP. Open
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Playerin File Explorer. Delete theAlbumArtfolder. Restart WMP — it rebuilds the thumbnails next time you load the library. - Re-embed album art in the music file. Use a tag editor like MP3tag (free, no bloat). Open the music file, paste the image (now converted to JPEG), and save. WMP reads embedded art directly from the file, bypassing its own image loader.
- Check the image resolution. WMP has a hard time with images over 2048x2048 pixels. Resize it to 500x500 or 800x800 using Paint. Large images cause memory issues during loading.
Alternative Fixes If the Main One Fails
If converting and renaming didn't work, the problem is likely deeper. Try these:
- Disable automatic album art download. In WMP, go to Tools > Options > Library. Uncheck Download album art automatically. This stops WMP from pulling corrupt images from the internet.
- Repair WMP via Windows Features. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off. Uncheck Media Features (this removes WMP). Reboot, then recheck it. This reinstalls WMP without losing your library.
- Use the Microsoft Fix It tool. Download the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter from Microsoft's site. It resets the player's internal database — I've seen it revive stubborn cases, but it's a long shot.
Prevention Tips
Stick to JPEG or PNG for album art. Avoid WebP, HEIC, or RAW formats. Use MP3tag to embed art instead of relying on WMP's auto-fetch. Keep image sizes under 1MB and resolutions below 1024x1024. If you're syncing from a phone, convert images to JPEG before copying to your PC. Also, run a chkdsk every few months on your music drive — bad sectors mess up file headers and cause this exact error.
One last thing: if you're using a third-party codec pack (like K-Lite), uninstall it temporarily. Some codec packs break WMP's image parsing. I've seen that trip up users on Windows 10 22H2.
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