Getting started

Welcome to Spark Tray, a free utility belt for Windows that lives in your system tray. It bundles several everyday media and file tools into one lightweight app: Video Downloader, Bulk Downloader, Background Remover, Transcriber, and Audio Extractor.

Everything runs on your own device — your files, links, and media never leave your computer to be processed. Spark Tray is completely free; it is funded by sharing a small amount of your device's idle internet bandwidth while it runs (explained in full).

System requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit).
• An internet connection (for downloading media, transcription models, and updates, and for the bandwidth exchange that keeps the app free).
• Enough free disk space for whatever you download or convert, plus a small amount for optional transcription models.

Installing

1. Run the Spark Tray installer.
2. Review and accept the license agreement shown during installation.
3. When installation finishes, Spark Tray launches and adds an icon to your system tray (the row of small icons near the clock, bottom-right of your screen).

First launch — the welcome screen

The very first time you open Spark Tray, you'll see a "Before you start" welcome screen. You must review and confirm it before using the app. It explains two things:

• How Spark Tray stays free. While the app is installed and running, it shares a portion of your device's idle internet bandwidth. This is what funds the app. Your files, media, browsing history, passwords, and anything you process in the utilities are never shared. See The bandwidth exchange for full details.
• Optional anonymous diagnostics. Two switches let you choose whether to send anonymous crash reports and anonymous usage statistics. These never include your URLs, filenames, or media content. You can change them any time in Settings, and you can turn both off here before continuing.

Click "I Agree & Continue" to start using the app. Nothing (not the bandwidth exchange and not diagnostics) begins until you accept.

If a new version of the agreement is ever published, you'll see this screen again the next time you open the app.

Uninstalling

Remove Spark Tray the way you remove any other Windows program. That path is the complete and clean one — there is nothing else to run afterwards.

1. Open Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Installed apps (Windows 11) or Settings ▸ Apps ▸ Apps & features (Windows 10). Searching the Start menu for Add or remove programs opens the same page.
2. Find Spark Tray in the list — type "spark" into the search box at the top to jump straight to it.
3. Click the ⋯ button next to it, choose Uninstall, and confirm.

That single step removes the app, its shortcuts, and its Start Menu entry — and it also removes the Massive bandwidth-sharing agent that came with it, so your participation in the bandwidth exchange ends there and then. Nothing is left sharing in the background.

Your own files are never touched: anything you downloaded, converted, transcribed, or extracted stays exactly where you saved it. One folder is left behind on purpose — Spark Tray's per-user folder under %APPDATA%, which holds your settings, your job history, and any transcription models you downloaded. It is kept so that reinstalling picks up where you left off. Delete that folder by hand if you want the disk completely clear.