Help & FAQ
Everything you need to get a karaoke night going. Still stuck? Email support@socialkaraoke.com.
Last updated: September 6, 2026
Getting started
Is Social Karaoke free?
Social Karaoke is free. Hosting a room requires a free account, joining a room does not, and there is no subscription, trial period, or limit on how many songs or rooms you get. There are no ads.
What is Social Karaoke?
Social Karaoke is a free, browser-based group karaoke app. One person hosts a room on a shared screen, friends join from their phones with a 4-letter code, and everyone adds YouTube songs to a single shared queue that plays in order on the host screen.
Do I need to download an app?
No. Social Karaoke runs entirely in a web browser on both the host screen and guest phones. There is nothing to install on any device, and no app store account is involved.
How do I host my first room?
Sign in at Social Karaoke, tap Host, and open the room on the screen everyone will watch. The app gives you a 4-letter room code and a QR code to share, and guests can start adding songs as soon as they join. Setup takes under a minute.
What devices can I host on?
You can host on any device with a modern web browser - a laptop, a desktop, a tablet, a phone, or a smart TV browser. Whatever you host on becomes the screen everyone watches, so pick the biggest one in the room.
Can I host from my phone?
Yes. There is no device restriction on hosting, so a phone works as the stage if that is all you have. Two caveats: the tab has to stay open and in the foreground, so locking the phone or switching apps will pause playback, and a phone screen is small for a room full of people. A laptop or TV makes a better stage whenever one is available.
How do I do karaoke on my smart TV?
Open Social Karaoke in your smart TV's built-in browser and host the room there, or host on a laptop and connect it to the TV with an HDMI cable or by casting. Both work the same way from the guests' side - they still join from their phones with the room code.
Do I need a microphone?
No. Most Social Karaoke parties just sing over the top of the audio playing on the host screen. A microphone and speaker set makes it louder and more fun, but nothing in the app requires one.
Joining a room
Do my friends need an account?
No. Guests join by entering the 4-letter room code or scanning the QR code and picking a nickname. There is no sign-up, no email, and no password for guests.
How do people join my room?
Every Social Karaoke room has a 4-letter code and a QR code. Friends type the code on the Join page or scan the QR with their phone camera, choose a nickname, and they are in.
Where do I find the room code?
The 4-letter room code and QR code are displayed on the host screen. If they are hidden during playback, the host can bring them back up from the room controls at any time.
How many people can join one room?
There is no fixed limit on how many people can join a Social Karaoke room. The only hard cap is the queue itself, which holds 200 unplayed songs at a time.
Can I join from a laptop instead of a phone?
Yes. The join page works in any browser, so guests can join from a laptop or tablet as well as a phone. Phones are just the most convenient remote when everyone is in the same room.
Can people join from a different house?
Yes. Guests only need the room code, so they can be anywhere. By default the song plays on the host screen only, but a remote guest can switch on "Play on my device" and it will play on their own screen too, lined up with the host. You will still want a call running so you can hear each other sing.
Can the song play on my phone as well as the host screen?
Yes, if you turn it on. Every guest has a Play on my device toggle, and it is off by default because when everyone is in the same room you want one set of speakers, not eight phones a half-second apart. Switch it on and the song plays on your phone too, starting from wherever the host has got to. Your choice is remembered on that phone for next time.
It lines up once - when the song starts, or the moment you switch it on mid-song - and then plays on its own. It does not keep correcting afterwards, so if the host pauses or skips backwards you will not follow along until the next song starts.
Songs and playback
What songs can we play?
Anything on YouTube. Search for the karaoke, instrumental, or lyric version of a song and add it to the shared queue.
Is this a licensed karaoke library like KaraFun or Smule?
No. Social Karaoke is not a licensed karaoke-track library. Services like KaraFun and Smule license their own recordings and give you a curated catalogue, while Social Karaoke plays whatever karaoke and instrumental versions already exist on YouTube. That means a far bigger pool of songs with less consistency in quality.
We compared them properly, without pretending either is strictly better: Social Karaoke vs KaraFun and Social Karaoke vs Smule.
How do I find a good karaoke version of a song?
Search the song title followed by "karaoke" or "instrumental" and check the result before adding it. Dedicated karaoke channels usually produce the most reliable backing tracks with on-screen lyrics, and a lyric video is a decent fallback for songs with no karaoke version at all.
Searching from inside a room helps here: when the app can tell you are after a karaoke track, it moves results from the karaoke channels with the best track record to the top of the list. It is a nudge rather than a filter - everything YouTube returned is still there, just in a more useful order - so preview before you queue.
Our guide to finding good karaoke versions on YouTube covers the search terms, the channels worth trusting, and how to spot a bad track in five seconds.
Can I add several songs at once?
Yes, in two ways. You can paste multiple links to add up to 25 songs in one action, or import a YouTube playlist to add up to 100 songs at once. Both sit under the room-wide ceiling of 200 unplayed songs.
Can I import a YouTube playlist?
Yes. You can import a YouTube playlist straight into a room's queue, up to the first 100 songs in it, which is the fastest way to start a night with a full lineup. Public and unlisted playlists both work. Private playlists cannot be imported, and neither can auto-generated mixes or radio playlists.
Who can add songs to the queue?
Everyone in the room can add songs to the shared queue. Each entry shows who added it and who is singing it, and the host and co-hosts can reorder or remove anything.
Who counts as the singer of a song?
Whoever added it, unless someone says otherwise. Adding a song is the usual way of calling a turn, so the adder is the singer by default and the queue just shows Added by their name.
Tap I'll sing this on an unclaimed song and it becomes yours - the queue then shows Sung by you, and Added by whoever queued it if that was someone else. Tap it again to hand the song back. This is what you want when you look up a song for somebody else, or when two people swap turns.
Once a song is claimed, other guests cannot take it. The person who added it can always reclaim their own song, and hosts and co-hosts can reassign anything.
How does the app decide what plays next?
By default the queue plays in the order songs were added, and anyone can upvote a queued song to push it up the list. The host can switch upvoting off if it turns into a popularity contest.
There is also a rotation setting. Turn it on and the queue rotates between people instead, so somebody who has already sung three times waits behind somebody who has not sung yet. Rotation follows the singer rather than the adder, so claiming a song with I'll sing this puts it against your turn, not theirs. Rotation overrides upvote ordering while it is on.
Can I listen to a song before adding it?
Yes. Every search result has a preview button that opens the video in a pop-up so you can check it is the right version, the right key, and an actual karaoke track rather than the studio recording. There is an Add to queue button in the pop-up, so you can go straight from checking it to queueing it.
What if a song turns out not to be a real karaoke version?
Report it. There is a report action on the playing song with two reasons - it will not play, or it is not a karaoke version - and one report per person per video. Reports go to us for review and never remove anything automatically, so nobody can knock a song off your queue by reporting it. Removing it from the queue is the quick fix in the moment; reporting is what stops the same bad result being suggested to the next person.
Can I reorder the queue?
Only the host and co-hosts can reorder the queue. Guests can add songs but cannot move them, including their own, so the running order stays under the control of whoever is running the night.
What happens when a song ends?
The next song in the queue starts automatically. By default it plays immediately with no gap, and the host can set a countdown of up to 60 seconds instead if the room wants a breather between numbers.
Can I skip a song?
Skipping the song that is currently playing is a majority vote. Any participant can vote to skip, and the room advances as soon as more than half the people in it have voted - two votes in a three-person room, three in a five-person room. Hosts and co-hosts can skip instantly without a vote, and the host can turn voting off entirely.
There is no self-skip: the person who added a song cannot cut it short mid-play just because they queued it.
Can I remove a song I added by mistake?
Yes, as long as it has not started playing. You can remove your own entry from the queue whether you are signed in or joined as a guest, and hosts and co-hosts can remove anything.
What happens when the queue runs out?
Playback stops and the host screen waits for the next song to be added. Anyone in the room can add one at any time to start it again.
Hosting and moderation
Can someone help me run the room?
Yes. You can promote a trusted guest to co-host so they can manage the queue and playback while you are up singing, including reordering, removing songs, skipping, and issuing kicks and timeouts.
What can a co-host not do?
Co-hosts cannot change room settings, promote other co-hosts, archive the room, or transfer it - those stay with the host. They also cannot kick or time out the host or another co-host, so only the host can restrict someone they have promoted.
What happens if the host leaves or their device dies?
The room itself survives, because it lives on the server rather than in the host's browser. The queue, the chat, and everyone in the room stay put until the room expires.
Playback stops, though, since the host's screen is what actually plays the video. After about five minutes without the host, guests see a notice that the host is away.
A co-host can then claim the room, and their screen becomes the new stage. This only works if a co-host was promoted beforehand - if there isn't one, nobody can take over and the room waits for the host to return. Promote a co-host early in the night as insurance.
Can I hand the room to someone else before I leave?
Yes. Host transfer passes control to another person directly, which is cleaner than letting the five-minute takeover timer run. Do this if you know you are leaving while the party continues.
How do I stop strangers joining my room?
Set a join PIN so only people you share it with can enter, or turn on knock-to-join so you approve each new arrival before they get in. Both are useful when the room code might travel further than you intended, like at an office party.
How do I remove someone from the room?
Hosts and co-hosts can put a guest in a timeout for 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes, or kick them from the room entirely. A timeout is a full temporary restriction: the person can stay and watch, but cannot add songs, use the chat, or cast skip votes until it expires.
Can I remove a song someone else added?
Hosts and co-hosts can remove any song from the queue. Guests can only remove their own entries.
Is there a chat?
Yes. Rooms include a chat and reactions, so people can call out requests and react to a performance without shouting over the music. Chat lives in the room only and does not appear in the archived history after the room ends.
Can I hide who added each song?
Yes. There is a room setting that hides the "Added by" name on queue items, so guests see the songs without seeing who put them there. Useful when you want the room guessing, and for anyone who would rather queue something embarrassing anonymously.
Can we sing something again?
Hosts and co-hosts can replay any song from the history back into the queue in one tap, so a song the room wants a second run at does not have to be searched for again. They can also mark a song as played or unplayed by hand, which is the fix if playback got out of step with the queue.
Can I keep the same room code every time?
Yes. Normally each room gets a fresh 4-letter code and the old one goes back in the pool, but you can reserve one code to yourself from Edit Profile. Every room you open then uses it, so the people you sing with only ever have to remember one code.
Two things to know. If you are already hosting a room on your reserved code, the next room falls back to a random one rather than refusing to open - the app tells you when that happens. And a reserved code never rotates, so anyone you have ever given it to can find your room again; pair it with a join PIN or knock-to-join if that matters.
Reactions, sounds, and ratings
Can we react during a song?
Yes. The reaction bar sends emoji that float up the host screen, so the room can cheer a big note without anyone shouting over the music.
What are the sound effect buttons?
A small soundboard - an airhorn, a drum roll, and a ba-dum-tss. Anyone in the room can trigger one, and the sound comes out of the host screen's speakers rather than the phone that pressed the button, so it lands on the room the way a real one would. The sounds are generated by the browser, so there is nothing to download and no delay.
How does rating a performance work?
When a song finishes, everyone in the room except the person who sang it gets a ten-second prompt to give it one to five stars. The bar across the prompt shows the time running out. Ignore it and it disappears on its own; there is no obligation and no penalty for skipping.
You can also rate past songs from the History tab at any point during the night, which is where to catch up if you were mid-chorus when a prompt appeared. One rating per person per performance, and changing your mind just overwrites it.
Why can I not rate my own song?
Because you sang it. The prompt is hidden from the performer, and the server refuses a rating from them as well, so a self-rating cannot be submitted. If someone else claimed the song with "I'll sing this", they are the performer for this purpose - not whoever added it.
What is singer of the night?
Whoever has the best average rating across everything they sang, shown as a banner in the room. Ties break toward the person who sang more songs, so one lucky five-star run does not beat an evening of consistently good turns.
Can we turn ratings off?
Yes. Rate performances is a room setting, on by default, and the host can switch it off at any point. With it off there are no prompts, no stars in the history, and no singer of the night. Worth switching off for a room where scoring people would change the mood.
Playlists, favorites, and history
Can I save favorite songs?
Yes. Signed-in users can favorite songs so they are easy to find again in a later room.
Can I build a playlist?
Yes. You can build playlists from your dashboard and load a whole playlist into a fresh room in one step, which turns setup for a repeat karaoke night into a few seconds of work.
How long does a room last?
Social Karaoke rooms stay active for up to 24 hours and then archive automatically. The archive is a read-only record of what was played and who added it.
Can I see rooms I hosted before?
Yes. Past rooms are kept in your hosting history as a read-only record you can revisit, showing what was played and who added it.
Who can see my room history?
You choose, per room, from five visibility settings on the room history page: Public (anyone with the link), Friends (your followers only), Participants (logged-in people who were in the room), Friends & Participants, or Private (only you). While a room is live there is a simpler on/off switch for public history, and the full five-way choice is available afterwards on the archived room.
Can I choose the link for a room's history?
Yes. Every archived room gets a permanent link of its own, separate from the 4-letter code, and you can set what it says from the room's settings while the room is still live - something like toms-birthday-2026 instead of a random string. The app checks it is not already taken as you type. That link keeps working after the room ends, which the room code does not.
Can I follow other people?
Yes. Profiles let you follow other hosts and see the rooms they have chosen to make public.
Accounts and privacy
How do I sign up?
You can create an account with an email address and password, or sign in with Google or Discord. An account is only needed for hosting, favorites, playlists, and history.
Do you show ads?
No. Social Karaoke carries no advertising and no ad tracking of any kind.
Do you use tracking cookies?
No. The only cookie Social Karaoke sets is the essential one that keeps you signed in, and the visitor analytics are cookieless. That is why there is no cookie banner on the site. YouTube's embedded player is separate and can set its own cookies when it loads or plays a video - see the Privacy Policy.
What data do you store about guests?
If you join a room as a guest, Social Karaoke stores the nickname you choose and a random session identifier for that room. Nothing else, and no account is needed.
Room chat is only visible inside the live room. It is not carried into the archived history, so once a room ends nobody can go back and read it. Chat is kept in the database for about six months and then deleted. Rooms themselves stay active for up to 24 hours before archiving into a read-only history of what was played. Full details are in the Privacy Policy.
How do I delete my account?
You can delete your account from your account settings. It removes your profile, your posts and follows, your playlists and favorites, your XP and badges, and any images you uploaded, and it signs you out on every device. It cannot be undone.
Rooms you hosted are kept as archived history for the people who sang in them, and your name is replaced with "Someone Who Left" on anything you sang, queued or said in chat. A night belongs to everyone who was there, so leaving does not erase theirs. You can also edit or remove your profile information at any time without deleting the account. See the Privacy Policy for full details.
Troubleshooting
A song will not play. What do I do?
Remove it from the queue and add a different version of the same song. Videos can be blocked in your country or restricted from playing in embedded players, and the same track is usually available from another uploader.
The video is playing but there is no sound.
Check the volume on the host device and on the screen it is connected to. Unless a guest has switched on "Play on my device", all the audio comes out of the host screen rather than guests' phones, so that is the device to check. Browsers also sometimes start a tab muted, so check the mute indicator on the browser tab itself.
We are hearing the same song twice, slightly out of step.
Someone has "Play on my device" switched on while sitting in the same room as the host screen. That toggle is meant for guests who are somewhere else; in one room it just gives you the song twice, a moment apart. Switch it off on the phone that is doubling up.
Will the host screen go to sleep during the party?
Social Karaoke keeps the host screen awake while a song is playing, using your browser's built-in wake lock. That has limits: it only holds during playback, it needs a browser that supports the feature, and it only works while the tab is in the foreground. For a long night, plug the host device in and turn off auto-sleep in its system settings as a backstop.
My friends cannot join with the code.
Check that they are entering the current room's 4-letter code, and that you have not left knock-to-join or a join PIN switched on. A room code only works while that room is live - once it ends, the code is freed and may later belong to a different room entirely. Archived rooms are reached through their own permanent history link, not the 4-letter code.
The queue is not updating on my phone.
Refresh the page. Social Karaoke keeps everyone in sync automatically, but a phone that has been asleep or off signal for a while may need one reload to catch up.