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How to Set a YouTube Video as Your Wallpaper on Mac

With Plash

  1. Open the video on YouTube, and copy its ID: the part after v= in the URL.
  2. Open Plash, click its icon in the menu bar, and choose “Add Website…”.
  3. In “URL”, enter the URL below, with the ID of the video in place of VIDEO_ID, in the two places. Then click “Add”.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?autoplay=1&mute=1&loop=1&playlist=VIDEO_ID&controls=0

Use this embed URL, not the normal URL of the video. Its options make the video start by itself, without controls, and play again when it ends.

Tips

  • The video must be muted to start by itself, so keep mute=1. Plash also has “Mute audio” in its settings, which is on by default.
  • If the video shows a play button only when your Mac is on battery, Low Power Mode is a likely cause.
  • The video comes from YouTube, so it needs an internet connection.

Get Plash

Make any website your desktop wallpaper

Download on the App Store

Free

Platform
macOS
Requires
macOS 26.4 or later
Category
Utilities
Released
January 2020
Privacy
No personal data collected
Updated
November 2026
Version
2.17.5
Size
6 MB

More about Plash

Without an app

In “System Settings › Wallpaper”, macOS has dynamic wallpapers, which become brighter and darker with the time of day, and aerials, which move when you lock or unlock the Mac. For your own wallpaper, you can add a photo, an image file, or a folder of images. Apple’s instructions.

If you only want some motion on the desktop, an aerial is enough. Plash is for a video of your choice.

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