How to use Deco My Tree, step by step

What Deco My Tree is, in 30 seconds

“Deco” is short for “decorate”. You make a tree, post its link, and your friends decorate it with gifts that hide a message. You can watch the gifts pile up, but you can’t read the notes until the day comes. On decomytree.link it all happens in the browser, so nobody has to install anything, and making a tree, sharing it and sending gifts are free.

There are three kinds of trees, and each one opens on its own day:

Want the background on the trend first? Our Deco My Tree guide has it on one page. This post is the hands-on version.

Step 1: Make your tree

It takes about a minute, on a phone or a computer.

1. Open the create page

   Go to decomytree.link/create-tree and tap Continue.

2. Choose the kind of tree

   Christmas and New Year, birthday or Valentine’s Day. Each card says when its messages open.

3. Give it a name

   Up to 30 characters, something your friends will recognize, like “Emma’s tree”. A birthday tree also asks for your birthday, because that is the day it opens.

4. Pick its look and a topper

   There are six trees for each kind (for Christmas, from classic green to rainbow) and a topper to finish it. Then tap Create my tree and answer the age question, which comes up once.

5. Save your tree

   Continue with Google or Apple, or type an email and a password. This is what opens your tree later, on any phone or computer.

Step 2: Share your link

Your tree has its own link, like decomytree.link/send-message?tree=ABCD2345, and an 8-character tree code. Tap Share Your Tree under your tree. The window copies your link first, then shows the steps for the app you pick:

• Instagram story: tap the sticker icon, choose Link, paste your link and share. The window even makes the story picture for you: your tree with “Send me a Christmas message” on it. Sharing on Instagram has every step.
• WhatsApp: paste the link in a chat, a group or your status.
• X and other apps: post it on X, or tap Other to open your phone’s own share menu and send it anywhere, your bio included.

Instagram has let every account add a Link sticker to stories since 2021, but very new accounts may not have it yet. If yours doesn’t, put the link in your bio and say so in the story. A WhatsApp status disappears after 24 hours, so post it again a few days later for the friends who missed it.

Friends who only have your code can type it at decomytree.link/send-message. Codes never use 0, 1, I or O, so they are easy to read out loud.

Step 3: How your friends hang a gift

Your friends don’t need an account or an app. When they open your link, they see your tree, its topper, its name and how many gifts it has. They never see the gifts or the messages: those are only for you.

1. They open your link (or type your tree code) and tap Send Message.
2. They choose a gift: 81 for a Christmas tree, from teddy bears and snow globes to a plane ticket. Every gift is free to send from the web.
3. They write a message of up to 500 characters, or start from one of the ready messages.
4. They type their name, up to 30 characters, or turn on Hide my name to show up as “🔒 Secret”. Other visitors never see it.
5. They send it, and the gift appears on your tree straight away, wrapped until the day.

If a friend is stuck on what to write, send them How to write a Christmas message. Writing to a partner? Try Christmas messages for your boyfriend.

Step 4: While you wait

Gifts pile up on your tree as friends send them, each with the name its sender typed under it. The notes stay locked until the day. Meanwhile:

• Open your tree again anytime: tap Sign in on the home page, on any phone or computer.
• Allow notifications, and your browser can tell you when a new gift arrives.
• Open your Christmas tree once a day to keep your Christmas streak. Santa leaves gifts of his own under it on days 3, 7, 14 and 30.
• See where your tree stands on the leaderboard of trees.
• Report, block or delete anything unkind: every message has these options.

Step 5: Opening day

On your tree’s day, the gifts unwrap: December 25 for a Christmas tree, February 14 for a Valentine’s tree and the birthday you picked for a birthday tree. Tap any gift to read its note, as often as you like.

A Christmas tree doesn’t close after the 25th. Friends can keep hanging New Year wishes on it, and you can read those as soon as they arrive. Around Christmas your tree also makes you a Wrapped: a short video of your year on it, with music, ready to share.

Free and Pro

Everything above is free. Pro adds a few extras for the tree’s owner:

Pro is a one-time payment, not a subscription, and its price depends on your country. The hints are for gifts sent from the website.