---
title: "How to Use Deco My Tree: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners"
description: "New to Deco My Tree? How to make your tree, share its link, help friends hang a gift and read every message on your tree’s day, step by step."
url: https://decomytree.link/blog/how-to-use-deco-my-tree
language: en
last_updated: 2026-11-09
---

Blog · Guides

# How to use Deco My Tree, step by step

Deco My Tree is a Christmas tree you make online and share with your friends. They hang gifts on it, each with a note inside, and the notes open on your tree’s day. Here is the whole thing from start to finish: making your tree, sharing it, what your friends do and what happens on the day.

By [Ömer Ercan](https://decomytree.link/about#founder), founder

## 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:

| Tree | Opens on | Good for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Christmas tree | December 25 | Friends, family and classmates |
| Birthday tree | The birthday you pick | Wishes for your birthday |
| Valentine’s tree | February 14 | Your partner or best friends |

Want the background on the trend first? Our [Deco My Tree guide](https://decomytree.link/deco-my-tree) 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](https://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.

No email? You can still save it

Tap **Continue without email** and choose a password: you’ll sign in with your tree code and that password. Write both down or take a screenshot, because without an email we can’t help you reset the password.

## 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](https://decomytree.link/deco-my-tree-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](https://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](https://decomytree.link/blog/how-to-write-a-christmas-message). Writing to a partner? Try [Christmas messages for your boyfriend](https://decomytree.link/blog/christmas-messages-for-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.

Names are typed, not checked

Anyone can type any name, so a gift signed “Santa” may well be from your cousin. That is half the fun.

## 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:

|  | Free | Pro |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Make, share and get gifts | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | None |
| Read messages before the day | No | Yes, anytime |
| Hints about who sent a gift | No | City, phone and app |
| Your tree on the world map | No | Yes |
| Change your tree’s name | No | Yes |

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.

Make your tree now

It takes a minute. Share your link today, and your friends can start hanging gifts tonight.

- [Create your tree](https://decomytree.link/create-tree)
- [Send a message](https://decomytree.link/send-message)

## Questions

### Do I need an app to use Deco My Tree?

No. Making a tree, sending a gift and reading your messages all work in any browser. On Android you can also get the app from [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.christmas.homedesign.mytree&hl=en&referrer=utm_source%3Ddecomytree.link%26utm_medium%3Dwebsite%26utm_campaign%3Dblog-how-to-use), and the iPhone app is [waiting for App Store review](https://decomytree.link/blog/deco-my-tree-iphone-app).

### How do I find my tree again?

Tap **Sign in** on the home page, then continue with Google or Apple, or type your email (or tree code) and password. Your tree opens with its link in **Share Your Tree**. Forgot your password? See [sign-in help](https://decomytree.link/deco-my-tree-login).

### Can my friends read each other’s messages?

No. Visitors see your tree, its topper, its name and how many gifts it has. Only you see the gifts and read the messages.

### Why can’t my friend open my link?

Most of the time the link was cut short. Send it again, ask them to open it in Safari or Chrome instead of inside another app, or give them your 8-character code for [decomytree.link/send-message](https://decomytree.link/send-message). More fixes are in [Deco My Tree not working](https://decomytree.link/deco-my-tree-not-working).

### Can I read my messages before Christmas?

With Pro you can open any gift whenever you want. Without it, they open on your tree’s day.

## Sources

Facts checked against these pages on November 9, 2026.

1. [Share Links in Instagram Stories to Everyone](https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/expanding-sharing-links-in-stories-to-everyone), Instagram
2. [About status](https://faq.whatsapp.com/454876960047011), WhatsApp Help Center

## More pages

- [How it works](https://decomytree.link/deco-my-tree): What it is, how it works and how to use it
- [Share your tree on Instagram](https://decomytree.link/deco-my-tree-instagram): Put your tree link in your story or bio
- [How to write a Christmas message](https://decomytree.link/blog/how-to-write-a-christmas-message): A simple four-part way to write one that sounds like you