LivelyDesk user guide

Choose your desktop tool#

WallpaperLive plays local videos, GIFs, and images as Windows desktop wallpapers. TransparentBar removes the taskbar background while leaving Windows icons and controls in place. This LivelyDesk guide covers their separate installers and controls.

WallpaperLive is a player, not a wallpaper download gallery. Its Library contains files you import, not supplied artwork. Create your own media or obtain files you have permission to use, save them locally, and import only trusted files. Download links below provide applications, not wallpapers.

Check requirements and security#

WallpaperLive decodes media with your user privileges, without a sandbox. Malformed media can crash it. Windows builds, drivers, HDR, display reconnection, and third-party shells can affect desktop or taskbar behavior.

Install WallpaperLive and its decoder#

1. Open WallpaperLive Releases and download the installer. Keep it in a dedicated folder without unrelated DLLs.
2. Run Setup as your normal Windows user. If a decoder is needed, review the download prompt before consenting. A matching installed decoder or matching local archive avoids that download.
3. Finish Setup and open WallpaperLive from the Start menu. Installation does not apply a wallpaper or enable startup automatically.
4. Open Settings and read Version. This identifies the executable build, independently of the installer filename or a browser-added download suffix.

Apply your first wallpaper#

1. Save a trusted video, GIF, or image on your PC. Check the creator's license before using it.
2. Choose Add wallpaper for a file or Add folder to import a folder and its subfolders.
3. Select a thumbnail in Library. Selection changes the preview, not the wallpaper already playing.
4. Choose a display or All displays, select Placement, then choose Set wallpaper.
5. Leave Sound off for silent playback, or enable it for a file with an audio track.

The picker accepts MP4, GIF, MKV, WebM, MOV, AVI, MPG, MPEG, M4V, APNG, PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, and WebP. An accepted extension does not establish codec compatibility; decoding still depends on libmpv and your GPU.

Find and manage library entries#

Library supports up to 4096 entries and shows nine thumbnails per page. Search filenames without case sensitivity within the current folder filter. Sort by newest imported, A-Z, or Z-A, then browse with Previous and Next. Library hotkeys include Space on the grid and the Left/Right Arrow keys.

Third-party links open your browser and are not safety endorsements. Check media licenses and trust before importing. Back to Library or Escape returns from that panel with filters, selection, and page retained.

Assign wallpapers to multiple displays#

1. Select a thumbnail and one display, then choose Set wallpaper to replace that display's assignment without stopping the others.
2. Choose All displays and Set wallpaper when every display should use the same file.
3. Repeat individual assignments when you want different files on different monitors.

Upgrades from settings versions 1-3 retain the saved monitor assignment, or use the primary display if no monitor name was saved. Migration does not enable All displays. Settings version 4 stores per-monitor assignments.

Control placement, FPS, sound, and pause#

FPS is a cap, not interpolation or a playback-speed control. Compatible rendering and hardware decoding prefer a detected dedicated GPU, with fallback when needed.

Understand and manage video cache#

Oversized SDR videos start from the original while one background worker creates display-sized H.264/AAC MP4 copies. Smaller sources are not upscaled. HDR and animated images use originals. Conversion preserves original files, audio, aspect ratio, and playback speed, but its compression is lossy.

Settings shows live RAM and cache controls. Clear unused cache requires confirmation and protects imported media, active originals, and active or waiting cache outputs. If another copy cannot fit, original playback continues. Cache location:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\WallpaperLive\video-cache

Pause cancels or defers conversion. Unfinished work restarts after resume; completed copies wait at least two seconds before handoff near the current position. Partial cancelled files are not played. Preparation can use more resources than cached playback.

Use the tray, startup, and updates#

Closing the panel keeps playback in the tray when the tray is available. Pause/Resume and Stop remain available there; Exit closes the app. The tray follows Windows light or dark appearance and uses the native system menu in high-contrast mode.

Start with Windows is opt-in. Enable it only when you want WallpaperLive to launch with Windows; Setup does not enable it for you.

1. Read your installed Version in Settings before checking an update.
2. Choose Check for updates in the tray. The background check presents a native English result dialog.
3. Confirm before opening a newer release page. Download and install the update yourself; the app does not do this automatically.
4. Install an upgrade into the same folder so Setup can reuse a matching decoder.

Keep your media and plan removal#

Imported originals stay where you stored them. Removing a Library entry is different from deleting its file. Cache copies are separate from originals. The documented settings migration keeps existing media, preferences, and cache directories in place.

1. Before removing the application, choose Stop to remove live wallpapers, then Exit to close it.
2. Keep your original media and preserve data you want to retain. Do not delete media or configuration folders as a troubleshooting step.

Install or run TransparentBar portable#

1. Open TransparentBar Releases and select the installer or Windows x64 portable ZIP.
2. Close other taskbar customization tools, then open TransparentBar.
3. Click its system tray icon near the clock. Open the tray overflow menu if the icon is hidden.

Keep the portable executable and its versioned bridge DLL together. Opening the application again opens the existing instance's menu. Tray labels are English, support keyboard navigation, and follow the Windows light or dark theme.

Set the taskbar connector#

The connector follows a thin visible band at the bottom edge of a maximized window, including color changes during scrolling. It samples four rows and smooths nearby columns. This is a softened approximation, not a capture of the entire application. Sampled pixels stay in memory and are not saved or uploaded.

Sampling pauses during display sleep or session lock. Disabling the connector also stops its inactive eligibility-check timer.

Manage startup, updates, and restoration#

Run at sign-in toggles startup and is off by default. After moving a portable folder, disable and re-enable startup from its new location.

TransparentBar checks GitHub Releases and notifies you through the tray. Check for updates starts a manual check; Update available opens the latest release page. About / license shows version and license information.

1. Choose Exit to restore the saved taskbar appearance before closing or removing the app.
2. For an installer update, run the new installer. It closes the running instance, restores its saved appearance, and starts the new version afterward.
3. For an installed package, use its standard uninstall entry when removing it. Keep portable package files together while still in use.

Match the symptom and collect diagnostics#

TransparentBar saves startup diagnostics here:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\TransparentBar\startup.log

From its application folder, this diagnostic command inspects XAML elements without changing their opacity:

.\transparentbar.exe --diagnose

Report a reproducible problem#

1. Check existing issues in the affected project before opening another report.
2. Include the app version and Windows build from winver. For TransparentBar, specify installer or portable; portable BUILD.txt records version and source commit.
3. Describe expected behavior, actual behavior, exact errors, and steps to reproduce. Include monitor count and other taskbar tools. For WallpaperLive, add GPU and media format.
4. Attach only relevant, reviewed screenshots or diagnostics. Describe private media rather than uploading files you cannot share.

Mention whether behavior changed after a Windows update, display reconnection, or wallpaper change. These details help distinguish compatibility, media, and setup problems without discarding your data.

Read licenses and build prerequisites#

WallpaperLive uses GPL-3.0-or-later; TransparentBar uses MIT. WallpaperLive's license covers the application, not third-party wallpaper artwork. Review dependency notices and each creator's terms separately. libmpv remains a separate decoder download.

Source builds are optional for installer users. The linked READMEs describe packaging and contribution checks. Automated builds do not establish desktop compatibility. Optional donations do not unlock or restrict features; support pages open only when selected.