NS_E_SUBSCRIPTIONSERVICE_LOGIN_FAILED (0XC00D135F) Fix

Credential Manager cache is stale or corrupted

What's actually happening here is that Windows Media Player (WMP) relies on a stored credential token to authenticate with the online store. When your password changes, or the token expires, or a system update borks the cache, WMP can't refresh the token. The error 0XC00D135F is WMP saying "I have nothing to work with."

This is the most common cause for this error on Windows 10 and 11 with Media Player version 12.

Fix: Clear the relevant credential in Credential Manager

1. Open Control Panel (not Settings).
2. Go to User Accounts > Credential Manager.
3. Click Windows Credentials.
4. Look for an entry named Windows Media Player or something like MicrosoftAccount:user@domain.com for your account.
5. Click the arrow to expand it, then Remove.
6. Confirm the removal.
7. Restart WMP and try to sign in again.

The reason this works is that WMP will prompt you for fresh credentials instead of using the stale token. It's a clean reset of the authentication handshake.

If you don't see any WMP-related entry, look for any Windows Live or Microsoft account credentials that look generic. Delete those too, but only if you're sure they're not used by other apps you need.

Microsoft account permissions are blocked or misconfigured

WMP's online store is tied to your Microsoft account. If that account has been flagged for suspicious activity, or if you've disabled certain permissions, WMP can't get the token it needs. This is more common on work or school accounts that have restrictions, or on accounts that use two-factor authentication (2FA) without an app password configured.

Fix: Review and reset your Microsoft account permissions

1. Open a browser and go to account.microsoft.com.
2. Sign in with the same Microsoft account you use in WMP.
3. Go to Privacy & security > App permissions.
4. Look for Windows Media Player in the list. If it's not there, that's part of the problem.
5. Click Edit and make sure permissions are set to On for things like sign-in and profile.
6. Also check Security > Advanced security. If there are any recent suspicious sign-in attempts, resolve them first.
7. If you use 2FA, you might need to generate an app password: go to Security > App passwords and create one for WMP.
8. After that, try signing in again in WMP.

The reason step 6 matters is that Microsoft sometimes locks sign-in for legacy apps like WMP when it detects unusual activity. Clearing that flag re-enables the OAuth flow that WMP uses.

Windows Media Player's internal database is corrupted

Less common, but when all else fails, the database where WMP stores its online store configuration can go bad. This usually happens after a failed update of WMP's store plugin, or a botched system restore.

Fix: Delete the WMP database folder

1. Close WMP completely.
2. Press Win + R, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player, and hit Enter.
3. Select everything in that folder (Ctrl + A) and delete it. Windows may say some files are in use — that's fine, skip those.
4. Restart WMP. It will rebuild the database from scratch.
5. Try signing in again.

This nukes the cached store metadata, not your personal library. The library data lives elsewhere. The fix works because the corrupted config file that stores the online store URL and authentication state is part of what gets deleted.

If you're on Windows 11 and using the newer Media Player app (the one with the icon that looks like a purple circle), this folder doesn't exist. That means you're using the old WMP instead. You can check by right-clicking a music file and seeing if Open with lists "Windows Media Player" or "Media Player". The old one is what throws error 0XC00D135F.

Quick-reference summary table

Start with the credential manager fix. That handles about 70% of cases. If it doesn't work, move to the account permissions check. The database nuke is your last resort.