How to watch video in picture-in-picture on Windows

Keep a film playing in a small window on top of whatever you are working on, and carry on with your work.

Picture-in-picture

The video floats in a corner of the screen, on top of whatever application you are using, and stays there as you switch between them. Resize it, move it to whichever corner suits, and carry on working.

Switching it on

Press Ctrl+Shift+P during playback to pop the video out into its floating window.

Speed, for long material

Playback speed goes up to 2× and down below normal, which makes long recordings and lectures far quicker to get through. One tap returns to normal speed. Speed and the other controls are on the player controls page.

What it is good for

Picture-in-picture floats the video above every other window, so it suits anything you half-watch while working in something else — a lecture beside your notes, a match beside a spreadsheet, a tutorial beside the app it teaches.

Getting through long recordings faster

Playback speed goes above normal, and for lectures, talks and tutorials it is transformative — a two-hour recording at 1.5× takes about eighty minutes, before pauses or seeking; choose a speed you can follow. One tap returns to normal for a section you need to hear properly, and the speed stays where you set it until you change it.

Listening without watching

Background audio (AIX Pro) keeps sound playing when the window is minimised. You can also cast a supported local video to a TV while using other apps; the PC must keep serving the stream.

Worth knowing