How To Remove DRM From WMA Audio Files.

By / Audio And Video, Windows 10, Windows 11 / 6 minutes of reading

If your old WMA music files won’t play — or you’re seeing error codes like 0xc00d7186 or the message “DRM-protected streams are not supported” — there’s a simple fix. Microsoft offers a free tool called the Digital Rights Update Tool that removes WMA DRM (Digital Rights Management) copy protection quickly and safely.

This step-by-step guide shows you exactly how to download it and use it on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Table Of Contents
  1. What is WMA DRM and Why are your Files Protected?
  2. Step 1: Download the Microsoft Digital Rights Update Tool
  3. Step 2: Select the Folder Containing Your DRM-Protected WMA Files
  4. Step 3: Start Removing the DRM
  5. Step 5: Delete the DRM-Protected Backup Files (Optional)
  6. Frequently Asked Questions
  7. Summary

What is WMA DRM and Why are your Files Protected?

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, which is a form of copy protection applied to digital media files to restrict how they’re used or copied.

During the early 2000s, millions of people ripped their CD collections to their computers using Windows Media Player (WMP).
What most people didn’t realise at the time was that WMP enabled a setting called “Copy protect music” by default. Every single track ripped with that setting turned on was silently locked with Windows Media DRM (WMDRM) copy protection.

Fast forward to today and those protected WMA files refuse to play on modern media players, can’t be burned to CD, and can’t be converted to MP3 — even though you own the original CDs.

The good news: Microsoft’s Digital Rights Update Tool was created specifically to unlock these files. It’s free and easy to use.

Windows Media Player splash screen with Copy Protection enabled.
I thought it meant my music files would be protected from loss or corruption. I didn’t read it properly.

Common WMA DRM Error Messages

You’ll know your WMA files are DRM-protected if you see any of these errors:

PlayerError Message
Windows Media Player (Legacy) version“A Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) component encountered a problem.”
Groove Music / Media Player app“Can’t play. Try playing this with a different player. This application doesn’t have content usage rights. 0xc00d7186”
VLC media player“Could not demux ASF stream: DRM-protected streams are not supported.”
Any converter
“DRM protected streams are not supported”

If you see any of these, the solution is the same: you need to remove the DRM from the WMA file before you can play, convert, or burn it.

Important Note

This guide covers WMA (Windows Media Audio) files that were ripped from CDs you personally own. Removing DRM from commercially purchased or downloaded music you don’t own the rights to may not be legal in your country.

Step 1: Download the Microsoft Digital Rights Update Tool

The Digital Rights Update Tool is a free, official Microsoft app available from the Microsoft Store. It works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

How to Download and Install it

  1. Click the Microsoft Store icon on your taskbar — or press the Start button and type “store“, then click Microsoft Store at the top of the results.
  2. In the Store search box, type: Digital Rights Update Tool
  3. Click on the app when it appears in the results.
  4. You may be asked to sign into your Microsoft account. This is optional — click No Thanks to skip it.
  5. The tool will download and install automatically.
  6. Once installed, click the Launch button.

The Digital Rights Update Tool is completely free and doesn’t require a Microsoft account. It’s also compatible with all versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11.

How to remove DRM (Digital Rights Management) from WMA (Windows Media Audio) files.
Use the Digital Rights Update Tool.

Step 2: Select the Folder Containing Your DRM-Protected WMA Files

When Windows Media Player ripped your CDs, it saved each album into its own folder — usually inside your Music folder (C:\Users\YourName\Music).

The Digital Rights Update Tool works on an entire folder (or album) at a time rather than individual files. So you have to point it to a complete CD album.

How to Load a Folder into Digital Rights Update Tool

  1. Click the folder icon (browse button) inside the Digital Rights Update Tool.
  2. Navigate to the folder containing your DRM-protected WMA files (for example, a specific album folder).
  3. Left-click once on the folder to select it — do not double-click to open it, that won’t load the album. Just click it once.
  4. Click the Select Folder button.

The tool will scan the folder and automatically load any WMA files that have DRM protection attached. Files without DRM are simply ignored.

The Browse button is indicated in Digital Right Update Tool.
Click the Browse (folder) button to find your DRM protected WMA music files
Select a folder that contains DRM protected WMA files.
Select the folder with a single left click then click the Select Folder button.

Quick Tip

Work through one album (folder) at a time. Processing multiple folders at once can slow your computer down considerably, and if something goes wrong it’s easier to identify where the problem occurred.

Step 3: Start Removing the DRM

Once your DRM-protected WMA files are loaded into the tool:

  1. Click the Play button to begin the DRM removal process.
  2. A progress bar shows you how far through the process the tool is.
  3. Depending on how many files are in the folder and the speed of your PC, this may take a few minutes.
  4. When it’s finished, either close the tool or load another folder and repeat the process.
Files loaded into the Digital Rights Update Tool. The play button is indicated to start the removal of DRM from files.
Click the Play button to start the removal.

Step 4: What Happens After DRM Removal?

The Digital Rights Update Tool does not modify or delete your original WMA files. Instead, it:

  • Creates a new, DRM-free copy of each file in the same folder.
  • Renames the original (still DRM-protected) file by adding “backup” to the filename.

So after processing, you’ll have two versions of every track: the new DRM-free file (same filename as before) and an old backup file (with “backup” in the name).
Before deleting anything, play a few of the new DRM-free files to confirm they’re working correctly.

Step 5: Delete the DRM-Protected Backup Files (Optional)

Once you’re happy that all your music is playing fine, you can delete the backup files to free up space. Here’s the quickest way to do it:

  1. Open the album folder in File Explorer.
  2. Click in the search box (top right of the folder window) and type: backup
  3. Press Enter — Windows will show only the backup files. The tracks that you can’t.
  4. Click on any one backup file to select it.
  5. Press Ctrl + A to select all the backup files at once.
  6. Right-click on any selected file and choose Delete to remove them or Cut to move them to another folder out of the way.

The backup WMA files are still DRM-protected — if you try to play them now, you’ll see the same error messages as before. That’s normal. You can safely delete them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

Back when ripping CDs with Windows Media Player was the standard way to build a digital music library, most of us had no idea that copy protection was being added to every track. The wording in WMP was confusing, and many people — understandably — assumed they were protecting their files rather than locking themselves out of them.
With the Microsoft Digital Rights Update Tool, that mistake is now reversible. The process is straightforward. Your music library is yours again.

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