diff --git a/desktop-client/room_widget.py b/desktop-client/room_widget.py
index 02b0328..4fcafc1 100644
--- a/desktop-client/room_widget.py
+++ b/desktop-client/room_widget.py
@@ -4,15 +4,28 @@ import html
 import re
 from PyQt6.QtWidgets import (
     QWidget, QVBoxLayout, QHBoxLayout, QLabel, QLineEdit, 
-    QPushButton, QFrame, QSlider, QTextEdit, QTextBrowser, QApplication, QToolTip, QSplitter
+    QPushButton, QFrame, QSlider, QTextEdit, QTextBrowser, QApplication, QToolTip, QSplitter,
+    QMainWindow
 )
-from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt, pyqtSignal, QTimer
+from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt, pyqtSignal, QTimer, QEvent
 from PyQt6.QtGui import QIcon, QCursor
 
 import uuid
 
 from vlc_player import VLCSyncPlayer
 
+class ChatPopoutWindow(QMainWindow):
+    closed = pyqtSignal()
+
+    def __init__(self, parent=None):
+        super().__init__(parent)
+        self.setWindowTitle("Live Chat")
+        self.resize(350, 600)
+
+    def closeEvent(self, event):
+        self.closed.emit()
+        super().closeEvent(event)
+
 class ClickableSlider(QSlider):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
@@ -80,6 +93,8 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         self.current_users = []
         self._is_first_user_update = True
         
+        self.popout_window = None
+        
         self._setup_ui()
         
     def _setup_ui(self):
@@ -213,6 +228,17 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         chat_header = QLabel("Live Chat")
         chat_header.setObjectName("chatHeader")
         
+        self.popout_btn = QPushButton("↗")
+        self.popout_btn.setObjectName("iconBtn")
+        self.popout_btn.setFixedSize(24, 24)
+        self.popout_btn.setToolTip("Pop out chat")
+        self.popout_btn.clicked.connect(self.popout_chat)
+        
+        header_layout = QHBoxLayout()
+        header_layout.addWidget(chat_header)
+        header_layout.addStretch()
+        header_layout.addWidget(self.popout_btn)
+        
         self.users_lbl = QLabel("0 watching")
         self.users_lbl.setObjectName("usersLbl")
         
@@ -280,7 +306,7 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         self.chat_send_btn.clicked.connect(self.send_chat)
         self.chat_input.returnPressed.connect(self.send_chat)
         
-        chat_layout.addWidget(chat_header)
+        chat_layout.addLayout(header_layout)
         chat_layout.addWidget(self.users_lbl)
         chat_layout.addWidget(self.tags_container)
         chat_layout.addWidget(self.chat_messages, 1)
@@ -296,7 +322,8 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         
         # Prevent UI components from stealing focus (which breaks spacebar shortcuts)
         for w in [self.copy_code_btn, self.leave_btn, self.play_btn, self.fullscreen_btn, 
-                  self.chat_send_btn, self.seekbar, self.volume_slider, self.tags_header_btn, self.chat_toggle_btn]:
+                  self.chat_send_btn, self.seekbar, self.volume_slider, self.tags_header_btn, 
+                  self.chat_toggle_btn, self.popout_btn]:
             w.setFocusPolicy(Qt.FocusPolicy.NoFocus)
             
         # specifically for chat_messages, we allow clicking links, but avoid focus stealing
@@ -381,6 +408,11 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
             self.tags_header_btn.setText("▶ Highlights")
 
     def toggle_chat(self):
+        if self.popout_window:
+            self.popout_window.activateWindow()
+            self.popout_window.raise_()
+            return
+
         if self.chat_container.isVisible():
             self._saved_chat_width = self.chat_container.width()
             self.chat_container.hide()
@@ -390,6 +422,45 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
             sizes = self.splitter.sizes()
             self.splitter.setSizes([sizes[0] - w, w])
 
+    def popout_chat(self):
+        if self.popout_window:
+            return
+
+        self.popout_window = ChatPopoutWindow(self.window())
+        self.popout_window.setWindowTitle(f"Chat - {self.room_code}")
+        
+        # Detach from layout
+        self.chat_container.setParent(None)
+        
+        # Set central widget
+        central = QWidget()
+        l = QVBoxLayout(central)
+        l.setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0)
+        l.addWidget(self.chat_container)
+        self.popout_window.setCentralWidget(central)
+        
+        self.popout_window.closed.connect(self.on_popout_closed)
+        self.popout_window.show()
+        
+        self.popout_btn.hide()
+        
+        # Collapse the space in splitter
+        self.splitter.setSizes([self.width(), 0])
+
+    def on_popout_closed(self):
+        self.popout_window = None
+        
+        # Re-attach to layout
+        self.chat_container.setParent(self)
+        self.splitter.insertWidget(1, self.chat_container)
+        
+        self.popout_btn.show()
+        
+        # Restore splitter sizes
+        w = getattr(self, '_saved_chat_width', 320)
+        self.splitter.setSizes([self.width() - w, w])
+        self.chat_container.show()
+
     def toggle_fullscreen(self):
         top_window = self.window()
         if top_window.isFullScreen():
@@ -780,7 +851,7 @@ class RoomWidget(QWidget):
         self.chat_message_ready.emit(text)
         self.chat_input.setText("")
 
-    def _parse_time_arg(self, arg: str) -> float | None:
+    def _parse_time_arg(self, arg: str):
         """Parses a time string (absolute time, offset like +30s, or 'now') and returns the target time in MS. Returns None on error."""
         current_ms = self.vlc_player.current_time_ms
         length_ms = self.vlc_player.get_length()