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b2f70ae7 1<!-- See: https://github.com/marketplace/actions/dynamic-badges -->
2[![Release Version](https://img.shields.io/endpoint?url=https://gist.githubusercontent.com/pukkandan/c69cb23c3c5b3316248e52022790aa57/raw/version.json&color=brightgreen)](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/releases/latest)
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c76eb41b 6
7youtube-dlc - download videos from youtube.com and many other [video platforms](docs/supportedsites.md)
8
50865ca8 9This 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 10
034b6215 11* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
c76eb41b 12* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
13 * [UPDATE](#update)
14 * [COMPILE](#compile)
15* [YOUTUBE-DLC](#youtube-dlc)
16* [DESCRIPTION](#description)
17* [OPTIONS](#options)
50865ca8 18 * [Network Options](#network-options)
19 * [Geo Restriction](#geo-restriction)
20 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
21 * [Download Options](#download-options)
22 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
23 * [Thumbnail images](#thumbnail-images)
24 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
25 * [Verbosity / Simulation Options](#verbosity--simulation-options)
26 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
27 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
28 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
29 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
30 * [Adobe Pass Options](#adobe-pass-options)
31 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
034b6215 32 * [SponSkrub Options (SponsorBlock)](#sponSkrub-options-sponsorblock)
50865ca8 33 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
c76eb41b 34* [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
50865ca8 35 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
c76eb41b 36* [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
50865ca8 37 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
38 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
c76eb41b 39* [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
50865ca8 40 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
41 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
42 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
c76eb41b 43* [VIDEO SELECTION](#video-selection-1)
44* [MORE](#more)
50865ca8 45
46
034b6215 47# NEW FEATURES
48The major new features are:
49
50* **[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
51
6fd35a11 52* **[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 53
54* 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)
55
56* **New options** - `--list-formats-as-table`, `--write-link`, `--force-download-archive` etc
57
6fd35a11 58and 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 59
60
d19bb9c0 61# INSTALLATION
50865ca8 62
c76eb41b 63To use the latest version, simply download and run the [latest release](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/releases/latest).
64Currently, there is no support for any package managers.
d19bb9c0 65
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66If you want to install the current master branch
67
c76eb41b 68 python -m pip install git+https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc
5f326cf5 69
c76eb41b 70### UPDATE
71**DO NOT UPDATE using `-U` !** instead download binaries again
5f326cf5 72
c76eb41b 73### COMPILE
5f326cf5 74
c76eb41b 75**For Windows**:
b96a939b 76To build the Windows executable yourself (without version info!)
d19bb9c0 77
9ab41610 78 python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller
cefecac1 79 pyinstaller.exe youtube_dlc\__main__.py --onefile --name youtube-dlc
8f1aaa97 80
9ab41610 81Or simply execute the `make_win.bat` if pyinstaller is installed.
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82There will be a `youtube-dlc.exe` in `/dist`
83
b96a939b
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84New way to build Windows is to use `python pyinst.py` (please use python3 64Bit)
85For 32Bit Version use a 32Bit Version of python (3 preferred here as well) and run `python pyinst32.py`
86
c76eb41b 87**For Unix**:
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88You will need the required build tools
89python, make (GNU), pandoc, zip, nosetests
90Then simply type this
91
92 make
93
d19bb9c0 94
cfcec693 95# DESCRIPTION
9ab41610 96**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 97
9ab41610 98 youtube-dlc [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
b50e3bc6 99
c76eb41b 100
cfcec693 101# OPTIONS
c2b5f311 102`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
c76eb41b 103<!-- Autogenerated -->
c2b5f311 104
c76eb41b 105## General Options:
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106 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
107 --version Print program version and exit
c76eb41b 108 -U, --update [BROKEN] Update this program to latest
109 version. Make sure that you have sufficient
110 permissions (run with sudo if needed)
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111 -i, --ignore-errors Continue on download errors, for example to
112 skip unavailable videos in a playlist
91ebc640 113 (default) (Same as --no-abort-on-error)
6623ac34 114 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
115 error occurs (Same as --no-ignore-errors)
1dc2726f 116 --dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
4b9f9010 117 --list-extractors List all supported extractors
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118 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
119 extractors
120 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
121 extractor
122 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
123 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
6623ac34 124 from google videos for youtube-dl "large
c4af7684 125 apple". Use the value "auto" to let
6623ac34 126 youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
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127 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
128 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
129 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
130 this is not possible instead of searching.
6623ac34 131 --ignore-config, --no-config Do not read configuration files. When given
82674236 132 in the global configuration file
6623ac34 133 /etc/youtube-dl.conf: Do not read the user
c4af7684 134 configuration in ~/.config/youtube-
6623ac34 135 dl/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt
136 on Windows)
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137 --config-location PATH Location of the configuration file; either
138 the path to the config or its containing
139 directory.
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140 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
141 only list them.
6623ac34 142 --flat-videos Do not resolve the video urls
143 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
bdf7f139 144 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
c76eb41b 145 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched
1dc2726f 146 --no-color Do not emit color codes in output
08c1d0d3 147
149f05c7 148## Network Options:
28b4f736 149 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
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150 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
151 scheme. For example
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152 socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/. Pass in an empty
153 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
149f05c7 154 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
c4af7684 155 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
c4af7684 156 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
c4af7684 157 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
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158
159## Geo Restriction:
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160 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
161 some geo-restricted sites. The default
162 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
7550ea50 163 option is not present) is used for the
4d2fdb07 164 actual downloading.
8c6c88c7 165 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
0934c9d4 166 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
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167 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
168 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
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169 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
170 explicitly provided two-letter ISO 3166-2
0934c9d4 171 country code
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172 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
173 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
0934c9d4 174 notation
149f05c7 175
cfcec693 176## Video Selection:
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177 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
178 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
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179 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
180 indices of the videos in the playlist
181 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
182 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
183 indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
184 specify range: "--playlist-items
185 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
186 at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
187 --match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
188 caseless sub-string)
189 --reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
190 caseless sub-string)
780083db 191 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
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192 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
193 SIZE (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
194 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
195 (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
6623ac34 196 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
197 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
198 "(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
c4af7684 199 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
c76eb41b 200 this date. The date formats accepted is the
201 same as --date
c4af7684 202 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
c76eb41b 203 this date. The date formats accepted is the
204 same as --date
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205 --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
206 COUNT views
207 --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
208 COUNT views
4d2fdb07 209 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Specify any key (see
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210 the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of
211 available keys) to match if the key is
212 present, !key to check if the key is not
213 present, key > NUMBER (like "comment_count
214 > 12", also works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to
215 compare against a number, key = 'LITERAL'
216 (like "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works
217 with !=) to match against a string literal
218 and & to require multiple matches. Values
219 which are not known are excluded unless you
220 put a question mark (?) after the operator.
221 For example, to only match videos that have
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222 been liked more than 100 times and disliked
223 less than 50 times (or the dislike
224 functionality is not available at the given
225 service), but who also have a description,
226 use --match-filter "like_count > 100 &
227 dislike_count <? 50 & description" .
c76eb41b 228 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
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229 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
230 to a video and a playlist.
231 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
232 a video and a playlist.
233 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
234 age
235 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
236 archive file. Record the IDs of all
237 downloaded videos in it.
ea6e0c2b 238 --break-on-existing Stop the download process after attempting
239 to download a file that's in the archive.
c76eb41b 240 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
241 --include-ads Download advertisements as well
242 (experimental)
6623ac34 243 --no-include-ads Do not download advertisements (default)
6bcd846b 244
d5a62e4f 245## Download Options:
5e3856a2 246 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
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247 (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
248 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
249 "infinite".
0be8314d 250 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
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251 is 10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
252 ISM)
6623ac34 253 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
254 hlsnative and ISM (default)
255 (Same as --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
256 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
257 (Same as --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
a82f4184 258 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
6623ac34 259 downloading is finished
c76eb41b 260 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
261 downloading is finished (default)
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262 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16K)
263 (default is 1024)
c76eb41b 264 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
265 from an initial value of --buffer-size
266 (default)
267 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
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268 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
269 downloading (e.g. 10485760 or 10M) (default
270 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
271 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
272 (experimental)
2101f5d4 273 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
6623ac34 274 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
c76eb41b 275 (default)
31487eb9 276 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
c4af7684 277 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
0934c9d4 278 expected file size
c4af7684 279 --hls-prefer-native Use the native HLS downloader instead of
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280 ffmpeg
281 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg Use ffmpeg instead of the native HLS
282 downloader
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283 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos,
284 allowing to play the video while
285 downloading (some players may not be able
286 to play it)
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287 --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader.
288 Currently supports
6bb26669 289 aria2c,avconv,axel,curl,ffmpeg,httpie,wget
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290 --external-downloader-args ARGS Give these arguments to the external
291 downloader
d5a62e4f 292
cfcec693 293## Filesystem Options:
c4af7684 294 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
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295 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
296 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
297 comments and ignored.
bd1bcd3e 298 -o, --output TEMPLATE Output filename template, see the "OUTPUT
c76eb41b 299 TEMPLATE" for details
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300 --autonumber-start NUMBER Specify the start value for %(autonumber)s
301 (default is 1)
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302 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
303 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
304 filenames
c76eb41b 305 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
306 filenames (default)
1dc2726f 307 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite files
6623ac34 308 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files (default)
c76eb41b 309 --no-continue Restart download of partially downloaded
310 files from beginning
311 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
6623ac34 312 into output file (default)
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313 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
314 into output file
c76eb41b 315 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
316 file modification time (default)
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317 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
318 the file modification time
319 --write-description Write video description to a .description
320 file
6623ac34 321 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
1dc2726f 322 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
6623ac34 323 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
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324 --write-annotations Write video annotations to a
325 .annotations.xml file
6623ac34 326 --no-write-annotations Do not write video annotations (default)
d845622b 327 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
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328 (created with the "--write-info-json"
329 option)
330 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
331 jar in
6623ac34 332 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies (default)
333 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
334 can store some downloaded information
82674236 335 permanently. By default
6623ac34 336 $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
337 ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the moment, only
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338 YouTube player files (for videos with
339 obfuscated signatures) are cached, but that
340 may change.
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341 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
342 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
c76eb41b 343 --trim-file-name LENGTH Limit the filename length (extension
bc30d1e0 344 excluded)
6bcd846b 345
c76eb41b 346## Thumbnail Images:
1dc2726f 347 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
6623ac34 348 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
c76eb41b 349 (default)
1dc2726f 350 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
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351 --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
352 formats
2b1bd292 353
732044af 354## Internet Shortcut Options:
355 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending on
356 the current platform (.url/.webloc/.desktop).
357 The URL may be cached by the OS.
6623ac34 358 --write-url-link Write a Windows .url internet shortcut file.
359 (The OS caches the URL based on the file path)
360 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut file
361 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut file
732044af 362
cfcec693 363## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
1dc2726f 364 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
6c072e7d 365 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
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366 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
367 anything to disk
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368 --skip-download Do not download the video
369 -g, --get-url Simulate, quiet but print URL
370 -e, --get-title Simulate, quiet but print title
371 --get-id Simulate, quiet but print id
372 --get-thumbnail Simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
373 --get-description Simulate, quiet but print video description
374 --get-duration Simulate, quiet but print video length
375 --get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
376 --get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
c4af7684 377 -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
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378 See the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description
379 of available keys.
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380 -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
381 for each command-line argument. If the URL
382 refers to a playlist, dump the whole
383 playlist information in a single line.
384 --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
385 JSON (video is still being downloaded).
2d30509f 386 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
387 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
388 another simulation switch is used.
389 (Same as --force-download-archive)
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390 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
391 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
392 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
393 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
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394 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
395 to debug problems (very verbose)
396 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
397 files in the current directory to debug
398 problems
780083db 399 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
6623ac34 400 -C, --call-home Contact the youtube-dlc server for debugging
401 --no-call-home Do not contact the youtube-dlc server for
402 debugging (default)
6bcd846b 403
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404## Workarounds:
405 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
1dc2726f 406 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
c4af7684 407 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
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408 information about the video. (Currently
409 supported only for YouTube)
1dc2726f 410 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
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411 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
412 access is restricted to one domain
413 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
414 separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
415 option multiple times
416 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
417 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
418 or fribidi executable in PATH
419 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
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420 download when used alone or a lower bound
421 of a range for randomized sleep before each
422 download (minimum possible number of
423 seconds to sleep) when used along with
424 --max-sleep-interval.
425 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Upper bound of a range for randomized sleep
426 before each download (maximum possible
427 number of seconds to sleep). Must only be
428 used along with --min-sleep-interval.
c76eb41b 429 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Enforce sleep interval on subtitles as well
36f35428 430
cfcec693 431## Video Format Options:
eb8a4433 432 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
433 for more details
434 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
435 "Sorting Formats" for more details
436 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
437 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
438 Formats" for more details
439 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
c76eb41b 440 specified sort order (default), see
441 "Sorting Formats" for more details
442 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
443 into a single file
444 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
445 each output file (default)
446 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
447 into a single file
448 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
449 each output file (default)
1dc2726f 450 --all-formats Download all available video formats
6fd35a11 451 --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats over non-free
452 formats of same quality
535d7b68 453 -F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
bb6ac836 454 videos
91ebc640 455 --list-formats-as-table Present the output of -F in a more tabular
456 form (default)
6623ac34 457 (Same as --no-list-formats-as-table)
c76eb41b 458 --list-formats-old Present the output of -F in the old form
6623ac34 459 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Download the DASH manifests and related data
460 on YouTube videos (default)
461 (Same as --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
c76eb41b 462 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and
78895bd3 463 related data on YouTube videos
c76eb41b 464 (Same as --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
6623ac34 465 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Download the HLS manifests and related data
466 on YouTube videos (default)
467 (Same as --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
c76eb41b 468 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest Do not download the HLS manifests and
469 related data on YouTube videos
470 (Same as --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
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471 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
472 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
473 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
474 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
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475
476## Subtitle Options:
c76eb41b 477 --write-subs Write subtitle file
478 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
479 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
741dd8ea 480 (YouTube only)
c76eb41b 481 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write automatically generated
6623ac34 482 subtitle file (default)
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483 --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
484 video
1dc2726f 485 --list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
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486 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
487 preference, for example: "srt" or
488 "ass/srt/best"
489 --sub-lang LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download
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490 (optional) separated by commas, use --list-
491 subs for available language tags
6bcd846b 492
cfcec693 493## Authentication Options:
1dc2726f 494 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
c4af7684 495 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
cefecac1 496 out, youtube-dlc will ask interactively.
dc48a354 497 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
1dc2726f 498 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
29f7c58a 499 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
6bcd846b 500
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501## Adobe Pass Options:
502 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
909d24dd 503 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
504 a list of available MSOs
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505 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
506 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
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507 If this option is left out, youtube-dlc
508 will ask interactively.
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509 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
510 operators
511
c76eb41b 512## Post-Processing Options:
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513 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
514 (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
515 avprobe)
516 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac",
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517 "flac", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", "vorbis", or
518 "wav"; "best" by default; No effect without
519 -x
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520 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, insert
521 a value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse)
522 for VBR or a specific bitrate like 128K
523 (default 5)
c76eb41b 524 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
525 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv).
526 If target container does not support the
527 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail
528 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
529 re-encoding is necessary (currently
530 supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv|avi)
1b77b347 531 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
532 Specify the postprocessor name and the
533 arguments separated by a colon ':' to give
534 the argument to only the specified
535 postprocessor. Supported names are
536 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
537 EmbedSubtitle, Metadata, Merger,
538 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
539 SubtitlesConvertor, SponSkrub and Default.
540 You can use this option multiple times to
541 give different arguments to different
542 postprocessors
c76eb41b 543 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
6623ac34 544 after post-processing
c76eb41b 545 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
6623ac34 546 post-processing (default)
547 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
548 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
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549 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
550 webm and mkv videos)
c76eb41b 551 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
1dc2726f 552 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
6623ac34 553 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
1dc2726f 554 --add-metadata Write metadata to the video file
6623ac34 555 --no-add-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
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556 --metadata-from-title FORMAT Parse additional metadata like song title /
557 artist from the video title. The format
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558 syntax is the same as --output. Regular
559 expression with named capture groups may
560 also be used. The parsed parameters replace
561 existing values. Example: --metadata-from-
562 title "%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a
563 title like "Coldplay - Paradise". Example
564 (regex): --metadata-from-title
565 "(?P<artist>.+?) - (?P<title>.+)"
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566 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
567 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
568 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
569 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
570 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
571 default; fix file if we can, warn
572 otherwise)
573 --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
6623ac34 574 postprocessors (Same as --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
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575 --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
576 postprocessors (default)
6623ac34 577 (Same as --no-prefer-avconv)
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578 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg/avconv binary;
579 either the path to the binary or its
580 containing directory.
581 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
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582 downloading and post-processing, similar to
583 find's -exec syntax. Example: --exec 'adb
584 push {} /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'
7de81fcc 585 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format
9fc41bcb 586 (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt|lrc)
6bcd846b 587
c76eb41b 588## [SponSkrub](https://github.com/faissaloo/SponSkrub) Options ([SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app)):
589 --sponskrub Use sponskrub to mark sponsored sections
590 with the data available in SponsorBlock
591 API. This is enabled by default if the
592 sponskrub binary exists (Youtube only)
593 --no-sponskrub Do not use sponskrub
a9e7f546 594 --sponskrub-cut Cut out the sponsor sections instead of
595 simply marking them
6623ac34 596 --no-sponskrub-cut Simply mark the sponsor sections, not cut
597 them out (default)
c76eb41b 598 --sponskrub-force Run sponskrub even if the video was already
599 downloaded
6623ac34 600 --no-sponskrub-force Do not cut out the sponsor sections if the
601 video was already downloaded (default)
c76eb41b 602 --sponskrub-location PATH Location of the sponskrub binary; either
603 the path to the binary or its containing
604 directory.
a9e7f546 605
78895bd3 606## Extractor Options:
17cb02d0 607 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
6623ac34 608 (Same as --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
609 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
610 (Same as --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
17cb02d0 611
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612# CONFIGURATION
613
614You 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.
615
616For 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:
617```
618# Lines starting with # are comments
619
620# Always extract audio
621-x
622
623# Do not copy the mtime
624--no-mtime
625
626# Use this proxy
627--proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
628
629# Save all videos under Movies directory in your home directory
630-o ~/Movies/%(title)s.%(ext)s
631```
632
633Note 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`.
634
635You can use `--ignore-config` if you want to disable the configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
636
637You can also use `--config-location` if you want to use custom configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
638
639### Authentication with `.netrc` file
640
641You 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:
642```
643touch $HOME/.netrc
644chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
645```
646After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
647```
648machine <extractor> login <login> password <password>
649```
650For example:
651```
652machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
653machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
654```
655To activate authentication with the `.netrc` file you should pass `--netrc` to youtube-dlc or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
656
657On Windows you may also need to setup the `%HOME%` environment variable manually. For example:
658```
659set HOME=%USERPROFILE%
660```
661
662# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
663
664The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names.
665
666**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
667
668The 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:
669
670 - `id` (string): Video identifier
671 - `title` (string): Video title
672 - `url` (string): Video URL
673 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
674 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
675 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
676 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
677 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
678 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
679 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
680 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
681 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
682 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
683 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
684 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
685 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
686 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
dbbbe555 687 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH-mm-ss)
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688 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
689 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
690 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
691 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
692 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
693 - `comment_count` (numeric): Number of comments on the video
694 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
695 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
696 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
697 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
698 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
699 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by `--format`
700 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
701 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
702 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
703 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
704 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
705 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
706 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
707 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
708 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
709 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
710 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
711 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
712 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
713 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
714 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
715 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
716 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
717 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
718 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at `--autonumber-start`
719 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
720 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
721 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
722 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
723 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
724 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
725
726Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
727
728 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
729 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
730 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
731
732Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
733
734 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
735 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
736 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
737 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
738 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
739 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
740 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
741
742Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
743
744 - `track` (string): Title of the track
745 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
746 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
747 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
748 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
749 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
750 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
751 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
752 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
753 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
754
755Each 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`.
756
757For 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.
758
759For 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`.
760
761Output 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.
762
763To use percent literals in an output template use `%%`. To output to stdout use `-o -`.
764
91ebc640 765The current default template is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
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766
767In 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:
768
769#### Output template and Windows batch files
770
771If 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"`.
772
773#### Output template examples
774
775Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
776
777```bash
778$ youtube-dlc --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
779youtube-dlc test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
780
781$ youtube-dlc --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
782youtube-dlc_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
783
784# Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
785$ youtube-dlc -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
786
787# Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
788$ youtube-dlc -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
789
790# Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
791$ 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/
792
793# Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
794$ 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
795
796# Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
797$ youtube-dlc -o - BaW_jenozKc
798```
799
800# FORMAT SELECTION
801
c2b5f311 802By default, youtube-dlc tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
91ebc640 803This 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 805The 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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806
807**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
808
809The 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.
810
811You 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.
812
813You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
814
909d24dd 815 - `b*`, `best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
816 - `w*`, `worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
909d24dd 817 - `b`, `best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
818 - `w`, `worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
909d24dd 819 - `bv`, `bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to `best*[acodec=none]`
820 - `wv`, `worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec=none]`
909d24dd 821 - `bv*`, `bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec!=none]`
822 - `wv*`, `worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec!=none]`
909d24dd 823 - `ba`, `bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `best*[vcodec=none]`
824 - `wa`, `worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to `worst*[vcodec=none]`
909d24dd 825 - `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
826 - `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 828For 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 830If 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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831
832If 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`.
833
909d24dd 834You 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 835
836## Filtering Formats
837
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838You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in `-f "best[height=720]"` (or `-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
839
840The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons `<`, `<=`, `>`, `>=`, `=` (equals), `!=` (not equals):
841
842 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
843 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
844 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
845 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
846 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
847 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
848 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
849 - `fps`: Frame rate
850
851Also filtering work for comparisons `=` (equals), `^=` (starts with), `$=` (ends with), `*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
852
853 - `ext`: File extension
854 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
855 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
856 - `container`: Name of the container format
857 - `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`)
858 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
29f7c58a 859 - `language`: Language code
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860
861Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
862
f96bff99 863Note 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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864
865Formats 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.
866
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867Format 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]'`.
868
eb8a4433 869## Sorting Formats
870
871You 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:
872
873 - `video`, `has_video`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
874 - `audio`, `has_audio`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
875 - `extractor`, `preference`, `extractor_preference`: The format preference as given by the extractor
876 - `lang`, `language_preference`: Language preference as given by the extractor
877 - `quality`: The quality of the format. This is a metadata field available in some websites
878 - `source`, `source_preference`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
879 - `proto`, `protocol`: Protocol used for download (`https`/`ftps` > `http`/`ftp` > `m3u8-native` > `m3u8` > `http-dash-segments` > other > `mms`/`rtsp` > unknown > `f4f`/`f4m`)
7fd86ce1 880 - `vcodec`, `video_codec`: Video Codec (`vp9` > `h265` > `h264` > `vp8` > `h263` > `theora` > other > unknown)
eb8a4433 881 - `acodec`, `audio_codec`: Audio Codec (`opus` > `vorbis` > `aac` > `mp4a` > `mp3` > `ac3` > `dts` > other > unknown)
882 - `codec`: Equivalent to `vcodec,acodec`
c76eb41b 883 - `vext`, `video_ext`: Video Extension (`mp4` > `webm` > `flv` > other > unknown). If `--prefer-free-formats` is used, `webm` is prefered.
eb8a4433 884 - `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`.
885 - `ext`, `extension`: Equivalent to `vext,aext`
886 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
2af884ff 887 - `filesize_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
eb8a4433 888 - `size`, `filesize_estimate`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
889 - `height`: Height of video
890 - `width`: Width of video
891 - `res`, `dimension`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
892 - `fps`, `framerate`: Framerate of video
893 - `tbr`, `total_bitrate`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
894 - `vbr`, `video_bitrate`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
895 - `abr`, `audio_bitrate`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
896 - `br`, `bitrate`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
897 - `samplerate`, `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
898
7fd86ce1 899Note 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 900
2af884ff 901The 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 902
903If 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`.
904
905**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
906
eb8a4433 907## Format Selection examples
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908
909Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
910
911```bash
909d24dd 912# Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
913# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
2af884ff 914$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv+ba/b'
909d24dd 915
916# Download best format that contains video,
917# and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
2af884ff 918$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*+ba/b'
919
920# Same as above
921$ youtube-dlc
909d24dd 922
6fd35a11 923# Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
924# For this case, an output template should be used since
925# by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
926$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
909d24dd 927
928
6fd35a11 929
930# The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
931# and how to use -S to achieve a similar but better result
932
933# Download the worst video available (old method)
2af884ff 934$ youtube-dlc -f 'wv*+wa/w'
eb8a4433 935
936# Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
937$ youtube-dlc -S '+res'
938
939# Download the smallest video available
940$ youtube-dlc -S '+size,+bitrate'
941
942
909d24dd 943
eb8a4433 944# Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
2af884ff 945$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
eb8a4433 946
947# Download the best video with the best extension
948# (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
949$ youtube-dlc -S 'ext'
950
951
909d24dd 952
eb8a4433 953# Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
954# or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
2af884ff 955$ youtube-dlc -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
b7770046 956
eb8a4433 957# Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
958# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
959$ youtube-dlc -S 'height:480'
b7770046 960
eb8a4433 961# Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
962# or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
963# Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
964# So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
965$ youtube-dlc -S 'res:480'
b7770046 966
b7770046 967
909d24dd 968
eb8a4433 969# Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
970# or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
2af884ff 971$ youtube-dlc -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
eb8a4433 972
973# Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
974# or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
2af884ff 975$ youtube-dlc -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
eb8a4433 976
977# Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
2af884ff 978$ youtube-dlc -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
eb8a4433 979
980
909d24dd 981
eb8a4433 982# Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
983# or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
2af884ff 984$ youtube-dlc -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 985
986# Download best video available via the best protocol
987# (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
988$ youtube-dlc -S 'protocol'
989
990
909d24dd 991
eb8a4433 992# Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
2af884ff 993$ youtube-dlc -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
eb8a4433 994
995# Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
996# or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
997$ youtube-dlc -S 'codec:h264'
998
999# Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1000# or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1001$ youtube-dlc -S '+codec:h264'
1002
1003
1004
1005# More complex examples
1006
1007# Download the best video no better than 720p prefering framerate greater than 30,
2af884ff 1008# or the worst video (still prefering framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1009$ 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 1010
1011# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1012# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1013# prefering larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1014$ youtube-dlc -S 'res:720,fps'
1015
1016
909d24dd 1017
eb8a4433 1018# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1019# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1020# prefering better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1021$ youtube-dlc -S '+res:480,codec,br'
b7770046 1022```
eb8a4433 1023
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1024
1025
b7770046 1026
b7770046 1027
c2b5f311 1028# MORE
2af884ff 1029For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the [original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)