I am using VLC to set a video as my desktop wallpaper on Windows 10.
What is happening:
VLC runs the video as desktop wallpaper, but the video stays in the foreground and is always hiding my taskbar and desktop icons. When I press the Windows Key from keyboard, it shows the taskbar temporarily as long as the video is out of focus (desktop icons are still hidden).
What I want to happen:
I want the video in the background (as wallpaper) with my desktop icons and taskbar always visible. I mean the video should run in the background (not in the foreground) like a normal wallpaper (it stays in the background).
The script I am using in a batch file is:
@echo off
title MyTitle
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --fullscreen --no-video-title-show --no-embedded-video --no-qt-fs-controller --qt-start-minimized --qt-system-tray --video-wallpaper --playlist-autostart --playlist-tree "C:\Users\User\Desktop\VLC\Videos"
Best Answer
Well at one time VLC's desktop mode seems to have been able to show both the taskbar and desktop icons (see here) but it seems that feature isn't working correctly anymore and hasn't for years. I tried looking around the VLC forum for solutions and the only output that currently seems to work is Direct3D9 video output (I tested all the other outputs in the latest VLC version to make sure), as Sancho pointed. I did see one solution on the VLC forums that I didn't think of and though it doesn't perfectly solve the problem it may be a useful substitute if you don't wish to use a third party program. If you right click the taskbar and look at toolbars (at the top), you'll see an option that says desktop which will place an icon that when clicked allows you to select your desktop icons from a list.
update: After thinking about it a little more a better solution would probably be to use a earlier version as a portable app simply for the wallpaper. The Think Geek article I linked was published in 2017 so I checked the portable versions published in 2017 and it seems that it was likely 2.2.5-2.2.8. Download it and follow the instructions listed in the article but simply make sure it doesn't override your file associations for your installed/current version of VLC. Portable Apps - VLC