How to remove Windows Media Player from the Windows 7 right click context menu

How to remove Windows Media Player from the Windows 7 right click context menu:

Many people do not use Windows Media Player, and yet we all seem to be stuck with the ubiquitous WMP context menu entries in Windows, cluttering the right click menu. Worse yet somewhere along the line Microsoft has inserted a strange “shop for music online” context menu entry in what seems to be a fit of iTunes-envy. All the more reason to remove WMP’s presence from the context menu.

This post will show you how to remove the Windows Media Player context menu entries in Windows 7. WMP itself will not be removed or uninstalled, and will still be accessible on demand.

Step 1: go to Start Menu in the lower left corner, then ‘Control Panel’, then ‘default programs’

If you cannot see ‘default programs’ then in the upper right corner, find and toggle ‘View by Category’/Large icons (see image to the right). You should then see a display similar to the screenshot below.

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Step 2: next, click ‘Set program access and computer defaults’

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Step 3: next, make sure ‘custom’ is selected and click the down arrow to the right.

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Step 4: scroll down to the ‘Choose a default media player’ section; uncheck the ‘enable access to this program’ opposite the ‘Windows Media Player’ entry (see screenshot below). Click Ok

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That’s it. The context menu entry should now be free of all traces of WMP.