Recently, a number of users reported that they were not able to run PLEX and other similar streaming services ever since a Windows Update was automatically installed in the system. The error in these streaming services has something to do with a missing Mfplat.dll DLL file from the Windows Media Feature Pack. On the other hand, some users also reported that the mfplat.dll error occurred on several games as well which used the Media Feature Pack.
Usually, the mfplat.dll error is caused by the missing Media Feature Pack in Windows 10. Although most of the time the Media Feature Pack is installed by the application that needs it or through Windows Update automatically, there are just certain installers that do not have it. It could be that the Media Playback service was disabled by a particular Windows Update. Aside from that, the error might be because your computer is using Windows 10 N – a Windows 10 version that does not include the Media Feature Pack by default. Whatever the cause may be, you can troubleshoot the problem with the help of the options given below. But before you go on, keep in mind that downloading the missing DLL file and copying it to the folder of the program where you encounter the error won’t really help and will only make things even more complicated.
Option 1 – Install the Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 N version
As mentioned, the Windows 10 N version does not come with Windows Media Player. Meaning to say, the Media Feature Pack is also not installed by default or won’t be updated by the Windows Update component. So if you are not quite sure what Windows 10 version you currently have installed, refer to these steps:
- Tap the Windows key + S and then type “about” in the search box.
- From the search results, click on the “About your PC” to open the About tab of the Settings app.
- Afterward, scroll down to the Windows specifications and check your Windows version under Edition.
Note: If you’ve determined that your computer is using the Windows 10 N version, you need to install the appropriate Media Feature Pack for your computer. How? Refer to the steps below:
- Click this link to download and install the Media Feature Pack from Microsoft’s official website.
- Upon installation, select the edition you want to install using the drop-down menu and then click on Confirm. Take note that there are few reasons why you’d want to install the older version since most streaming services like PLEX and most games usually require version 1803.
- After that, wait until the request is validated. The download should begin in a few minutes automatically.
- Once the download is completed, open the installation executable file and follow the next on-screen instructions to install the Media Feature Pack on your computer.
- Restart your computer. After your computer has rebooted, open the application where you’re getting the mfplat.dll missing error and then check if the problem is now fixed.
Option 2 – Enable Media Playback via Command Prompt
If you encounter the mfplat.dll missing error when you attempt to run PLEX or other similar streaming service and you’ve already verified that the Media Feature Pack is indeed installed, you might want to try enabling it using an elevated Command Prompt. There are cases when a particular Windows Update ends up disabling the feature and creates the grounds which results in the mfplat.dll missing error. Thus, you can have to enable the feature via Command Prompt.
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
- Then type “cmd” in the field and hit Enter to open an elevated Command Prompt.
- Next, click on Yes if a User Account Control prompt pops up.
- After opening Command Prompt, copy and paste the following command and hit Enter to execute it:
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:MediaPlayback
- Close Command Prompt and then open the app once again to check if the problem is now fixed.
Option 3 – Try extracting a copy of the mfplat.dll file from the windows.old directory
If you encounter the error shortly after you just upgraded to Windows 10 from an older version, the best thing you can do to resolve the problem is to use windows.old directory to fetch an old copy of the mfplat.dll file. To do so, follow the steps below.
- Go to the Windows drive and then look for the windows.old directory where it preserves a copy of your old operating system as well as associated files in case something goes out of hand during the upgrade process.
- After that, open the windows.old folder and then go to the syswow64 folder.
- Next, from the syswow64 folder, copy the mfplat.dll file and paste it to C: windows syswow64.
- Restart your computer and check if the error is now resolved or not.