YouTube Music Desktop

YouTube Music for Windows

Download the free YouTube Music desktop app for Windows 10 and 11. Installer, portable build, Scoop and Winget options, with a built-in ad blocker and downloader.

Download for Windows

Free · MIT licensed · Windows 10, Windows 11

YouTube Music Desktop App runs as a normal Windows program: it gets a Start-menu entry, taskbar media controls, native notifications and global media-key support, none of which you get from a browser tab.

Both an installer and a portable build are published for every release, in x64, ia32 and arm64 flavours, so it runs on everything from an old 32-bit laptop to an ARM Surface.

Installation options

Installer (recommended)

  1. Open the latest release page on GitHub.
  2. Download the *-Setup.exe file for your architecture (x64 for most PCs).
  3. Run it. Windows SmartScreen may warn about an unknown publisher — choose More info, then Run anyway.
  4. The app updates itself when a new release is published.

Winget

  1. Open Terminal or PowerShell.
  2. Run the command below.
  3. Launch YouTube Music from the Start menu.
winget install th-ch.YouTubeMusic

Scoop

  1. Install Scoop if you have not already.
  2. Add the extras bucket and install the package.
scoop bucket add extras && scoop install extras/youtube-music

Portable / offline install

  1. Download the *.nsis.7z file matching your architecture (x64, ia32 or arm64).
  2. Download the *-Setup.exe installer from the same release.
  3. Put both files in the same folder.
  4. Run the installer — it will use the local archive instead of downloading.

After installing

Open the Plugins menu and turn on what you need — the plugin guide covers a good starter set. Most people begin with Ad Blocker, Downloader, Synced Lyrics and Shortcuts.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Windows SmartScreen warn about the installer?

The builds are not signed with a commercial code-signing certificate, so Windows flags them as coming from an unknown publisher. Choose More info → Run anyway. You can verify the download by checking it against the checksums published with each GitHub release.

Does it work on Windows 11 ARM?

Yes, an arm64 build is published with every release.

Can I control playback from the taskbar?

Yes — enable the Taskbar Media Control plugin for buttons in the taskbar thumbnail, and the Shortcuts plugin for global media keys.