NS_E_GRAPH_NOAUDIOLANGUAGE (0XC00D10C5): Why Windows Media Player can't switch audio tracks

When does this error appear?

You're watching a video in Windows Media Player (or Windows Media Center on Windows 7/Vista). The video has two audio tracks — say English and Japanese. You right-click, go to Audio and Language, and try to switch. Instead of switching, you get: NS_E_GRAPH_NOAUDIOLANGUAGE (0XC00D10C5). The message reads something like Cannot change the language settings. This happens most often with MKV files or MP4s that have multiple audio streams but one of them is a commentary track or a different format (like AC3 vs AAC).

Why it actually happens

What's actually happening here is that Windows Media Player's media foundation pipeline is failing to enumerate the audio languages correctly. The error 0XC00D10C5 translates to No audio language — meaning the player can't find any alternate audio language to switch to, even though the file has multiple audio streams. The reason step 3 works is because we're bypassing the broken language enumeration and forcing a raw stream switch.

Three common causes:

• Corrupted index — the file's seek table or track metadata is slightly off. Common with downloads that weren't finalized properly.
• Codec mismatch — the video container lists two audio tracks, but one uses a codec WMP's source filter can't decode (e.g., DTS, TrueHD, or Opus). WMP sees the track but can't render it, so it reports no language.
• Remuxed files from certain tools — older versions of MKVToolNix or HandBrake sometimes write language tags that WMP misreads (e.g., jpn vs Japanese).

How to fix it

Skip the obvious stuff like reinstalling codec packs — they rarely help here. The real fix is direct.

1. Remux the file with MKVToolNix — This is the most reliable fix. Download MKVToolNix (free, open source). Open MKVToolNix GUI, drag your file in. In the Tracks section, you'll see each audio track. Make sure every audio track has a Language set (e.g., eng, jpn). If any is set to und (undefined), double-click it and pick a language. Then click Start multiplexing. This rebuilds the container from scratch, fixing any index corruption.
2. If remuxing doesn't work: extract and re-encode the audio — Sometimes a track is just a format WMP can't handle. Open the file in MKVToolNix again, but this time check only the troublesome audio track. Output as .mka (Matroska audio). Then use ffmpeg to transcode it to AAC:

   ffmpeg -i extracted_audio.mka -c:a libfdk_aac -b:a 192k fixed_audio.m4a

   Now remux the original video with this new AAC track using step 1.
3. Use a different player as a workaround — If you don't want to re-encode, just ditch WMP for this file. VLC, MPC-HC, and PotPlayer all handle multiple audio tracks correctly. But if you're stuck on WMP (say, for Media Center integration), you have to fix the file.
4. Check Windows Media Feature Pack (Windows 10 N/KN) — If you're on a Windows 10 N edition, you might be missing the Media Feature Pack entirely. Install it from Microsoft's site. Without it, WMP lacks basic codecs and can't enumerate audio tracks at all.

What to check if it still fails

• Check the file's audio codecs — Run ffprobe yourfile.mkv (part of ffmpeg). Look at each Audio stream line. If any says dts or truehd, that's your problem. WMP does not support these natively. Re-encode to AAC using the ffmpeg command above.
• Disable DXVA/WMP plug-ins — Some third-party codec packs (like K-Lite) install DirectShow filters that can interfere. In WMP, go to Tools > Options > Plug-ins and disable any third-party audio filters.
• Test with a known-good file — Download a sample MKV with multiple AAC audio tracks from the Internet Archive. If that works, your file is broken.
• Run WMP in safe mode — wmplayer /safe launches without plug-ins. If the audio language switch works here, a plug-in is the culprit.

This error has been around since Windows 7. Microsoft never fixed it because they stopped developing WMP after version 12. The workaround is always to clean up the file's container.