1 This 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)
4 [![](https://img.shields.io/badge/Fork-2020.10.19.01-brightgreen?style=for-the-badge&logo=GitHub)]
(https://github.com/pukkandan/youtube-dl)
5 [![](https://img.shields.io/badge/youtube--dl-2020.09.20-blue?style=for-the-badge&logo=GitHub)]
(https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)
8 - [CHANGES FROM YOUTUBE-DLC](#changes)
9 - [ABOUT THIS FORK](#about-this-fork)
10 - [INSTALLATION](#installation)
11 - [YOUTUBE-DLC](#youtube-dlc)
12 - [DESCRIPTION](#description)
14 * [Network Options](#network-options)
15 * [Geo Restriction](#geo-restriction)
16 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
17 * [Download Options](#download-options)
18 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
19 * [Thumbnail images](#thumbnail-images)
20 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
21 * [Verbosity / Simulation Options](#verbosity--simulation-options)
22 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
23 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
24 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
25 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
26 * [Adobe Pass Options](#adobe-pass-options)
27 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
28 * [SponSkrub Options (SponsorBlock)](#sponskrub-options-sponsorblock)
29 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
30 - [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
31 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
32 - [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
33 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
34 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
35 - [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
36 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
37 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
38 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
39 - [VIDEO SELECTION](#video-selection-
1)
44 See
[Commits](https://github.com/pukkandan/yt-dlc/commits) for more details
47 * **Format Sort:** Added
`--format-sort` (
`-S`),
`--format-sort-force` (
`--S-force`) - See [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats) for details
48 * **Format Selection:** See [Format Selection](#format-selection) for details
49 * New format selectors:
`best*`,
`worst*`,
`bestvideo*`,
`bestaudio*`,
`worstvideo*`,
`worstaudio*`
50 * Changed video format sorting to show video only files and video+audio files together.
51 * Added
`--video-multistreams`,
`--no-video-multistreams`,
`--audio-multistreams`,
`--no-audio-multistreams`
52 * Added
`b`,
`w`,
`v`,
`a` as alias for
`best`,
`worst`,
`video` and
`audio` respectively
53 * **Shortcut Options:** Added
`--write-link`,
`--write-url-link`,
`--write-webloc-link`,
`--write-desktop-link` by @h-h-h-h - See [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options) for details
54 * **Sponskrub integration:** Added
`--sponskrub`,
`--sponskrub-cut`,
`--sponskrub-force`,
`--sponskrub-location`,
`--sponskrub-args` - See [SponSkrub Options](#sponskrub-options-sponsorblock) for details
55 * Added
`--force-download-archive` (
`--force-write-archive`) by by h-h-h-h
56 * Added
`--list-formats-as-table`,
`--list-formats-old`
57 * **Negative Options:** Makes it possible to negate boolean options by adding a
`no-` to the switch
58 * Added
`--no-ignore-dynamic-mpd`,
`--no-allow-dynamic-mpd`,
`--allow-dynamic-mpd`,
`--youtube-include-hls-manifest`,
`--no-youtube-include-hls-manifest`,
`--no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest`,
`--no-download`,
`--no-download-archive`,
`--resize-buffer`,
`--part`,
`--mtime`,
`--no-keep-fragments`,
`--no-cookies`,
`--no-write-annotations`,
`--no-write-info-json`,
`--no-write-description`,
`--no-write-thumbnail`,
`--youtube-include-dash-manifest`,
`--post-overwrites`,
`--no-keep-video`,
`--no-embed-subs`,
`--no-embed-thumbnail`,
`--no-add-metadata`,
`--no-include-ads`,
`--no-write-sub`,
`--no-write-auto-sub`,
`--no-playlist-reverse`,
`--no-restrict-filenames`,
`--youtube-include-dash-manifest`,
`--no-format-sort-force`,
`--flat-videos`,
`--no-list-formats-as-table`,
`--no-sponskrub`,
`--no-sponskrub-cut`,
`--no-sponskrub-force`
59 * Renamed:
`--write-subs`, --no-write-subs
`, `--no-write-auto-subs,
`--write-auto-subs`. Note that these can still be used without the ending "s"
60 * Relaxed validation for format filters so that any arbitrary field can be used
61 * Fix for embedding thumbnail in mp3 by @pauldubois98
62 * Make Twitch Video ID output from Playlist and VOD extractor same. This is only a temporary fix
63 * **Merge
[youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl):** Upto
[2020.01.03](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/8e953dcbb10a1a42f4e12e4e132657cb0100a1f8) - See
[blackjack4494/yt-dlc#280](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/pull/280) for details
64 * Cleaned up the fork for public use
77 I don't plan on making any releases. If anyone wants to create and maintain releases for this fork, please contact me.
79 You can clone /
[download](https://github.com/pukkandan/youtube-dl/archive/master.zip) this repository and run it with
`python youtube_dl/__main__.py <args>`. Alternatively, you can install the fork using
`pip install --upgrade https://github.com/pukkandan/youtube-dl/archive/master.zip` and run it with
`python -m youtube_dl <args>`.
81 In order to update, simply repeat the process.
89 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc.svg?branch=master)]
(https://travis-ci.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc)
90 [![PyPi](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/youtube-dlc.svg)]
(https://pypi.org/project/youtube-dlc)
92 [![Gitter chat](https://img.shields.io/gitter/room/youtube-dlc/community)]
(https://gitter.im/youtube-dlc)
93 [![License: Unlicense](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Unlicense-blue.svg)]
(https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/blob/master/LICENSE)
95 youtube-dlc - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms.
97 youtube-dlc is a fork of youtube-dl with the intention of getting features tested by the community merged in the tool faster, since youtube-dl's development seems to be slowing down.
(https://web.archive.org/web/20201014194602/https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/26462)
101 [How to update](#update)
104 Preferred way using pip:
105 You may want to use
`python3` instead of
`python`
107 python -m pip install --upgrade youtube-dlc
109 If you want to install the current master branch
111 python -m pip install git+https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc
113 **UNIX** (Linux, macOS, etc.)
116 sudo wget https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/releases/latest/download/youtube-dlc -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
117 sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
121 sudo curl -L https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/releases/latest/download/youtube-dlc -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
122 sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlc
125 **Windows** users can download
[youtube-dlc.exe](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc/releases/latest/download/youtube-dlc.exe) (**do not** put in
`C:\Windows\System32`!).
128 To build the Windows executable yourself (without version info!)
130 python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller
131 pyinstaller.exe youtube_dlc\__main__.py --onefile --name youtube-dlc
133 Or simply execute the
`make_win.bat` if pyinstaller is installed.
134 There will be a
`youtube-dlc.exe` in
`/dist`
136 New way to build Windows is to use
`python pyinst.py` (please use python3
64Bit)
137 For
32Bit Version use a
32Bit Version of python (
3 preferred here as well) and run
`python pyinst32.py`
140 You will need the required build tools
141 python, make (GNU), pandoc, zip, nosetests
142 Then simply type this
148 **DO NOT UPDATE using
`-U` !** instead download binaries again or when installed with pip use a described above when installing.
149 I will add some memorable short links to the binaries so you can download them easier.
156 **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.
158 youtube-dlc [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
161 `Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
163 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
164 --version Print program version and exit
165 -U, --update (Doesn't work since there is no release)
166 Update this program to latest version. Make
167 sure that you have sufficient permissions
168 (run with sudo if needed)
170 -i, --ignore-errors Continue on download errors, for example to
171 skip unavailable videos in a playlist
172 (Same as --no-abort-on-error)
173 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
174 error occurs (Same as --no-ignore-errors)
175 --dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
176 --list-extractors List all supported extractors
177 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
179 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
181 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
182 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
183 from google videos for youtube-dl "large
184 apple". Use the value "auto" to let
185 youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
186 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
187 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
188 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
189 this is not possible instead of searching.
190 --ignore-config, --no-config Do not read configuration files. When given
191 in the global configuration file
192 /etc/youtube-dl.conf: Do not read the user
193 configuration in ~/.config/youtube-
194 dl/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt
196 --config-location PATH Location of the configuration file; either
197 the path to the config or its containing
199 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
201 --flat-videos Do not resolve the video urls
202 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
203 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
204 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (YouTube only)
205 --no-color Do not emit color codes in output
208 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
209 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
211 socks5://
127.0.0.1:
1080/. Pass in an empty
212 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
213 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
214 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
215 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
216 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
219 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
220 some geo-restricted sites. The default
221 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
222 option is not present) is used for the
224 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
225 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
226 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
227 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
228 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
229 explicitly provided two-letter ISO
3166-
2
231 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
232 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
236 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is
1)
237 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
238 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
239 indices of the videos in the playlist
240 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
241 1,
2,
5,
8" if you want to download videos
242 indexed
1,
2,
5,
8 in the playlist. You can
243 specify range: "--playlist-items
244 1-
3,
7,
10-
13", it will download the videos
245 at index
1,
2,
3,
7,
10,
11,
12 and
13.
246 --match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
248 --reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
250 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
251 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
252 SIZE (e.g.
50k or
44.6m)
253 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
255 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
256 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
257 "(now|today)[+-][
0-
9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
258 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
259 this date (i.e. inclusive). The date formats
260 accepted is the same as --date
261 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
262 this date (i.e. inclusive). The date formats
263 accepted is the same as --date
264 --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
266 --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
268 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Specify any key (see
269 the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of
270 available keys) to match if the key is
271 present, !key to check if the key is not
272 present, key > NUMBER (like "comment_count
273 > 12", also works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to
274 compare against a number, key = 'LITERAL'
275 (like "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works
276 with !=) to match against a string literal
277 and & to require multiple matches. Values
278 which are not known are excluded unless you
279 put a question mark (?) after the operator.
280 For example, to only match videos that have
281 been liked more than
100 times and disliked
282 less than
50 times (or the dislike
283 functionality is not available at the given
284 service), but who also have a description,
285 use --match-filter "like_count >
100 &
286 dislike_count <?
50 & description" .
287 --no-match-filter FILTER Do not use generic video filter (default)
288 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
289 to a video and a playlist.
290 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
291 a video and a playlist.
292 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
294 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
295 archive file. Record the IDs of all
296 downloaded videos in it.
297 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
298 --break-on-existing Stop the download process after attempting
299 to download a file that's in the archive.
300 --include-ads Download advertisements as well (experimental)
301 --no-include-ads Do not download advertisements (default)
304 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
306 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is
10), or
308 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
309 is
10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
311 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
312 hlsnative and ISM (default)
313 (Same as --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
314 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
315 (Same as --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
316 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
317 downloading is finished
318 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after downloading
319 is finished (default)
320 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g.
1024 or
16K)
322 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized from
323 an initial value of --buffer-size (default)
324 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer
326 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
327 downloading (e.g.
10485760 or
10M) (default
328 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
329 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
331 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
332 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
333 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
334 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
336 --hls-prefer-native Use the native HLS downloader instead of
338 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg Use ffmpeg instead of the native HLS
340 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos,
341 allowing to play the video while
342 downloading (some players may not be able
344 --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader.
346 aria2c,avconv,axel,curl,ffmpeg,httpie,wget
347 --external-downloader-args ARGS Give these arguments to the external
350 ## Filesystem Options:
351 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
352 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
353 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
354 comments and ignored.
355 -o, --output TEMPLATE Output filename template, see the "OUTPUT
356 TEMPLATE" for all the info
357 --autonumber-start NUMBER Specify the start value for %(autonumber)s
359 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
360 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
362 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces
363 in filenames (default)
364 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite files
365 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files (default)
366 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded files
367 (restart from beginning)
368 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
369 into output file (default)
370 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
372 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
373 file modification time
374 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
375 the file modification time
376 --write-description Write video description to a .description
378 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
379 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
380 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
381 --write-annotations Write video annotations to a
382 .annotations.xml file
383 --no-write-annotations Do not write video annotations (default)
384 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
385 (created with the "--write-info-json"
387 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
389 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies (default)
390 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
391 can store some downloaded information
392 permanently. By default
393 $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
394 ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the moment, only
395 YouTube player files (for videos with
396 obfuscated signatures) are cached, but that
398 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
399 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
400 --trim-file-name Limit the filename length (extension
404 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
405 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
406 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
407 --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
411 ## Internet Shortcut Options:
412 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending on
413 the current platform (.url/.webloc/.desktop).
414 The URL may be cached by the OS.
415 --write-url-link Write a Windows .url internet shortcut file.
416 (The OS caches the URL based on the file path)
417 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut file
418 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut file
420 ## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
421 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
422 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
423 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
425 --skip-download Do not download the video
426 -g, --get-url Simulate, quiet but print URL
427 -e, --get-title Simulate, quiet but print title
428 --get-id Simulate, quiet but print id
429 --get-thumbnail Simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
430 --get-description Simulate, quiet but print video description
431 --get-duration Simulate, quiet but print video length
432 --get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
433 --get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
434 -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
435 See the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description
437 -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
438 for each command-line argument. If the URL
439 refers to a playlist, dump the whole
440 playlist information in a single line.
441 --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
442 JSON (video is still being downloaded).
443 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be written
444 as far as no errors occur, even if -s or
445 another simulation switch is used.
446 (Same as --force-download-archive)
447 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
448 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
449 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
450 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
451 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
452 to debug problems (very verbose)
453 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
454 files in the current directory to debug
456 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
457 -C, --call-home Contact the youtube-dlc server for debugging
458 --no-call-home Do not contact the youtube-dlc server for
462 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
463 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
464 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
465 information about the video. (Currently
466 supported only for YouTube)
467 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
468 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
469 access is restricted to one domain
470 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
471 separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
472 option multiple times
473 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
474 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
475 or fribidi executable in PATH
476 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
477 download when used alone or a lower bound
478 of a range for randomized sleep before each
479 download (minimum possible number of
480 seconds to sleep) when used along with
481 --max-sleep-interval.
482 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Upper bound of a range for randomized sleep
483 before each download (maximum possible
484 number of seconds to sleep). Must only be
485 used along with --min-sleep-interval.
486 --sleep-subtitles Enforce sleep interval on subtitles as well.
489 ## Video Format Options:
490 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
492 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
493 "Sorting Formats" for more details
494 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
495 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
496 Formats" for more details
497 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
498 specified sort order, see "Sorting Formats"
499 for more details (default)
500 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged into
501 a single file (default)
502 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for each
504 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged into
505 a single file (default)
506 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for each
508 --all-formats Download all available video formats
509 --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats unless a specific
511 -F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
513 --list-formats-as-table Present the output of -F in a more tabular form
514 --list-formats-old Present the output of -F in older form (default)
515 (Same as --no-list-formats-as-table)
516 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and
517 related data on YouTube videos
518 (Same as --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
519 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Download the DASH manifests and related data
520 on YouTube videos (default)
521 (Same as --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
522 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest Do not download the HLS manifests and
523 related data on YouTube videos
524 (Same as --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
525 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Download the HLS manifests and related data
526 on YouTube videos (default)
527 (Same as --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
528 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
529 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
530 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
531 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
534 --write-sub Write subtitle file
535 --no-write-sub Do not write subtitle file (default)
536 --write-auto-sub Write automatically generated subtitle file
538 --no-write-auto-sub Do not write automatically generated
539 subtitle file (default)
540 --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
542 --list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
543 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
544 preference, for example: "srt" or
546 --sub-lang LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download
547 (optional) separated by commas, use --list-
548 subs for available language tags
550 ## Authentication Options:
551 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
552 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
553 out, youtube-dlc will ask interactively.
554 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
555 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
556 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
558 ## Adobe Pass Options:
559 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
560 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
561 a list of available MSOs
562 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
563 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
564 If this option is left out, youtube-dlc
565 will ask interactively.
566 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
569 ## Post-processing Options:
570 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
571 (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
573 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac",
574 "flac", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", "vorbis", or
575 "wav"; "best" by default; No effect without
577 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, insert
578 a value between
0 (better) and
9 (worse)
579 for VBR or a specific bitrate like
128K
581 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video to another container format
582 if necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv,
583 target container format must support video
584 / audio encoding, remuxing may fail)
585 --recode-video FORMAT Encode the video to another format if
586 necessary (currently supported:
587 mp4|flv|ogg|webm|mkv|avi)
588 --postprocessor-args ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessor
589 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
590 after post-processing
591 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
592 post-processing (default)
593 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
594 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
595 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
597 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles in the video (default)
598 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
599 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
600 --add-metadata Write metadata to the video file
601 --no-add-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
602 --metadata-from-title FORMAT Parse additional metadata like song title /
603 artist from the video title. The format
604 syntax is the same as --output. Regular
605 expression with named capture groups may
606 also be used. The parsed parameters replace
607 existing values. Example: --metadata-from-
608 title "%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a
609 title like "Coldplay - Paradise". Example
610 (regex): --metadata-from-title
611 "(?P<artist>.+?) - (?P<title>.+)"
612 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
613 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
614 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
615 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
616 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
617 default; fix file if we can, warn
619 --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
620 postprocessors (Same as --no-prefer-ffmpeg)
621 --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
622 postprocessors (default)
623 (Same as --no-prefer-avconv)
624 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg/avconv binary;
625 either the path to the binary or its
626 containing directory.
627 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
628 downloading and post-processing, similar to
629 find's -exec syntax. Example: --exec 'adb
630 push {} /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'
631 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format
632 (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt|lrc)
634 ## SponSkrub Options (SponsorBlock)
635 --sponskrub Use sponskrub to mark sponsored sections with
636 the data available in SponsorBlock API. This
637 is enabled by default if the sponskrub binary
638 exists (Youtube only)
639 --sponskrub-cut Cut out the sponsor sections instead of
641 --no-sponskrub-cut Simply mark the sponsor sections, not cut
643 --sponskrub-force Allow cutting out the sponsor sections even
644 if the video was already downloaded.
645 --no-sponskrub-force Do not cut out the sponsor sections if the
646 video was already downloaded (default)
647 --sponskrub-location Location of the sponskrub binary;
648 either the path to the binary or its
650 --sponskrub-args Give these arguments to sponskrub
652 ## Extractor Options:
653 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
654 (Same as --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
655 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
656 (Same as --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
660 You 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.
662 For 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:
664 # Lines starting with # are comments
666 # Always extract audio
669 # Do not copy the mtime
673 --proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
675 # Save all videos under Movies directory in your home directory
676 -o ~/Movies/%(title)s.%(ext)s
679 Note 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`.
681 You can use
`--ignore-config` if you want to disable the configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
683 You can also use
`--config-location` if you want to use custom configuration file for a particular youtube-dlc run.
685 ### Authentication with `.netrc` file
687 You 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:
690 chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
692 After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
694 machine <extractor> login <login> password <password>
698 machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
699 machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
701 To activate authentication with the
`.netrc` file you should pass
`--netrc` to youtube-dlc or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
703 On Windows you may also need to setup the
`%HOME%` environment variable manually. For example:
705 set HOME=%USERPROFILE%
710 The
`-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names.
712 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
714 The 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:
716 - `id` (string): Video identifier
717 - `title` (string): Video title
718 - `url` (string): Video URL
719 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
720 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
721 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
722 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
723 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
724 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
725 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
726 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
727 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
728 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
729 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
730 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
731 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
732 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
733 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
734 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
735 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
736 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
737 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
738 - `comment_count` (numeric): Number of comments on the video
739 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
740 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
741 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
742 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
743 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
744 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by
`--format`
745 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
746 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
747 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
748 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
749 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
750 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
751 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
752 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
753 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
754 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
755 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
756 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
757 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
758 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
759 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
760 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
761 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
762 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
763 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at
`--autonumber-start`
764 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
765 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
766 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
767 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
768 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
769 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
771 Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
773 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
774 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
775 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
777 Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
779 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
780 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
781 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
782 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
783 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
784 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
785 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
787 Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
789 - `track` (string): Title of the track
790 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
791 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
792 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
793 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
794 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
795 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
796 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
797 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
798 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
800 Each 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`.
802 For 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.
804 For 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`.
806 Output 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.
808 To use percent literals in an output template use
`%%`. To output to stdout use
`-o -`.
810 The current default template is
`%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`.
812 In 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:
814 #### Output template and Windows batch files
816 If 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"`.
818 #### Output template examples
820 Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
823 $ youtube-dlc --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
824 youtube-dlc test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
826 $ youtube-dlc --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
827 youtube-dlc_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
829 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
830 $ youtube-dlc -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
832 # Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
833 $ youtube-dlc -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
835 # Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
836 $ 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/
838 # Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
839 $ 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
841 # Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
842 $ youtube-dlc -o - BaW_jenozKc
847 By default, youtube-dlc tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
848 This is generally equivalent to using
`-f bestvideo+bestaudio/best`. However, if ffmpeg and avconv are unavailable, or if you use youtube-dlc to stream to
`stdout` (
`-o -`), the default becomes
`-f best/bestvideo+bestaudio`.
850 The 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.
852 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
854 The 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.
856 You 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.
858 You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
860 - `b*`,
`best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
861 - `w*`,
`worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
863 - `b`,
`best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
864 - `w`,
`worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
866 - `bv`,
`bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to
`best*[acodec=none]`
867 - `wv`,
`worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to
`worst*[acodec=none]`
869 - `bv*`,
`bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec!=none]`
870 - `wv*`,
`worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec!=none]`
872 - `ba`,
`bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec=none]`
873 - `wa`,
`worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec=none]`
875 - `ba*`,
`bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to
`best*[acodec!=none]`
876 - `wa*`,
`worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to
`worst*[acodec!=none]`
878 For 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.
880 If 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.
882 If 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`.
884 You 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`.
888 You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in
`-f "best[height=720]"` (or
`-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
890 The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons
`<`,
`<=`,
`>`,
`>=`,
`=` (equals),
`!=` (not equals):
892 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
893 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
894 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
895 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
896 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
897 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
898 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
901 Also filtering work for comparisons
`=` (equals),
`^=` (starts with),
`$=` (ends with),
`*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
903 - `ext`: File extension
904 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
905 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
906 - `container`: Name of the container format
907 - `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`)
908 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
909 - `language`: Language code
911 Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation
`!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g.
`!*=` (does not contain).
913 Note 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.
915 Formats 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.
917 Format 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]'`.
921 You 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:
923 - `video`,
`has_video`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
924 - `audio`,
`has_audio`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
925 - `extractor`,
`preference`,
`extractor_preference`: The format preference as given by the extractor
926 - `lang`,
`language_preference`: Language preference as given by the extractor
927 - `quality`: The quality of the format. This is a metadata field available in some websites
928 - `source`,
`source_preference`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
929 - `proto`,
`protocol`: Protocol used for download (
`https`/
`ftps` >
`http`/
`ftp` >
`m3u8-native` >
`m3u8` >
`http-dash-segments` > other >
`mms`/
`rtsp` > unknown >
`f4f`/
`f4m`)
930 - `vcodec`,
`video_codec`: Video Codec (
`av01` >
`vp9` >
`h265` >
`h264` >
`vp8` >
`h263` >
`theora` > other > unknown)
931 - `acodec`,
`audio_codec`: Audio Codec (
`opus` >
`vorbis` >
`aac` >
`mp4a` >
`mp3` >
`ac3` >
`dts` > other > unknown)
932 - `codec`: Equivalent to
`vcodec,acodec`
933 - `vext`,
`video_ext`: Video Extension (
`mp4` >
`flv` >
`webm` > other > unknown). If
`--prefer-free-formats` is used,
`webm` is prefered.
934 - `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`.
935 - `ext`,
`extension`: Equivalent to
`vext,aext`
936 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
937 - `filesize_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated the manifests
938 - `size`,
`filesize_estimate`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
939 - `height`: Height of video
940 - `width`: Width of video
941 - `res`,
`dimension`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
942 - `fps`,
`framerate`: Framerate of video
943 - `tbr`,
`total_bitrate`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
944 - `vbr`,
`video_bitrate`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
945 - `abr`,
`audio_bitrate`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
946 - `br`,
`bitrate`: Equivalent to using
`tbr,vbr,abr`
947 - `samplerate`,
`asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
949 Note 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` >
`av01` >
`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.
951 The 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 by youtube-dlc is:
`tbr,filesize,vbr,height,width,protocol,vext,abr,aext,fps,filesize_approx,source_preference,format_id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but not the user-provided order.
953 If 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`.
955 **Tip**: You can use the
`-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
957 ## Format Selection examples
959 Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
962 # Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
963 # or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
967 $ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo+bestaudio/best'
969 # Download best format that contains video,
970 # and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
971 $ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo*+bestaudio/best' --no-audio-multistreams
975 # Download the worst video available
976 $ youtube-dlc -f 'worstvideo+worstaudio/worst'
978 # Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
979 $ youtube-dlc -S '+res'
981 # Download the smallest video available
982 $ youtube-dlc -S '+size,+bitrate'
986 # Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
987 $ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/bestvideo+bestaudio / best'
989 # Download the best video with the best extension
990 # (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
991 $ youtube-dlc -S 'ext'
995 # Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
996 # or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
997 $ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo[height<=480]+bestaudio/best[height<=480] / worstvideo+bestaudio/worst'
999 # Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1000 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1001 $ youtube-dlc -S 'height:480'
1003 # Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1004 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1005 # Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1006 # So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1007 $ youtube-dlc -S 'res:480'
1011 # Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1012 # or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1013 $ youtube-dlc -f 'best[filesize<50M] / worst'
1015 # Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1016 # or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1017 $ youtube-dlc -f 'best' -S 'filesize:50M'
1019 # Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1020 $ youtube-dlc -f 'best' -S 'filesize~50M'
1024 # Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1025 # or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1026 $ youtube-dlc -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / bestvideo+bestaudio/best'
1028 # Download best video available via the best protocol
1029 # (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1030 $ youtube-dlc -S 'protocol'
1034 # Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1035 # For this case, an output template should be used since
1036 # by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1037 $ youtube-dlc -f 'bestvideo,bestaudio' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
1041 # Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
1042 $ youtube-dlc -f '(bestvideo+bestaudio/best)[vcodec^=avc1] / bestvideo+bestaudio/best'
1044 # Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1045 # or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1046 $ youtube-dlc -S 'codec:h264'
1048 # Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1049 # or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1050 $ youtube-dlc -S '+codec:h264'
1054 # More complex examples
1056 # Download the best video no better than 720p prefering framerate greater than 30,
1057 # or the worst video (prefering framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1058 $ youtube-dlc -f '((bestvideo[fps>30]/bestvideo)[height<=720]/(worstvideo[fps>30]/worstvideo)) + bestaudio / (best[fps>30]/best)[height<=720]/(worst[fps>30]/worst)'
1060 # Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1061 # or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1062 # prefering larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1063 $ youtube-dlc -S 'res:720,fps'
1067 # Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1068 # or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1069 # prefering better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1070 $ youtube-dlc -S '+res:480,codec,br'
1078 For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the
[original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl)