How To Exclude Folders From Windows Media Player 12 Library

I recently installed iTunes on my MacBook Pro (Yep, that’s right. I finally got the 13” MacBook Pro Retina. lol) and had to convert all my existing wma music files to mp3 so that I could access them via iTunes. Unfortunately when the conversion process was done and working just fine on iTunes, Windows Media Player 12 (WMP 12) on the other hand started giving me duplicate songs issues since the iTunes folder is located within the Music folder

Unlike previous versions, WMP 12 doesn’t allow you the luxury of excluding folders from its index easily but it’s quite possible.

Here’s how I managed to remove the songs in my iTunes folder from my Windows Media Player 12 library.

Step 1

Shut down WMP 12 and then move out all the songs (content) from the folder you wish to exclude from WMP 12 to a secure location. Do NOT delete the folder.

Step 2

Go to C:\Users\*******\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player and delete the library files there. These are the files with WMDB extension like wmpfolders.wmdb. Leave the folders there intact.

Step 3

Launch WMP 12 again. Sit back, relax and wait for it to reindex your music library completely. When it’s done, shut it down again.

Step 4

Go back to C:\Users\*******\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player and open wmpfolders.wmdb in NotePad. Search for the folder you wish to exclude from the WMP 12 library and change the line Exclude=”0” to Exclude=”-1” as shown in the image below

Save the changes made and then move your files back into the folder you just excluded in Windows Media Player database file.

Launch WMP 12 and wait for it to run its start-up indexing.

All songs located in the excluded folder will no longer show up in your library now.

It’s been an hour since I did this and it seems to be a permanent solution so far. Do try it out at your end and let me know in the comment section if it works for you or not.