How to use DeskTubo

Getting started

Install DeskTubo (the installer carries everything it needs, .NET included) and start it from the Start menu: a small window appears in the bottom right corner. Open a video any way you like:

• copy a YouTube link and press Ctrl+V in the window;
• type a title in the search bar (Ctrl+L);
• drag a link from the browser onto the window.

Regular videos, Shorts, live streams, playlists, links with a time code and YouTube Music all work.

Window and toolbar

The toolbar appears above the video when the cursor is over it. Drag the window by the toolbar or the logo, resize it by the edges. It snaps to screen edges and corners and stays there.

• Always on top — the pin button.
• Ghost (Ctrl+Alt+G) — the window turns see-through and clicks pass through it.
• Sizes — S, M, L, XL in the settings, and a 16:9 lock.
• Minimize or hide to the tray — the video pauses and goes on when the window is back.
• The “⋯” menu — everything that does not fit the toolbar: speed, captions, sleep timer, favourites.

YouTube over a game

To keep a video over a game:

1. turn on borderless window mode in the game's graphics settings: it may be called Borderless, Windowed fullscreen or Fullscreen windowed;
2. open a video in DeskTubo and put the window where it is out of the way;
3. if the window gets in the way of clicks, turn on ghost mode (Ctrl+Alt+G) and clicks go to the game;
4. pause and sound right from the game: Ctrl+Alt+K and Ctrl+Alt+M.
5. over a game the window stays for free with no limit; ghost mode and control from the game are Premium features that work 30 minutes a day for free.

In exclusive fullscreen a game covers every window, DeskTubo included: that is how Windows works.

Search, recent and favourites

Search results and lists open right in the window. The clock button shows recent videos and favourites. The star in the search bar (Ctrl+D) adds the current video to favourites.

When you play a video from the search results, DeskTubo keeps them. Get back to them, at the same place in the list and without searching again, any way you like:

• the “←” button in the empty search bar, where the magnifier was;
• Alt+← or the ↓ arrow in the empty search bar;
• “Search results” in the “⋯” menu;
• Enter on the same words in the search bar.

The video playing now is highlighted in the list. A new search replaces the kept results.

Live streams and chat

A live stream with a chat gets chat buttons on the toolbar:

• Beside — YouTube's own chat next to the video: write, moderate, Super Chats. Sign in to YouTube in the settings for that.
• Chat only — the video is hidden and paused, only the chat column stays. Handy for streamers.

Video lock

The lock button shields the video from stray clicks. A click pauses, a double click goes fullscreen, the wheel changes the volume, the bottom edge of the toolbar is the seek bar.

Hotkeys

Change any of them in the settings, under “Hotkeys”: each action can have its own, in the window and everywhere, on the keyboard or a mouse button (middle, side buttons, the wheel with Ctrl, Alt or Shift).

Premium and account

Watching, searching, keeping the window on top of every window and game and opening live chat in DeskTubo are free with no limit. Premium's features (ghost mode, the window's transparency, control from games with the “everywhere” shortcuts, the lock and the sleep timer) work 30 minutes a day without a subscription. Minutes are spent only while one of them is on and a video plays. When they run out, the video plays on and the features come back at midnight. Premium alone gives unlimited favourites (free: up to 10 videos), the whole history in “Recent” (free: the last 10) and resuming a video where you left off.

1. Open ⚙ → “DeskTubo Premium” → “Sign in” and create an account or sign in.
2. Press “Get Premium”: your account opens in the browser, already signed in.
3. Pay. Within a minute the app picks up Premium; you can also press “Check status”.

You choose a plan by the number of computers, 1, 3 or 5: that many can work with one account at a time. Disconnect one in your account and switch plans there too; the days left are converted at the new plan's price. Without our server Premium keeps working for up to 7 days. Nothing is charged by itself: extend Premium in your account; a reminder comes three days before it ends.

Troubleshooting

• A video will not open — some authors allow their videos to be watched only on YouTube. The window then shows a “Watch on YouTube” button that opens the video in your browser.
• The window hides behind a game — switch the game to borderless window mode: in exclusive fullscreen it covers every window.
• “No connection to the DeskTubo server” — check the internet and the antivirus, then press “Try again”.
• “Too many computers” — disconnect an old computer in your account and sign in again.