How to burn a CD or DVD in Windows 10 (step by step)

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to burn a CD or DVD in Windows 10.

You can use the Windows 10 built-in CD/DVD burning feature in File Explorer or Windows Media Player to burn movies, videos, music, photos, documents, and other data to a CD or DVD.

With Windows Media Player, you can also burn MP3, WMA, or WAV files to an Audio CD that will play on any CD player or car stereo.

Windows 10 default built-in CD/DVD burning feature

Microsoft Windows 10 has just like the previous versions of Windows a built-in disc burning feature that allows you to burn all kinds of files and folders to a CD or DVD without using third-party CD/DVD burning software.

A few examples of supported file types are:

  • Audio: MP3, WMA, and WAV
  • Videos: AVI, MP4 (MPEG-4), MKV, WMV, MPG, FLV, VIDEO_TS, etc.
  • Photos: JPG (JPEG), PNG, GIF, etc.
  • Documents: PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX, ODT, XLS, etc.

Notes:

If you want to burn video files to DVD using the built-in disc burning feature in File Explorer, then you should know that this DVD will only play on computers and DVD players that support the video formats you burn to DVD.

If you want to burn MP3 files to CD using the built-in disc burning feature in File Explorer, then you should know that this CD will only play on computers, CD players, DVD players, and car stereos that support the MP3 audio format.

If you want to burn MP3 files to an Audio CD that will play on every CD player and car stereo, then you will have to use Windows Media Player to burn the MP3 files to an Audio CD.

Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player is a media player for playing videos and music and also for viewing photos on PCs running Microsoft Windows.

You can also use Windows Media Player to burn videos, music, and photos to a CD or DVD.

Burn a CD or DVD in Windows 10 using File Explorer

This method works for all file types like audio (music), videos (movies), images (photos), documents, and other file types.

Tips for burning an MP3 CD:

  • If you want to have an organized MP3 CD then you should create folders on your computer and copy the MP3 files into these folders before you start the burning process.
  • It's recommended to burn your music to a CD-R instead of a CD-RW (rewritable), because not all CD players can play rewritable CDs properly.
  • Place all MP3 files or folders in one folder and make sure that the total file size of that folder does not exceed the capacity of your CD (usually 650 MB or 700 MB). To view the file size of a folder, right-click on the folder and then click on Properties.

Note: The CD or DVD you will burn using the built-in CD/DVD burning feature in File Explorer can only play on computers and CD/DVD players that support the file types/formats you burn onto your disc – except when you burn VIDEO_TS files and folders to DVD, because then it will create a Video DVD that will play on any DVD player. However, most modern CD and DVD players support various file formats.

Steps

  1. Insert a blank (empty) CD or DVD into the CD/DVD burner drive of your PC.
  2. Open File Explorer.
    Windows 10 File Explorer
  3. Go to the location on your computer where the files or folders are stored you want to burn to a CD or DVD.
  4. Select all files or folders.
  5. Right-click on the selected files or folders.
  6. Go to Send to.
  7. Click on your CD/DVD burner drive (e.g., DVD RW Drive (D:) or CD RW Drive (E:)).
    Send files to CD/DVD burner drive in File Explorer in Windows 10

Note: if you want to burn VIDEO_TS to DVD, copy the complete VIDEO_TS folder to the CD/DVD burner drive.

  1. In the next window, you enter a name for your disc.
  2. Check the With a CD/DVD player option.
  3. Click on Next.
    Windows 10 Burn a Disc window

Windows will now send your files or folders to the CD/DVD burner drive of your PC.

When Windows is done copying your files or folders to your CD/DVD burner drive, it will open the CD/DVD burner drive in a new window.

Note: If it doesn't open the CD/DVD burner drive in a new window, then you can find it under This PC located in the left sidebar of File Explorer (Windows Explorer).

  1. Click on Drive Tools located in the top menu of File Explorer.
    Windows 10 Drive Tools
  2. Click on Finish burning.
    Windows 10 Drive Tools Finish burning
  3. In the next window, you can change or enter a title for your CD or DVD at Disc title.
  4. At Recording speed, you can select a burning speed. The maximum speed you can select depends on the capacity of the CD/DVD burner of your PC and the capacity of the CD or DVD.
  5. Click on Next.
    Windows 10 Burn to Disc window

Windows 10 File Explorer will now burn your CD or DVD.


Burn a CD or DVD in Windows 10 using Windows Media Player

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to burn video(s), MP3, and WMA audio files and pictures to a Data CD or DVD.

This tutorial will also show you how to burn MP3, WMA, and WAV files to an Audio CD that will play on any CD player and car stereo.

Tip: If you want to burn MP3, WMA, or WAV to a CD, then use a CD-R, not a CD-RW, because not all CD players or car stereos can play rewritable CDs properly.

Note: If you burn files to a data CD or DVD, then that disc will only play on computers, CD players, and DVD players that support the file types you burn to your CD or DVD. Most modern CD and DVD players support various file formats.

Steps

  1. Insert a blank (empty) CD or DVD into the CD/DVD burner drive of your PC.
  2. Click on the Windows start menu button or search bar.
  3. Type wmp.
  4. Click on Windows Media Player.
  5. Click on the Burn tab located in the top right corner of Windows Media Player.
    Windows Media Player Burn tab
  6. Click on the Burn options icon located under the Sync tab.
  7. Select the Data CD or DVD option or select the Audio CD option.
    Windows Media Player burn options

The Data CD or DVD option is for when you want to burn video file(s) (e.g., MP4, MKV, and AVI), audio files (e.g., MP3 and WMA), or pictures to a CD or DVD. Note: this disc will only play on computers, CD players, and DVD players that support these video, audio, or image file formats.

The Audio CD option is for when you want to burn MP3, WMA, or WAV audio files to an Audio CD. This CD will play on any CD player and car stereo.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Go to the location on your computer where the files are stored you want to burn to a CD or DVD.
  3. Make sure that the File Explorer window and Windows Media Player are both visible and located next to each other.
  4. Drag your videos, songs, or photos from File Explorer to the burn list in Windows Media Player.
    Drag files from File Explorer to Windows Media Player Burn list

Note: The total file size (MB or GB) cannot exceed the capacity of your CD or DVD (usually 650 MB or 700 MB for CDs and 4.7 GB for DVDs).

Tip: You can view the time in minutes or file size in MB or GB you have left on your CD or DVD at _ MB free of _ MB (e.g., 450 MB free of 702 MB) or _ GB free of _ GB located just above the Burn list.

Windows Media Player file size left on disc
  1. You can also arrange the files in the order you want them to appear on your disc.
  2. Click on Start Burn located above the Burn list.
    Burn a CD or DVD in Windows 10 using Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player will now burn your CD or DVD.

Windows

Related:

How to burn a CD or DVD on Windows 11 (step by step)

How to burn any video file to a playable DVD