Download · Windows 10 / 11
Wallive
A live video wallpaper for Windows that costs almost nothing to run.
Released 26 September 2026 ·Release page
Install
- Run the installer. It installs to your user folder and does not ask for admin rights.
- If Windows SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. The installer is not code-signed yet.
- On first start, Wallive asks you to choose one or more videos. It converts them once, in the background.
- Right-click the tray icon to change videos, pause, or quit. Windows 11 may hide new tray icons under the ^ arrow; drag it onto the taskbar to keep it visible.
- To update, run a newer installer. It closes the running copy and keeps your settings.
- Uninstall from Settings > Apps > Installed apps. This also removes the converted videos and the log.
- Several monitors, 4K screens, NVIDIA and AMD graphics, and Windows 10 are implemented but not yet tested on real hardware. Reports are welcome on GitHub.
What's new in 1.0.0
First release.
- Video wallpaper behind the desktop icons on Windows 11 24H2 and later (tested) and the classic WorkerW desktop of Windows 10 / older Windows 11 (implemented, not yet tested on real hardware).
- Same video on every monitor from one hardware decoder (several monitors not yet tested).
- Videos are converted once, in the background, into a format the PC decodes in hardware (H.264 at the largest monitor's size, 30 fps, no audio). Fragmented YouTube / DASH MP4 files work.
- Several videos: switch every 1 / 5 / 15 / 30 / 60 minutes at the end of a loop, in order or shuffled; Next video in the tray menu.
- Pauses when every monitor is covered, for fullscreen apps and games, when the display is off, with Battery / Energy Saver, when the session is locked, and optionally on battery. After 10 s of pause the decoder's memory is freed.
- Keeps working after Explorer restarts and display changes.
- Tray menu, Start with Windows,
wallive --version. - Per-user installer (no admin rights) built with Inno Setup.
- App icon: a dusk wave (violet sky, coral sun, teal wave under a white crest), drawn in code for the tray and the installer.
Measured on the development laptop (Intel iGPU, 1080p30): ~0.9% CPU on AC power, ~81 MB private memory while playing, 29 MB after 10 s paused, no disk reads after the first loop.
Install
Download Wallive-1.0.0-setup.exe and run it. No admin rights needed; it installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Wallive. The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn: choose More info > Run anyway.
Check the download (PowerShell): Get-FileHash .\Wallive-1.0.0-setup.exe should match Wallive-1.0.0-setup.exe.sha256.
This is an early release, tested on one Windows 11 laptop. Please report how it runs on your PC with the Test report issue form.