YouTube Music Desktop App: Official & Open-Source Options (2026)

TL;DR: Google does not make an official desktop app for YouTube Music — on a computer you get the website, or a Chrome "install" that pins that website to your taskbar. If you want a real desktop app for Windows, macOS or Linux, your practical options are: (1) the official web player / PWA, (2) an Electron wrapper like ytmdesktop or th-ch's YouTube Music, or (3) a native, open-source client like SimpMusic Desktop. Here's an honest breakdown of all four, including what each one can and can't do.

Does YouTube Music have an official desktop app?

No. As of 2026, there is no official YouTube Music desktop application for Windows, macOS or Linux. Google's own support forum has confirmed this for years: the official ways to listen on a computer are:

• The web player at music.youtube.com, in any browser.
• The PWA (Progressive Web App) — in Chrome or Edge, open music.youtube.com and click the install icon in the address bar. This creates a windowed shortcut that looks like an app, but it is still the website running in a browser shell.

That's it. Everything else you'll find — every "YouTube Music desktop app" download — is third-party software. Some of it is excellent open-source work; some of it is sketchy repackaging from download portals. This guide only covers projects whose full source code is public.

Option 1 — The official web player and PWA

Best for: people who already pay for YouTube Music Premium and just want a cleaner window.

The official experience on a computer: music.youtube.com in a browser. There is no installable Google app behind it.

Installing the PWA takes ten seconds and gives you a separate window, taskbar icon and media-key support in most browsers. It stays perfectly in sync with your account, playlists and recommendations, because it is the website.

The limits are the same as the website's: you need to keep a Chromium browser installed, background behaviour depends on the browser, and without a Premium subscription you get ads and no offline listening. There is nothing wrong with this option — it's just not a real app.

Option 2 — Electron wrappers: ytmdesktop and th-ch's YouTube Music

Best for: people who want the official interface plus power-user extras.

Two long-running open-source projects wrap the official YouTube Music web player inside a desktop shell:

• ytmdesktop adds native media keys, a mini-player, Discord Rich Presence and remote-control integrations on top of the standard web interface.
• th-ch/youtube-music takes a plugin approach: dozens of community plugins add features such as synced lyrics, downloads and ad-skipping.

ytmdesktop keeps the official interface and adds desktop integrations. Screenshot: ytmdesktop project on GitHub.

th-ch's YouTube Music: same web player, extended by community plugins. Screenshot: th-ch/youtube-music on GitHub.

Because both are wrappers around your real YouTube Music session, everything about your account carries over — which also means the experience still fundamentally depends on the web player underneath, plus whatever the wrapper adds. They are Electron apps, so expect a few hundred MB of RAM, and features that modify the web player can break temporarily when Google ships interface changes.

Both projects are genuinely good software with active communities. If your priority is "the official thing, but more convenient," start here.

Option 3 — SimpMusic Desktop: a native, open-source client

Best for: people who want a lightweight, account-optional, open-source player — and don't mind alpha software.

Full disclosure: SimpMusic is our own project, so read this section knowing who wrote it. Here is the factual picture.

SimpMusic Desktop is not a web wrapper. It's a native app built with Kotlin and Compose Multiplatform — the same codebase that powers the SimpMusic Android app used by hundreds of thousands of listeners. It streams from YouTube Music's publicly available catalog and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

SimpMusic Desktop: a native Compose Multiplatform app, not a browser in a costume.

What that architecture gets you:

• No browser, no Electron — a single native window with a smaller memory footprint.
• No account required to search and stream. If you want your own library and playlists, you can sign in optionally using the SimpMusic Utils browser extension (step-by-step guide).
• Synced lyrics with AI translation, SponsorBlock support, and the same player features as the Android app.
• GPL-3.0 licensed, fully open source — the code is audited on GitHub, and the app ships with no trackers.

Native OS integration: SimpMusic in the macOS media control center.

And the honest caveats:

• SimpMusic Desktop is in alpha. It works as a daily driver for many users, but you should expect rough edges and occasional bugs — and we'd genuinely like your bug reports.
• It is a third-party client, not a Google product. Some Premium-exclusive account features (like your uploaded music library) are out of scope.

Installation takes a couple of minutes per platform — the desktop guide and installation docs cover Windows, macOS and Linux step by step.

Comparison: the four options side by side

	Official web/PWA	ytmdesktop	th-ch YouTube Music	SimpMusic Desktop
Real desktop app	No (browser shell)	Electron wrapper	Electron wrapper	Native (Compose)
Open source	No	Yes	Yes	Yes (GPL-3.0)
Works without account	Limited	Google login	Google login	Yes
Windows / Mac / Linux	Any browser	✓ / ✓ / ✓	✓ / ✓ / ✓	✓ / ✓ / ✓
Synced lyrics	Basic	Via web player	Via plugin	Built-in + AI translation
Maturity	Stable	Stable	Stable	Alpha
Cost	Free (ads without Premium)	Free	Free	Free

Which one should you pick?

• You pay for Premium and want minimum fuss → install the official PWA and move on.
• You want the official interface with extras (media keys, Discord presence, plugins) → ytmdesktop or th-ch's YouTube Music.
• You want a lightweight, open-source, account-optional player and don't mind alpha software → SimpMusic Desktop. It's free, and if it's not for you, uninstalling takes one click.

FAQ

Is there an official YouTube Music app for Windows 11 or Mac? No. Google offers only the web player and the Chrome/Edge PWA install. Every downloadable "YouTube Music desktop app" is third-party.

Is SimpMusic Desktop free? Yes — free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with no ads added by the app and no account required for basic listening.

Does SimpMusic Desktop work on Linux? Yes. Builds are available for Windows, macOS and Linux on the download page.

Is it safe to use a third-party client? With open-source clients you can verify exactly what the software does — SimpMusic's full source is public on GitHub, as are ytmdesktop's and th-ch's. Avoid closed-source repacks from random download portals.

How do I log in to my YouTube account on SimpMusic Desktop? Through the SimpMusic Utils browser extension — the login guide walks through it in about two minutes.

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Try SimpMusic Desktop

⬇ Download SimpMusic Desktop — free for Windows, macOS & Linux

No account needed. Open source, GPL-3.0 licensed. If you hit a bug in the alpha, tell us on GitHub — and the desktop guide covers setup step by step.

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SimpMusic is an open-source project. This article describes competing projects factually and links to their official repositories — if you spot something outdated, open an issue and we'll fix it.