Since the brand is retired, your best path depends on your operating system: 1. The Official Route (Media Player)

The "Groove Music Pass" streaming service was shut down years ago (2017); the app now focuses exclusively on local file playback. How to "Download" Groove Music Functionality Today

Searching for a in 2026 leads to a critical realization: Microsoft has officially retired the Groove brand, replacing it with a modernized Media Player app. While you can no longer find "Groove Music" as a standalone download in the official Microsoft Store , its core functionality lives on through this successor. The Current State of Groove Music As of mid-2026, the status of the app is as follows:

The most secure way to get the features of Groove Music—such as a clean UI, metadata retrieval, and playlist management—is to install the latest Media Player from the Microsoft Store. It is essentially the "next generation" of Groove and is actively supported with security updates. 2. Reinstalling if the App is Missing

The new Media Player has fully replaced Groove Music on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

If you previously used Groove, your playlists and local libraries should automatically migrate to the new Media Player upon updating.

If you accidentally uninstalled your music player, you can often restore it via : Windows installing groove music instead of groove music