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6fd35a11 1[![Release Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/Release-2021.01.09-brightgreen)](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/releases/latest)
c76eb41b 2[![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Unlicense-blue.svg)](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/blob/master/LICENSE)
0c0ff18f 3[![Core Status](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/workflows/Core%20Test/badge.svg?branch=master)](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/actions?query=workflow%3ACore)
4[![CI Status](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/workflows/Full%20Test/badge.svg?branch=master)](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/actions?query=workflow%3AFull)
c76eb41b 5
6youtube-dlc - download videos from youtube.com and many other [video platforms](docs/supportedsites.md)
7
50865ca8 8This is a fork of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) which is inturn a fork of [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
5c0e5bc4 9
034b6215 10* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
c76eb41b 11* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
12 * [UPDATE](#update)
13 * [COMPILE](#compile)
14* [YOUTUBE-DLC](#youtube-dlc)
15* [DESCRIPTION](#description)
16* [OPTIONS](#options)
50865ca8 17 * [Network Options](#network-options)
18 * [Geo Restriction](#geo-restriction)
19 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
20 * [Download Options](#download-options)
21 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
22 * [Thumbnail images](#thumbnail-images)
23 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
24 * [Verbosity / Simulation Options](#verbosity--simulation-options)
25 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
26 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
27 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
28 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
29 * [Adobe Pass Options](#adobe-pass-options)
30 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
034b6215 31 * [SponSkrub Options (SponsorBlock)](#sponSkrub-options-sponsorblock)
50865ca8 32 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 33* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 34 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 35* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 36 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
37 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 38* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 39 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
40 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
41 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
c76eb41b 42* [VIDEO SELECTION](#video-selection-1)
43* [MORE](#more)
50865ca8 44
45
034b6215 46# NEW FEATURES
47The major new features are:
48
49* **[SponSkrub Integration](#sponSkrub-options-sponsorblock)** - You can use [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) to mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the [SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
50
6fd35a11 51* **[Format Sorting](#sorting-format)** - The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now prefered instead of simply using larger bitrate. Furthermore, you can now specify the sort order using `-S`. This allows for much easier format selection that what is possible by simply using `--format` ([examples](#format-selection-examples))
034b6215 52
53* Merged with youtube-dl **v2020.01.08** - You get the new features and patches of [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) in addition to all the features of [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494)
54
55* **New options** - `--list-formats-as-table`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive` etc
56
6fd35a11 57and many other features and patches. See [changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/commits) for the full list of changes
a26c99ac 58
59
d19bb9c0 60# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 61
c76eb41b 62To use the latest version, simply download and run the [latest release](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/releases/latest).
63Currently, there is no support for any package managers.
d19bb9c0 64
471115db
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65If you want to install the current master branch
66
c76eb41b 67 python -m pip install git+https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc
5f326cf5 68
c76eb41b 69### UPDATE
70**DO NOT UPDATE using `-U` !** instead download binaries again
5f326cf5 71
c76eb41b 72### COMPILE
5f326cf5 73
c76eb41b 74**For Windows**:
b96a939b 75To build the Windows executable yourself (without version info!)
d19bb9c0 76
9ab41610 77 python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller
cefecac1 78 pyinstaller.exe youtube_dlc\__main__.py --onefile --name youtube-dlc
8f1aaa97 79
9ab41610 80Or simply execute the `make_win.bat` if pyinstaller is installed.
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81There will be a `youtube-dlc.exe` in `/dist`
82
b96a939b
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83New way to build Windows is to use `python pyinst.py` (please use python3 64Bit)
84For 32Bit Version use a 32Bit Version of python (3 preferred here as well) and run `python pyinst32.py`
85
c76eb41b 86**For Unix**:
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87You will need the required build tools
88python, make (GNU), pandoc, zip, nosetests
89Then simply type this
90
91 make
92
d19bb9c0 93
cfcec693 94# DESCRIPTION
9ab41610 95**youtube-dlc** is a command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS. It is released to the public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
6bcd846b 96
9ab41610 97 youtube-dlc [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 98
c76eb41b 99
cfcec693 100# OPTIONS
c2b5f311 101`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
c76eb41b 102<!-- Autogenerated -->
c2b5f311 103
c76eb41b 104## General Options:
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105 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
106 --version Print program version and exit
c76eb41b 107 -U, --update [BROKEN] Update this program to latest
108 version. Make sure that you have sufficient
109 permissions (run with sudo if needed)
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110 -i, --ignore-errors Continue on download errors, for example to
111 skip unavailable videos in a playlist
91ebc640 112 (default) (Same as --no-abort-on-error)
6623ac34 113 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
114 error occurs (Same as --no-ignore-errors)
1dc2726f 115 --dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
4b9f9010 116 --list-extractors List all supported extractors
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117 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
118 extractors
119 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
120 extractor
121 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
122 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
6623ac34 123 from google videos for youtube-dl "large
c4af7684 124 apple". Use the value "auto" to let
6623ac34 125 youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
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126 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
127 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
128 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
129 this is not possible instead of searching.
6623ac34 130 --ignore-config, --no-config Do not read configuration files. When given
82674236 131 in the global configuration file
6623ac34 132 /etc/youtube-dl.conf: Do not read the user
c4af7684 133 configuration in ~/.config/youtube-
6623ac34 134 dl/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt
135 on Windows)
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136 --config-location PATH Location of the configuration file; either
137 the path to the config or its containing
138 directory.
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139 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
140 only list them.
6623ac34 141 --flat-videos Do not resolve the video urls
142 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
bdf7f139 143 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
c76eb41b 144 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched
1dc2726f 145 --no-color Do not emit color codes in output
08c1d0d3 146
149f05c7 147## Network Options:
28b4f736 148 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
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149 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
150 scheme. For example
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151 socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in an empty
152 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
149f05c7 153 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
c4af7684 154 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
c4af7684 155 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
c4af7684 156 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
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157
158## Geo Restriction:
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159 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
160 some geo-restricted sites. The default
161 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
7550ea50 162 option is not present) is used for the
4d2fdb07 163 actual downloading.
8c6c88c7 164 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
0934c9d4 165 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
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166 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
167 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
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168 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
169 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
0934c9d4 170 country code
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171 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
172 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
0934c9d4 173 notation
149f05c7 174
cfcec693 175## Video Selection:
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176 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
177 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
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178 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
179 indices of the videos in the playlist
180 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
181 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
182 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
183 specify range: "--playlist-items
184 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
185 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
186 --match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
187 caseless sub-string)
188 --reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
189 caseless sub-string)
780083db 190 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
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191 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
192 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
193 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
194 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
6623ac34 195 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
196 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
197 "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
c4af7684 198 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
c76eb41b 199 this date. The date formats accepted is the
200 same as --date
c4af7684 201 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
c76eb41b 202 this date. The date formats accepted is the
203 same as --date
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204 --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
205 COUNT views
206 --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
207 COUNT views
4d2fdb07 208 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Specify any key (see
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209 the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of
210 available keys) to match if the key is
211 present, !key to check if the key is not
212 present, key > NUMBER (like "comment_count
213 > 12", also works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to
214 compare against a number, key = 'LITERAL'
215 (like "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works
216 with !=) to match against a string literal
217 and & to require multiple matches. Values
218 which are not known are excluded unless you
219 put a question mark (?) after the operator.
220 For example, to only match videos that have
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221 been liked more than 100 times and disliked
222 less than 50 times (or the dislike
223 functionality is not available at the given
224 service), but who also have a description,
225 use --match-filter "like_count > 100 &
226 dislike_count <? 50 & description" .
c76eb41b 227 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
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228 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
229 to a video and a playlist.
230 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
231 a video and a playlist.
232 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
233 age
234 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
235 archive file. Record the IDs of all
236 downloaded videos in it.
ea6e0c2b 237 --break-on-existing Stop the download process after attempting
238 to download a file that's in the archive.
c76eb41b 239 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
240 --include-ads Download advertisements as well
241 (experimental)
6623ac34 242 --no-include-ads Do not download advertisements (default)
6bcd846b 243
d5a62e4f 244## Download Options:
5e3856a2 245 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
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246 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
247 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
248 "infinite".
0be8314d 249 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
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250 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
251 ISM)
6623ac34 252 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
253 hlsnative and ISM (default)
254 (Same as --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
255 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
256 (Same as --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
a82f4184 257 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
6623ac34 258 downloading is finished
c76eb41b 259 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
260 downloading is finished (default)
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261 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
262 (default is 1024)
c76eb41b 263 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
264 from an initial value of --buffer-size
265 (default)
266 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
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267 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
268 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
269 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
270 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
271 (experimental)
2101f5d4 272 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
6623ac34 273 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
c76eb41b 274 (default)
31487eb9 275 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
c4af7684 276 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
0934c9d4 277 expected file size
c4af7684 278 --hls-prefer-native Use the native HLS downloader instead of
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279 ffmpeg
280 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg Use ffmpeg instead of the native HLS
281 downloader
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282 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos,
283 allowing to play the video while
284 downloading (some players may not be able
285 to play it)
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286 --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader.
287 Currently supports
6bb26669 288 aria2c,avconv,axel,curl,ffmpeg,httpie,wget
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289 --external-downloader-args ARGS Give these arguments to the external
290 downloader
d5a62e4f 291
cfcec693 292## Filesystem Options:
c4af7684 293 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
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294 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
295 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
296 comments and ignored.
bd1bcd3e 297 -o, --output TEMPLATE Output filename template, see the "OUTPUT
c76eb41b 298 TEMPLATE" for details
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299 --autonumber-start NUMBER Specify the start value for %(autonumber)s
300 (default is 1)
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301 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
302 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
303 filenames
c76eb41b 304 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
305 filenames (default)
1dc2726f 306 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite files
6623ac34 307 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files (default)
c76eb41b 308 --no-continue Restart download of partially downloaded
309 files from beginning
310 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
6623ac34 311 into output file (default)
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312 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
313 into output file
c76eb41b 314 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
315 file modification time (default)
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316 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
317 the file modification time
318 --write-description Write video description to a .description
319 file
6623ac34 320 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
1dc2726f 321 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
6623ac34 322 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
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323 --write-annotations Write video annotations to a
324 .annotations.xml file
6623ac34 325 --no-write-annotations Do not write video annotations (default)
d845622b 326 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
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327 (created with the "--write-info-json"
328 option)
329 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
330 jar in
6623ac34 331 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies (default)
332 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
333 can store some downloaded information
82674236 334 permanently. By default
6623ac34 335 $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
336 ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the moment, only
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337 YouTube player files (for videos with
338 obfuscated signatures) are cached, but that
339 may change.
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340 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
341 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
c76eb41b 342 --trim-file-name LENGTH Limit the filename length (extension
bc30d1e0 343 excluded)
6bcd846b 344
c76eb41b 345## Thumbnail Images:
1dc2726f 346 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
6623ac34 347 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
c76eb41b 348 (default)
1dc2726f 349 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
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350 --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
351 formats
2b1bd292 352
732044af 353## Internet Shortcut Options:
354 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending on
355 the current platform (.url/.webloc/.desktop).
356 The URL may be cached by the OS.
6623ac34 357 --write-url-link Write a Windows .url internet shortcut file.
358 (The OS caches the URL based on the file path)
359 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut file
360 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut file
732044af 361
cfcec693 362## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
1dc2726f 363 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
6c072e7d 364 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
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365 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
366 anything to disk
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367 --skip-download Do not download the video
368 -g, --get-url Simulate, quiet but print URL
369 -e, --get-title Simulate, quiet but print title
370 --get-id Simulate, quiet but print id
371 --get-thumbnail Simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
372 --get-description Simulate, quiet but print video description
373 --get-duration Simulate, quiet but print video length
374 --get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
375 --get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
c4af7684 376 -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
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377 See the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description
378 of available keys.
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379 -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
380 for each command-line argument. If the URL
381 refers to a playlist, dump the whole
382 playlist information in a single line.
383 --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
384 JSON (video is still being downloaded).
2d30509f 385 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
386 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
387 another simulation switch is used.
388 (Same as --force-download-archive)
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389 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
390 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
391 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
392 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
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393 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
394 to debug problems (very verbose)
395 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
396 files in the current directory to debug
397 problems
780083db 398 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6623ac34 399 -C, --call-home Contact the youtube-dlc server for debugging
400 --no-call-home Do not contact the youtube-dlc server for
401 debugging (default)
6bcd846b 402
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403## Workarounds:
404 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
1dc2726f 405 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
c4af7684 406 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
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407 information about the video. (Currently
408 supported only for YouTube)
1dc2726f 409 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
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410 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
411 access is restricted to one domain
412 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
413 separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
414 option multiple times
415 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
416 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
417 or fribidi executable in PATH
418 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
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419 download when used alone or a lower bound
420 of a range for randomized sleep before each
421 download (minimum possible number of
422 seconds to sleep) when used along with
423 --max-sleep-interval.
424 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Upper bound of a range for randomized sleep
425 before each download (maximum possible
426 number of seconds to sleep). Must only be
427 used along with --min-sleep-interval.
c76eb41b 428 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Enforce sleep interval on subtitles as well
36f35428 429
cfcec693 430## Video Format Options:
eb8a4433 431 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
432 for more details
433 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
434 "Sorting Formats" for more details
435 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
436 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
437 Formats" for more details
438 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
c76eb41b 439 specified sort order (default), see
440 "Sorting Formats" for more details
441 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
442 into a single file
443 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
444 each output file (default)
445 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
446 into a single file
447 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
448 each output file (default)
1dc2726f 449 --all-formats Download all available video formats
6fd35a11 450 --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats over non-free
451 formats of same quality
535d7b68 452 -F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
bb6ac836 453 videos
91ebc640 454 --list-formats-as-table Present the output of -F in a more tabular
455 form (default)
6623ac34 456 (Same as --no-list-formats-as-table)
c76eb41b 457 --list-formats-old Present the output of -F in the old form
6623ac34 458 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Download the DASH manifests and related data
459 on YouTube videos (default)
460 (Same as --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
c76eb41b 461 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and
78895bd3 462 related data on YouTube videos
c76eb41b 463 (Same as --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
6623ac34 464 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Download the HLS manifests and related data
465 on YouTube videos (default)
466 (Same as --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
c76eb41b 467 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest Do not download the HLS manifests and
468 related data on YouTube videos
469 (Same as --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
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470 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
471 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
472 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
473 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
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474
475## Subtitle Options:
c76eb41b 476 --write-subs Write subtitle file
477 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
478 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
741dd8ea 479 (YouTube only)
c76eb41b 480 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write automatically generated
6623ac34 481 subtitle file (default)
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482 --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
483 video
1dc2726f 484 --list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
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485 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
486 preference, for example: "srt" or
487 "ass/srt/best"
488 --sub-lang LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download
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489 (optional) separated by commas, use --list-
490 subs for available language tags
6bcd846b 491
cfcec693 492## Authentication Options:
1dc2726f 493 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
c4af7684 494 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
cefecac1 495 out, youtube-dlc will ask interactively.
dc48a354 496 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
1dc2726f 497 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
29f7c58a 498 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
6bcd846b 499
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500## Adobe Pass Options:
501 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
909d24dd 502 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
503 a list of available MSOs
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504 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
505 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
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506 If this option is left out, youtube-dlc
507 will ask interactively.
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508 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
509 operators
510
c76eb41b 511## Post-Processing Options:
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512 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
513 (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
514 avprobe)
515 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac",
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516 "flac", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", "vorbis", or
517 "wav"; "best" by default; No effect without
518 -x
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519 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, insert
520 a value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse)
521 for VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
522 (default 5)
c76eb41b 523 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
524 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv).
525 If target container does not support the
526 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail
527 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
528 re-encoding is necessary (currently
529 supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv|avi)
1b77b347 530 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
531 Specify the postprocessor name and the
532 arguments separated by a colon ':' to give
533 the argument to only the specified
534 postprocessor. Supported names are
535 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
536 EmbedSubtitle, Metadata, Merger,
537 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
538 SubtitlesConvertor, SponSkrub and Default.
539 You can use this option multiple times to
540 give different arguments to different
541 postprocessors
c76eb41b 542 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
6623ac34 543 after post-processing
c76eb41b 544 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
6623ac34 545 post-processing (default)
546 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
547 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
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548 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
549 webm and mkv videos)
c76eb41b 550 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
1dc2726f 551 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
6623ac34 552 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
1dc2726f 553 --add-metadata Write metadata to the video file
6623ac34 554 --no-add-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
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555 --metadata-from-title FORMAT Parse additional metadata like song title /
556 artist from the video title. The format
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557 syntax is the same as --output. Regular
558 expression with named capture groups may
559 also be used. The parsed parameters replace
560 existing values. Example: --metadata-from-
561 title "%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a
562 title like "Coldplay - Paradise". Example
563 (regex): --metadata-from-title
564 "(?P<artist>.+?) - (?P<title>.+)"
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565 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
566 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
567 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
568 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
569 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
570 default; fix file if we can, warn
571 otherwise)
572 --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
6623ac34 573 postprocessors (Same as --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
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574 --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
575 postprocessors (default)
6623ac34 576 (Same as --no-prefer-avconv)
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577 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg/avconv binary;
578 either the path to the binary or its
579 containing directory.
580 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
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581 downloading and post-processing, similar to
582 find's -exec syntax. Example: --exec 'adb
583 push {} /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'
7de81fcc 584 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format
9fc41bcb 585 (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt|lrc)
6bcd846b 586
c76eb41b 587## [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) Options ([SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app)):
588 --sponskrub Use sponskrub to mark sponsored sections
589 with the data available in SponsorBlock
590 API. This is enabled by default if the
591 sponskrub binary exists (Youtube only)
592 --no-sponskrub Do not use sponskrub
a9e7f546 593 --sponskrub-cut Cut out the sponsor sections instead of
594 simply marking them
6623ac34 595 --no-sponskrub-cut Simply mark the sponsor sections, not cut
596 them out (default)
c76eb41b 597 --sponskrub-force Run sponskrub even if the video was already
598 downloaded
6623ac34 599 --no-sponskrub-force Do not cut out the sponsor sections if the
600 video was already downloaded (default)
c76eb41b 601 --sponskrub-location PATH Location of the sponskrub binary; either
602 the path to the binary or its containing
603 directory.
a9e7f546 604
78895bd3 605## Extractor Options:
17cb02d0 606 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
6623ac34 607 (Same as --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
608 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
609 (Same as --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
17cb02d0 610
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611# CONFIGURATION
612
613You can configure youtube-dlc by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. On Linux and macOS, the system wide configuration file is located at `/etc/youtube-dlc.conf` and the user wide configuration file at `~/.config/youtube-dlc/config`. On Windows, the user wide configuration file locations are `%APPDATA%\youtube-dlc\config.txt` or `C:\Users\<user name>\youtube-dlc.conf`. Note that by default configuration file may not exist so you may need to create it yourself.
614
615For example, with the following configuration file youtube-dlc will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under `Movies` directory in your home directory:
616```
617# Lines starting with # are comments
618
619# Always extract audio
620-x
621
622# Do not copy the mtime
623--no-mtime
624
625# Use this proxy
626--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
627
628# Save all videos under Movies directory in your home directory
629-o ~/Movies/%(title)s.%(ext)s
630```
631
632Note that options in configuration file are just the same options aka switches used in regular command line calls thus there **must be no whitespace** after `-` or `--`, e.g. `-o` or `--proxy` but not `- o` or `-- proxy`.
633
634You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable the configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
635
636You can also use `--config-location` if you want to use custom configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
637
638### Authentication with `.netrc` file
639
640You may also want to configure automatic credentials storage for extractors that support authentication (by providing login and password with `--username` and `--password`) in order not to pass credentials as command line arguments on every youtube-dlc execution and prevent tracking plain text passwords in the shell command history. You can achieve this using a [`.netrc` file](https://stackoverflow.com/tags/.netrc/info) on a per extractor basis. For that you will need to create a `.netrc` file in your `$HOME` and restrict permissions to read/write by only you:
641```
642touch $HOME/.netrc
643chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
644```
645After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
646```
647machine <extractor> login <login> password <password>
648```
649For example:
650```
651machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
652machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
653```
654To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to youtube-dlc or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
655
656On Windows you may also need to setup the `%HOME%` environment variable manually. For example:
657```
658set HOME=%USERPROFILE%
659```
660
661# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
662
663The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names.
664
665**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
666
667The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dlc -o funny_video.flv "https://some/video"`. However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences may be formatted according to [python string formatting operations](https://docs.python.org/2/library/stdtypes.html#string-formatting). For example, `%(NAME)s` or `%(NAME)05d`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by formatting operations. Allowed names along with sequence type are:
668
669 - `id` (string): Video identifier
670 - `title` (string): Video title
671 - `url` (string): Video URL
672 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
673 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
674 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
675 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
676 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
677 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
678 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
679 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
680 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
681 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
682 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
683 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
684 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
685 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
dbbbe555 686 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH-mm-ss)
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687 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
688 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
689 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
690 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
691 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
692 - `comment_count` (numeric): Number of comments on the video
693 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
694 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
695 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
696 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
697 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
698 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
699 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
700 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
701 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
702 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
703 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
704 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
705 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
706 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
707 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
708 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
709 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
710 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
711 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
712 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
713 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
714 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
715 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
716 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
717 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
718 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
719 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
720 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
721 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
722 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
723 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
724
725Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
726
727 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
728 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
729 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
730
731Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
732
733 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
734 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
735 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
736 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
737 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
738 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
739 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
740
741Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
742
743 - `track` (string): Title of the track
744 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
745 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
746 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
747 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
748 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
749 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
750 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
751 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
752 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
753
754Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. Note that some of the sequences are not guaranteed to be present since they depend on the metadata obtained by a particular extractor. Such sequences will be replaced with `NA`.
755
756For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `youtube-dlc test video` and id `BaW_jenozKcj`, this will result in a `youtube-dlc test video-BaW_jenozKcj.mp4` file created in the current directory.
757
758For numeric sequences you can use numeric related formatting, for example, `%(view_count)05d` will result in a string with view count padded with zeros up to 5 characters, like in `00042`.
759
760Output templates can also contain arbitrary hierarchical path, e.g. `-o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s'` which will result in downloading each video in a directory corresponding to this path template. Any missing directory will be automatically created for you.
761
762To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
763
91ebc640 764The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
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765
766In some cases, you don't want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title:
767
768#### Output template and Windows batch files
769
770If you are using an output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`.
771
772#### Output template examples
773
774Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
775
776```bash
777$ youtube-dlc --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
778youtube-dlc test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
779
780$ youtube-dlc --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
781youtube-dlc_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
782
783# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
784$ youtube-dlc -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
785
786# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
787$ youtube-dlc -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
788
789# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
790$ youtube-dlc -u user -p password -o '~/MyVideos/%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial/
791
792# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
793$ youtube-dlc -o "C:/MyVideos/%(series)s/%(season_number)s - %(season)s/%(episode_number)s - %(episode)s.%(ext)s" https://videomore.ru/kino_v_detalayah/5_sezon/367617
794
795# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
796$ youtube-dlc -o - BaW_jenozKc
797```
798
799# FORMAT SELECTION
800
c2b5f311 801By default, youtube-dlc tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
91ebc640 802This is generally equivalent to using `-f bestvideo*+bestaudio/best`. However, if multiple audiostreams is enabled (`--audio-multistreams`), the default format changes to `-f bestvideo+bestaudio/best`. Similarly, if ffmpeg and avconv are unavailable, or if you use youtube-dlc to stream to `stdout` (`-o -`), the default becomes `-f best/bestvideo+bestaudio`.
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c2b5f311 804The general syntax for format selection is `--f FORMAT` (or `--format FORMAT`) where `FORMAT` is a *selector expression*, i.e. an expression that describes format or formats you would like to download.
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805
806**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
807
808The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
809
810You can also use a file extension (currently `3gp`, `aac`, `flv`, `m4a`, `mp3`, `mp4`, `ogg`, `wav`, `webm` are supported) to download the best quality format of a particular file extension served as a single file, e.g. `-f webm` will download the best quality format with the `webm` extension served as a single file.
811
812You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
813
909d24dd 814 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
815 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
909d24dd 816 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
817 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 818 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
819 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 820 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
821 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 822 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
823 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 824 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
825 - `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
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c2b5f311 827For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recomended to never actually use `worst` and related options. When your format selector is `worst`, the format which is worst in all respects is selected. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps` instead of `-f worst`. See [sorting formats](#sorting-formats) for more details.
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eb8a4433 829If you want to download multiple videos and they don't have the same formats available, you can specify the order of preference using slashes. Note that formats on the left hand side are preferred, for example `-f 22/17/18` will download format 22 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 17 if it's available, otherwise it will download format 18 if it's available, otherwise it will complain that no suitable formats are available for download.
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830
831If you want to download several formats of the same video use a comma as a separator, e.g. `-f 22,17,18` will download all these three formats, of course if they are available. Or a more sophisticated example combined with the precedence feature: `-f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio`.
832
909d24dd 833You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using `-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg or avconv installed), for example `-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg/avconv. If `--no-video-multistreams` is used, all formats with a video stream except the first one are ignored. Similarly, if `--no-audio-multistreams` is used, all formats with an audio stream except the first one are ignored. For example, `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio` will download and merge all 3 given formats. The resulting file will have 2 video streams and 2 audio streams. But `-f bestvideo+best+bestaudio --no-video-multistreams` will download and merge only `bestvideo` and `bestaudio`. `best` is ignored since another format containing a video stream (`bestvideo`) has already been selected. The order of the formats is therefore important. `-f best+bestaudio --no-audio-multistreams` will download and merge both formats while `-f bestaudio+best --no-audio-multistreams` will ignore `best` and download only `bestaudio`.
eb8a4433 834
835## Filtering Formats
836
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837You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
838
839The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
840
841 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
842 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
843 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
844 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
845 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
846 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
847 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
848 - `fps`: Frame rate
849
850Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
851
852 - `ext`: File extension
853 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
854 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
855 - `container`: Name of the container format
856 - `protocol`: The protocol that will be used for the actual download, lower-case (`http`, `https`, `rtsp`, `rtmp`, `rtmpe`, `mms`, `f4m`, `ism`, `http_dash_segments`, `m3u8`, or `m3u8_native`)
857 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 858 - `language`: Language code
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859
860Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
861
f96bff99 862Note that none of the aforementioned meta fields are guaranteed to be present since this solely depends on the metadata obtained by particular extractor, i.e. the metadata offered by the video hoster. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
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863
864Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (`?`) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so `-f "[height <=? 720][tbr>500]"` selects up to 720p videos (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s.
865
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866Format selectors can also be grouped using parentheses, for example if you want to download the best mp4 and webm formats with a height lower than 480 you can use `-f '(mp4,webm)[height<480]'`.
867
eb8a4433 868## Sorting Formats
869
870You can change the criteria for being considered the `best` by using `-S` (`--format-sort`). The general format for this is `--format-sort field1,field2...`. The available fields are:
871
872 - `video`, `has_video`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
873 - `audio`, `has_audio`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
874 - `extractor`, `preference`, `extractor_preference`: The format preference as given by the extractor
875 - `lang`, `language_preference`: Language preference as given by the extractor
876 - `quality`: The quality of the format. This is a metadata field available in some websites
877 - `source`, `source_preference`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
878 - `proto`, `protocol`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8-native` > `m3u8` > `http-dash-segments` > other > `mms`/`rtsp` > unknown > `f4f`/`f4m`)
7fd86ce1 879 - `vcodec`, `video_codec`: Video Codec (`vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other > unknown)
eb8a4433 880 - `acodec`, `audio_codec`: Audio Codec (`opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other > unknown)
881 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
c76eb41b 882 - `vext`, `video_ext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
eb8a4433 883 - `aext`, `audio_ext`: Audio Extension (`m4a` > `aac` > `mp3` > `ogg` > `opus` > `webm` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, the order changes to `opus` > `ogg` > `webm` > `m4a` > `mp3` > `aac`.
884 - `ext`, `extension`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
885 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
2af884ff 886 - `filesize_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
eb8a4433 887 - `size`, `filesize_estimate`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
888 - `height`: Height of video
889 - `width`: Width of video
890 - `res`, `dimension`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
891 - `fps`, `framerate`: Framerate of video
892 - `tbr`, `total_bitrate`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
893 - `vbr`, `video_bitrate`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
894 - `abr`, `audio_bitrate`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
895 - `br`, `bitrate`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
896 - `samplerate`, `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
897
7fd86ce1 898Note that any other **numerical** field made available by the extractor can also be used. All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in decending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a prefered value for the fields, seperated by a `:`. Eg: `res:720` prefers larger videos, but no larger than 720p and the smallest video if there are no videos less than 720p. For `codec` and `ext`, you can provide two prefered values, the first for video and the second for audio. Eg: `+codec:avc:m4a` (equivalent to `+vcodec:avc,+acodec:m4a`) sets the video codec preference to `h264` > `h265` > `vp9` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` and audio codec preference to `mp4a` > `aac` > `vorbis` > `opus` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts`. You can also make the sorting prefer the nearest values to the provided by using `~` as the delimiter. Eg: `filesize~1G` prefers the format with filesize closest to 1 GiB.
eb8a4433 899
2af884ff 900The fields `has_video`, `extractor`, `lang`, `quality` are always given highest priority in sorting, irrespective of the user-defined order. This behaviour can be changed by using `--force-format-sort`. Apart from these, the default order used is: `res,fps,codec,size,br,asr,proto,ext,has_audio,source,format_id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
eb8a4433 901
902If your format selector is `worst`, the last item is selected after sorting. This means it will select the format that is worst in all repects. Most of the time, what you actually want is the video with the smallest filesize instead. So it is generally better to use `-f best -S +size,+br,+res,+fps`.
903
904**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
905
eb8a4433 906## Format Selection examples
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907
908Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
909
910```bash
909d24dd 911# Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
912# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
2af884ff 913$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv+ba/b'
909d24dd 914
915# Download best format that contains video,
916# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
2af884ff 917$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*+ba/b'
918
919# Same as above
920$ youtube-dlc
909d24dd 921
6fd35a11 922# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
923# For this case, an output template should be used since
924# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
925$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
909d24dd 926
927
6fd35a11 928
929# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
930# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but better result
931
932# Download the worst video available (old method)
2af884ff 933$ youtube-dlc -f 'wv*+wa/w'
eb8a4433 934
935# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
936$ youtube-dlc -S '+res'
937
938# Download the smallest video available
939$ youtube-dlc -S '+size,+bitrate'
940
941
909d24dd 942
eb8a4433 943# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
2af884ff 944$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
eb8a4433 945
946# Download the best video with the best extension
947# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
948$ youtube-dlc -S 'ext'
949
950
909d24dd 951
eb8a4433 952# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
953# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
2af884ff 954$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
b7770046 955
eb8a4433 956# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
957# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
958$ youtube-dlc -S 'height:480'
b7770046 959
eb8a4433 960# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
961# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
962# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
963# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
964$ youtube-dlc -S 'res:480'
b7770046 965
b7770046 966
909d24dd 967
eb8a4433 968# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
969# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
2af884ff 970$ youtube-dlc -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
eb8a4433 971
972# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
973# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
2af884ff 974$ youtube-dlc -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
eb8a4433 975
976# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
2af884ff 977$ youtube-dlc -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
eb8a4433 978
979
909d24dd 980
eb8a4433 981# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
982# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
2af884ff 983$ youtube-dlc -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 984
985# Download best video available via the best protocol
986# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
987$ youtube-dlc -S 'protocol'
988
989
909d24dd 990
eb8a4433 991# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
2af884ff 992$ youtube-dlc -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 993
994# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
995# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
996$ youtube-dlc -S 'codec:h264'
997
998# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
999# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1000$ youtube-dlc -S '+codec:h264'
1001
1002
1003
1004# More complex examples
1005
1006# Download the best video no better than 720p prefering framerate greater than 30,
2af884ff 1007# or the worst video (still prefering framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1008$ youtube-dlc -f '((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)'
eb8a4433 1009
1010# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1011# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1012# prefering larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1013$ youtube-dlc -S 'res:720,fps'
1014
1015
909d24dd 1016
eb8a4433 1017# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1018# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1019# prefering better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1020$ youtube-dlc -S '+res:480,codec,br'
b7770046 1021```
eb8a4433 1022
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1023
1024
b7770046 1025
b7770046 1026
c2b5f311 1027# MORE
2af884ff 1028For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the [original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)