Fix NS_E_ASX_NOTHING_TO_WRITE (0XC00D106C) in Windows Media Player

First, understand what you're dealing with

You're getting NS_E_ASX_NOTHING_TO_WRITE (0XC00D106C) when you try to save a playlist in Windows Media Player (WMP). The error code translates to "nothing to write" — meaning WMP thinks your playlist has zero items in it. That doesn't always mean the playlist is actually empty. Sometimes it's full of songs, but WMP has lost track of where those files live. Let's fix this from most likely to least.

Cause 1: Corrupt media library — the most common reason

WMP keeps a database of all your music and video files. That database gets corrupted. Maybe you moved files around, a disk drive letter changed, or WMP just got confused after a Windows update. When the database is corrupt, WMP sees your playlist items as missing files — even if they're still on your hard drive. So the playlist is "empty" to WMP.

Here's the real fix: Rebuild the media library from scratch. Don't just scan again — that rarely works. You need to delete the old database and let WMP rebuild it.

Close Windows Media Player completely. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) to make sure no wmplayer.exe processes are running.
Press Windows Key + R, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player, hit Enter.
You'll see a folder with several subfolders and a bunch of .wmdb files. Delete everything inside this folder. Don't worry — WMP will recreate these files. After deleting, you should see an empty folder.
Press Windows Key + R again, type services.msc, press Enter. Find Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service — if it's running, right-click it and choose Stop.
Now open Windows Media Player again. It'll say "Welcome to Windows Media Player" and start scanning your monitored folders. Let it finish — this can take a few minutes if you have a large library.
Once scanning finishes, try saving your playlist again. Go to File > Save playlist or press Ctrl+S. It should work now.

I've seen this fix work for about 70% of people who get this error. If it didn't work for you, move to the next cause.

Cause 2: The playlist items point to files that are physically gone or hidden

This one's sneaky. You might have a playlist that looks fine in WMP — it shows song titles and artists — but the actual music files have been moved, renamed, or deleted. WMP can't write the playlist because it can't find the files to save the references. Another variant: files are on an external drive that's not plugged in, or on a network share that's offline.

How to check: Right-click the playlist in WMP, choose Open file location. If nothing happens or you get an error, the file is missing. If it opens the folder but the file isn't there, same issue.

The fix: You have two choices:

Option A: Remove missing items from the playlist. In WMP, click the playlist name, then click Remove from list for each missing song. You can also click the first missing song, hold Shift, click the last one, then right-click and choose Remove. Save the playlist with only the files that exist.
Option B: Find and re-add the files. If you know the files still exist somewhere, drag them into the playlist from their current location, remove the dead entries, then save.

One more thing — check if the files have the Hidden attribute set. WMP won't include hidden files in playlists. Open File Explorer, go to the folder, and if you see ghostly icons, right-click each file > Properties > uncheck Hidden > Apply. Then refresh WMP (press F5) and try saving again.

Cause 3: Sync-related issues — happens when you're trying to save a sync playlist

This one's specific to people who sync their WMP library with a portable device (like an old MP3 player or a Windows Phone). Sometimes, WMP creates a temporary playlist for syncing, and when you try to save that as a permanent playlist, it fails with this error. The sync playlist is empty because the device isn't connected or the sync failed.

The fix is simple: Don't save the sync playlist. Instead, create a normal playlist from your library. Go to the Library view, drag songs into the right pane, then save. If you absolutely need to save the sync list, connect your device again, let WMP complete the sync, then disconnect properly (use the Safely Remove Hardware icon). After that, the sync playlist might populate with actual items you can save.

If you're not using sync at all and still get this error, it's probably cause #1 or #2. Skip this.

Quick-reference summary table

Cause	Symptom	Fix	Time
Corrupt library database	Playlist shows items but error on save	Delete `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player` folder contents, restart WMP	5-10 min
Missing or hidden files	Playlist items don't open when clicked	Remove dead entries or unhide files	2-5 min
Sync playlist	Error only when saving sync list	Create a normal playlist instead, or complete sync first	1-2 min

That covers the ways I've seen this error pop up in the real world. Start with the library rebuild — it's the fix that works most often. If you're still stuck after trying all three, check if your user account has write permissions to the Music folder. Right-click the Music folder > Properties > Security > make sure your username has Full control. Sometimes a permissions glitch causes WMP to think it can't write playlists at all. Good luck.