Changing Media Player Skins

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated September 19, 2016)

Windows Media Player is a fairly sophisticated program with a lot of functionality. One of the functions you can perform is the changing of the skins it uses. There are many free skins available, and the "official" skins can be downloaded by going through Media Player itself.

To change skins, launch Windows Media Player and go to View | Skin Chooser. Media Player displays the skins available on your system. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Windows Media Player skin chooser.

Click the More Skins button and your Internet browser will take you to Microsoft's site that holds many skins. You can browse this site for something you like and download it from within your browser. Skins have a file type of ".wmz" and Media Player looks for them in the "Program Files\Windows Media Player\Skins" folder.

After you've gotten your new skin, Media Player will recognize it and display it as an available skin. (It will appear at the left side of the skin chooser area in Media Player.) To use the new skin, click its name and then click the Apply Skin button. From that point forward you can use Media Player with the new skin.

 This tip (12679) applies to Windows 7.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." ...

MORE FROM BARRY

Capturing a Screen Shot

There are a lot of reasons why you may want to capture screen shots. This tip shows how easy it is to do it.

Discover More

Understanding Virtual Memory

Computers can address far more locations than may exist in physical memory. The key to this feature is the use of virtual ...

Discover More

Rebuilding the Search Index

There may be times when you want to reset the search index and rebuild it from scratch. This tip tells you how.

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Creating an Auto Playlist

Auto Playlists are a nice feature of Windows Media Player. Once set up, as more media gets added to your library the auto ...

Discover More

Deleting a Media Player Playlist

Most people like to keep their Windows Media Player organized. One way to maintain it is to keep track of the various ...

Discover More

Ripping Songs from Audio CDs

Ripping songs from audio CDs is fairly simple, but the actual process varies from application to application.

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


Newest Tips