The invention discloses a washing machine, which comprises a washing machine tub and a removable dewatering tub. A washing cavity, a pulsator, a motor, a speed reducer and a speed reducer hood are arranged in the washing machine tub, and the speed reducer is fixed inside the speed reducer hood. The washing machine is characterized in that in dewatering, an insert disposed at the bottom of the dewatering tub penetrates through the pulsator to be inserted into the speed reducer hood or a socket on the speed reducer hood, and accordingly the dewatering tub, the pulsator and the speed reducer are connected into a whole to rotate. The invention discloses an operating method of the washing machine, which includes: in washing, the motor outputs power, and the power is reduced by the speed reducer to drive the pulsator to rotate at a low speed; in dewatering, the insert is used to connect the dewatering tub, the pulsator and the speed reducer together, so that the reduction function of the speed reducer is disabled, the speed reducer, the pulsator and the dewatering tub are directly driven by the motor to rotate together; and meanwhile, the power outputted by the motor is not reduced by the speed reducer, rotation is still at the high speed, and accordingly the dewatering effect of the dewatering tub can be ensured.