Frequently asked questions

No. Google publishes YouTube Music as a web app and as mobile apps only. Ytmdesktop is an unofficial desktop client that wraps the same web interface and adds desktop features around it — native media keys, tray controls, synced lyrics, Discord and Last.fm integration, and a plugin system.

Yes. There is no paid tier and no account. Anonymous usage reporting is available but switched off unless you turn it on, and you are asked once rather than opted in quietly.

Download only from this site. The macOS build is signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarised by Apple, so it opens without warnings. The Windows build is not yet signed, so SmartScreen shows an unknown-publisher notice — choose More info, then Run anyway.

No. The app works with a free account or anonymously. Premium still buys you official offline downloads, background play on mobile and higher-quality streams — the app does not replace those.

Windows 10 and 11 (x64, ia32, arm64), and macOS on Apple Silicon and Intel.

Yes, once the Shortcuts plugin is enabled. It registers global hotkeys with the operating system, so play/pause, next and previous work while the app is minimised.

Over forty at the time of writing, covering lyrics, audio processing, appearance and theming, video handling, system media controls, and integrations with Discord, Last.fm, ListenBrainz, OBS and Lumia Stream. Every one is a single toggle in the Plugins menu.

Not unless you agree to it. The app asks once whether you want to share anonymous usage data — which plugins you switch on, your platform and version, and whether it crashed. It never records what you listen to, search for or play; there is no field for any of that. It is off until you say yes, you can change it any time in Options, and everything sent is written to a log on your machine you can read.

Windows installer builds update themselves. Homebrew, Scoop, Winget and the AUR package update with your normal package-manager upgrade. AppImage and portable builds are replaced by downloading the new file.

Gatekeeper quarantines apps that are not notarised by Apple. Run /usr/bin/xattr -cr /Applications/YouTube\ Music.app in Terminal once and the app opens normally.

Switch to song mode with the Video Toggle plugin, turn off Visualizer, Ambient Mode and blur effects, and enable the Performance improvement plugin. Not decoding video is by far the biggest saving.

No. It is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Google, YouTube or Alphabet. YouTube and YouTube Music are trademarks of Google LLC, used here only to describe what this application works with.

It removes audio and video ads in the vast majority of cases, and it is enabled by default. YouTube changes ad delivery periodically, so if ads reappear, update the app and switch the blocking backend in the plugin options. The Ad Speedup plugin handles anything that still gets through.

Yes, with the Downloader plugin. It saves single tracks, albums or whole playlists as MP3, Opus, M4A, WAV or FLAC with tags and cover art. Respect copyright and YouTube’s Terms of Service when deciding what to save.