ClipWall Support

Thanks for using ClipWall! If you need help, have a feature request, or run into a bug, we are happy to hear from you.

Contact

We try to respond within a few business days.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add a video?

Click the ClipWall icon in the menu bar and choose Add Video, or open the library and use the Add Video button there. Pick one file or several at once. Clicking a clip’s thumbnail in the library sets it as your wallpaper.

Which video formats work?

MP4 and MOV, which covers most files you already have. The quick test is QuickTime Player: if it opens there, ClipWall can play it.

The common exception is .mkv (Matroska), which neither QuickTime nor ClipWall can open, whatever is inside it. Converting one to MP4 usually works and is quick, because the video inside is normally fine and only the wrapper has to change. ClipWall tells you when a file cannot be used rather than adding it, so you are not left guessing.

Where is the app window?

There isn’t one, by design. ClipWall lives in the menu bar, so it stays out of your way and takes up no space in the Dock while it runs. Everything is in the menu bar menu and the library window.

You can still keep it in the Dock if you like. Drag ClipWall there from your Applications folder and it stays put, the same as any other app.

I quit ClipWall. How do I open it again?

The same way you opened it the first time. ClipWall sits in your Applications folder like any other app, so start it from there, from Launchpad, or by typing its name into Spotlight. Quitting takes the menu bar icon away and puts your normal desktop picture back, but nothing is lost: your clips and settings are exactly as you left them.

If you would rather not go looking for it, turn on Launch at Login so it starts with your Mac, or drag ClipWall from your Applications folder onto the Dock to keep a shortcut there.

Update to version 1.1 or later from the App Store. Version 1.0 had a fault that could stop the app starting: it quit during launch, before its menu bar icon appeared, so there was nothing to click and nothing to quit. Once it happened it happened on every launch.

It only affected people who had turned on “Match desktop to video”, and only on some desktop pictures, which is why most users never saw it. Updating fixes it, and nothing is lost: your clips and settings are exactly where you left them.

How do I play more than one clip?

Open the library and choose Select Clips. Click clips in the order you want them and they are numbered as you go, then confirm. ClipWall moves through them, fading from one into the next. Each clip plays all the way to its end before the next begins, so a scene is never cut off partway.

Will it drain my battery?

ClipWall stops playing whenever nothing can be seen: when a window covers the desktop, when your Mac sleeps, and when the screen locks. Playing a video nobody can see wastes power, so it doesn’t. If you switch Spaces often and would rather it kept playing, turn off “Pause when hidden” in the menu.

One of my clips disappeared or stopped playing

That usually means the file moved, was renamed, or lives on a drive that is not connected. Reconnect the drive, or add the file again from its new location. ClipWall never moves or deletes your original videos, so the file itself is still wherever you put it.

macOS decides whether the menu bar is light or dark from the desktop picture, not from whatever is actually on screen. Since ClipWall draws the video in a window rather than replacing the picture, macOS can pick the wrong one and paint a pale band across the menu bar over your video.

“Match desktop to video” in the menu fixes it, by putting a plain black picture behind the video so macOS settles on the dark menu bar. It is off to begin with, so if you are seeing that band, turn it on. Your own desktop picture comes back when you turn it off or quit.

Does trimming damage my video?

No. The trim is lossless: nothing is re-encoded, so the picture never becomes softer or blockier. ClipWall writes a trimmed copy into its own storage and leaves your original file untouched. It cannot alter your file even in principle, because macOS only grants it read access.

Trims snap to the nearest keyframe, so the cut may land a fraction of a second from where you dragged. You can re-trim any time, and each trim starts again from the original, so quality never degrades through repeated edits.

Can I see my wallpaper while the library is open?

Yes, from version 1.1. The slider at the top of the library window makes it see-through, so you can watch a clip playing behind it while you pick. Drag it left for more transparency.

It shows the wallpaper only when nothing else is behind the library window, since the video plays behind everything else on your desktop. If another window is stacked behind it, that is what you will see.

Can I use a different clip on each display?

Yes. Right-click a clip in the library to assign it to a particular display, or use Set Wallpaper in the menu bar menu. You can also run the same clip everywhere.

Can I change the picture shown for a clip?

Yes. Click Change Thumbnail on any clip, scrub to the moment you want, and choose Use This Frame.

Fill or fit?

Fill crops the edges so the video covers the whole screen. Fit shows the entire frame and adds bars where the shapes don’t match. Both are in the menu bar menu.

Is there sound?

Clips start muted. You can unmute from the menu bar menu and set the volume there.

How do I make it start automatically?

Turn on Launch at Login in the menu bar menu.

How do I remove ClipWall?

Quit it from the menu, then drag ClipWall from your Applications folder to the Trash. Your own videos are untouched, and your original desktop picture is restored when ClipWall quits.

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