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14 A command-line program to download videos from youtube.com and many other [video platforms](supportedsites.md)
16 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)
18 * [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
19 * [INSTALLATION](#installation)
22 * [DESCRIPTION](#description)
24 * [Network Options](#network-options)
25 * [Geo Restriction](#geo-restriction)
26 * [Video Selection](#video-selection)
27 * [Download Options](#download-options)
28 * [Filesystem Options](#filesystem-options)
29 * [Thumbnail images](#thumbnail-images)
30 * [Internet Shortcut Options](#internet-shortcut-options)
31 * [Verbosity and Simulation Options](#verbosity-and-simulation-options)
32 * [Workarounds](#workarounds)
33 * [Video Format Options](#video-format-options)
34 * [Subtitle Options](#subtitle-options)
35 * [Authentication Options](#authentication-options)
36 * [Adobe Pass Options](#adobe-pass-options)
37 * [Post-processing Options](#post-processing-options)
38 * [SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)
39 * [Extractor Options](#extractor-options)
40 * [CONFIGURATION](#configuration)
41 * [Authentication with .netrc file](#authentication-with-netrc-file)
42 * [OUTPUT TEMPLATE](#output-template)
43 * [Output template and Windows batch files](#output-template-and-windows-batch-files)
44 * [Output template examples](#output-template-examples)
45 * [FORMAT SELECTION](#format-selection)
46 * [Filtering Formats](#filtering-formats)
47 * [Sorting Formats](#sorting-formats)
48 * [Format Selection examples](#format-selection-examples)
54 The major new features from the latest release of
[blackjack4494/yt-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) are:
56 * **
[SponSkrub Integration](#sponskrub-sponsorblock-options)**: You can use [SponSkrub](https://github.com/yt-dlp/SponSkrub) to mark/remove sponsor sections in youtube videos by utilizing the
[SponsorBlock](https://sponsor.ajay.app) API
58 * **[Format Sorting](#sorting-formats)**: The default format sorting options have been changed so that higher resolution and better codecs will be now preferred 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))
60 * **Merged with youtube-dl v2021.02
.22**: You get all the latest 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/yt-dlc)
62 * **Merged with animelover1984/youtube-dl**: You get most of the features and improvements from
[animelover1984/youtube-dl](https://github.com/animelover1984/youtube-dl) including
`--get-comments`,
`BiliBiliSearch`,
`BilibiliChannel`, Embedding thumbnail in mp4/ogg/opus, Playlist infojson etc. Note that the NicoNico improvements are not available. See
[#31](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/pull/31) for details.
64 * **Youtube improvements**:
65 * All Youtube Feeds (
`:ytfav`,
`:ytwatchlater`,
`:ytsubs`,
`:ythistory`,
`:ytrec`) works correctly and supports downloading multiple pages of content
66 * Youtube search (
`ytsearch:`,
`ytsearchdate:`) along with Search URLs works correctly
67 * Redirect channel's home URL automatically to
`/video` to preserve the old behaviour
69 * **Aria2c with HLS/DASH**: You can use aria2c as the external downloader for DASH(mpd) and HLS(m3u8) formats. No more slow ffmpeg/native downloads
71 * **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5
73 * **Fixed extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, tiktok, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv
75 * **Plugin support**: Extractors can be loaded from an external file. See [plugins](#plugins) for details
77 * **Multiple paths and output templates**: You can give different
[output templates](#output-template) and download paths for different types of files. You can also set a temporary path where intermediary files are downloaded to. See [`--paths`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/#:~:text=-P,%20--paths%20TYPE:PATH) for details
79 <!-- Relative link doesn't work for "#:~:text=" -->
81 * **Portable Configuration**: Configuration files are automatically loaded from the home and root directories. See [configuration](#configuration) for details
83 * **Other new options**:
`--parse-metadata`,
`--list-formats-as-table`,
`--write-link`,
`--force-download-archive`,
`--force-overwrites`,
`--break-on-reject` etc
85 * **Improvements**: Multiple
`--postprocessor-args` and
`--external-downloader-args`, Date/time formatting in
`-o`, faster archive checking, more [format selection options](#format-selection) etc
87 * **Self-updater**: The releases can be updated using
`yt-dlp -U`
90 See
[changelog](Changelog.md) or [commits](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commits) for the full list of changes
93 **PS**: Some of these changes are already in youtube-dlc, but are still unreleased. See [this](Changelog.md#unreleased-changes-in-blackjack4494yt-dlc) for details
95 If you are coming from
[youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl), the amount of changes are very large. Compare
[options](#options) and [supported sites](supportedsites.md) with youtube-dl's to get an idea of the massive number of features/patches [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc) has accumulated.
100 You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
101 * Download the binary from the
[latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) (recommended method)
102 * Use
[PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp):
`python -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
103 * Use pip+git:
`python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
104 * Install master branch:
`python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
107 Starting from version
`2021.02.09`, you can use
`yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the provided release.
108 If you are using
`pip`, simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program.
113 To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen and pycryptodome)
115 python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome
117 Once you have all the necessary dependancies installed, just run
`py pyinst.py`. The executable will be built for the same architecture (
32/
64 bit) as the python used to build it. It is strongly reccomended to use python3 although python2.6+ is supported.
119 You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
121 pyinstaller.exe yt_dlp\__main__.py --onefile --name yt-dlp
124 You will need the required build tools:
`python`,
`make` (GNU),
`pandoc`,
`zip`,
`nosetests`
125 Then simply run
`make`. You can also run
`make yt-dlp` instead to compile only the binary without updating any of the additional files
127 **Note**: In either platform,
`devscripts\update-version.py` can be used to automatically update the version number
130 **yt-dlp** is a command-line program to download videos from youtube.com many other [video platforms](supportedsites.md). 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.
132 yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
136 `Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
137 <!-- Autogenerated -->
140 -h, --help Print this help text and exit
141 --version Print program version and exit
142 -U, --update Update this program to latest version. Make
143 sure that you have sufficient permissions
144 (run with sudo if needed)
145 -i, --ignore-errors Continue on download errors, for example to
146 skip unavailable videos in a playlist
147 (default) (Alias: --no-abort-on-error)
148 --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos if an
149 error occurs (Alias: --no-ignore-errors)
150 --dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
151 --list-extractors List all supported extractors
152 --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
154 --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
156 --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
157 example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
158 from google videos for youtube-dl "large
159 apple". Use the value "auto" to let
160 youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
161 warning when guessing). "error" just throws
162 an error. The default value "fixup_error"
163 repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
164 this is not possible instead of searching
165 --ignore-config, --no-config Disable loading any configuration files
166 except the one provided by --config-location.
167 When given inside a configuration
168 file, no further configuration files are
169 loaded. Additionally, (for backward
170 compatibility) if this option is found
171 inside the system configuration file, the
172 user configuration is not loaded
173 --config-location PATH Location of the main configuration file;
174 either the path to the config or its
176 --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
178 --no-flat-playlist Extract the videos of a playlist
179 --mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
180 --no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched
181 --no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
184 --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
185 To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper
187 socks5://
127.0.0.1:
1080/. Pass in an empty
188 string (--proxy "") for direct connection
189 --socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
190 --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
191 -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
192 -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
195 --geo-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
196 some geo-restricted sites. The default
197 proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the
198 option is not present) is used for the
200 --geo-bypass Bypass geographic restriction via faking
201 X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
202 --no-geo-bypass Do not bypass geographic restriction via
203 faking X-Forwarded-For HTTP header
204 --geo-bypass-country CODE Force bypass geographic restriction with
205 explicitly provided two-letter ISO
3166-
2
207 --geo-bypass-ip-block IP_BLOCK Force bypass geographic restriction with
208 explicitly provided IP block in CIDR
212 --playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is
1)
213 --playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
214 --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
215 indices of the videos in the playlist
216 separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
217 1,
2,
5,
8" if you want to download videos
218 indexed
1,
2,
5,
8 in the playlist. You can
219 specify range: "--playlist-items
220 1-
3,
7,
10-
13", it will download the videos
221 at index
1,
2,
3,
7,
10,
11,
12 and
13
222 --match-title REGEX Download only matching titles (regex or
224 --reject-title REGEX Skip download for matching titles (regex or
226 --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
227 --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than
228 SIZE (e.g.
50k or
44.6m)
229 --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE
231 --date DATE Download only videos uploaded in this date.
232 The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format
233 "(now|today)[+-][
0-
9](day|week|month|year)(s)?"
234 --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
235 this date. The date formats accepted is the
237 --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
238 this date. The date formats accepted is the
240 --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
242 --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
244 --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter. Specify any key (see
245 "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of available
246 keys) to match if the key is present, !key
247 to check if the key is not present,
248 key>NUMBER (like "view_count >
12", also
249 works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to compare
250 against a number, key = 'LITERAL' (like
251 "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works with
252 !=) to match against a string literal and &
253 to require multiple matches. Values which
254 are not known are excluded unless you put a
255 question mark (?) after the operator. For
256 example, to only match videos that have
257 been liked more than
100 times and disliked
258 less than
50 times (or the dislike
259 functionality is not available at the given
260 service), but who also have a description,
261 use --match-filter "like_count >
100 &
262 dislike_count <?
50 & description"
263 --no-match-filter Do not use generic video filter (default)
264 --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
265 to a video and a playlist
266 --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
267 a video and a playlist
268 --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
270 --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
271 archive file. Record the IDs of all
272 downloaded videos in it
273 --break-on-existing Stop the download process when encountering
274 a file that is in the archive
275 --break-on-reject Stop the download process when encountering
276 a file that has been filtered out
277 --no-download-archive Do not use archive file (default)
278 --include-ads Download advertisements as well
280 --no-include-ads Do not download advertisements (default)
283 -r, --limit-rate RATE Maximum download rate in bytes per second
285 -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is
10), or
287 --fragment-retries RETRIES Number of retries for a fragment (default
288 is
10), or "infinite" (DASH, hlsnative and
290 --skip-unavailable-fragments Skip unavailable fragments for DASH,
291 hlsnative and ISM (default)
292 (Alias: --no-abort-on-unavailable-fragment)
293 --abort-on-unavailable-fragment Abort downloading if a fragment is unavailable
294 (Alias: --no-skip-unavailable-fragments)
295 --keep-fragments Keep downloaded fragments on disk after
296 downloading is finished
297 --no-keep-fragments Delete downloaded fragments after
298 downloading is finished (default)
299 --buffer-size SIZE Size of download buffer (e.g.
1024 or
16K)
301 --resize-buffer The buffer size is automatically resized
302 from an initial value of --buffer-size
304 --no-resize-buffer Do not automatically adjust the buffer size
305 --http-chunk-size SIZE Size of a chunk for chunk-based HTTP
306 downloading (e.g.
10485760 or
10M) (default
307 is disabled). May be useful for bypassing
308 bandwidth throttling imposed by a webserver
310 --playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
311 --no-playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in default order
313 --playlist-random Download playlist videos in random order
314 --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
316 --hls-prefer-native Use the native HLS downloader instead of
318 --hls-prefer-ffmpeg Use ffmpeg instead of the native HLS
320 --hls-use-mpegts Use the mpegts container for HLS videos;
321 allowing some players to play the video
322 while downloading, and reducing the chance
323 of file corruption if download is
324 interrupted. This is enabled by default for
326 --no-hls-use-mpegts Do not use the mpegts container for HLS
327 videos. This is default when not
328 downloading live streams
329 --external-downloader NAME Name or path of the external downloader to
330 use. Currently supports aria2c, avconv,
331 axel, curl, ffmpeg, httpie, wget
332 (Recommended: aria2c)
333 --downloader-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the external
334 downloader. Specify the downloader name and
335 the arguments separated by a colon ":". You
336 can use this option multiple times
337 (Alias: --external-downloader-args)
339 ## Filesystem Options:
340 -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
341 stdin), one URL per line. Lines starting
342 with '#', ';' or ']' are considered as
344 -P, --paths TYPE:PATH The paths where the files should be
345 downloaded. Specify the type of file and
346 the path separated by a colon ":". All the
347 same types as --output are supported.
348 Additionally, you can also provide "home"
349 and "temp" paths. All intermediary files
350 are first downloaded to the temp path and
351 then the final files are moved over to the
352 home path after download is finished. This
353 option is ignored if --output is an
355 -o, --output [TYPE:]TEMPLATE Output filename template, see "OUTPUT
356 TEMPLATE" for details
357 --output-na-placeholder TEXT Placeholder value for unavailable meta
358 fields in output filename template
360 --autonumber-start NUMBER Specify the start value for %(autonumber)s
362 --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
363 characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
365 --no-restrict-filenames Allow Unicode characters, "&" and spaces in
367 --windows-filenames Force filenames to be windows compatible
368 --no-windows-filenames Make filenames windows compatible only if
369 using windows (default)
370 --trim-filenames LENGTH Limit the filename length (excluding
371 extension) to the specified number of
373 -w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite any files
374 --force-overwrites Overwrite all video and metadata files.
375 This option includes --no-continue
376 --no-force-overwrites Do not overwrite the video, but overwrite
377 related files (default)
378 -c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
380 --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
381 fragments. If the file is unfragmented,
382 restart download of the entire file
383 --part Use .part files instead of writing directly
384 into output file (default)
385 --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
387 --mtime Use the Last-modified header to set the
388 file modification time (default)
389 --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set
390 the file modification time
391 --write-description Write video description to a .description
393 --no-write-description Do not write video description (default)
394 --write-info-json Write video metadata to a .info.json file
395 (this may contain personal information)
396 --no-write-info-json Do not write video metadata (default)
397 --write-annotations Write video annotations to a
398 .annotations.xml file
399 --no-write-annotations Do not write video annotations (default)
400 --write-playlist-metafiles Write playlist metadata in addition to the
401 video metadata when using --write-info-json,
402 --write-description etc. (default)
403 --no-write-playlist-metafiles Do not write playlist metadata when using
404 --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
405 --get-comments Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
406 .info.json file. The comments are fetched
407 even without this option if the extraction
409 --load-info-json FILE JSON file containing the video information
410 (created with the "--write-info-json"
412 --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
414 --no-cookies Do not read/dump cookies (default)
415 --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
416 can store some downloaded information
417 permanently. By default
418 $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or
419 ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the moment, only
420 YouTube player files (for videos with
421 obfuscated signatures) are cached, but that
423 --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
424 --rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
427 --write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
428 --no-write-thumbnail Do not write thumbnail image to disk
430 --write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
431 --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
434 ## Internet Shortcut Options:
435 --write-link Write an internet shortcut file, depending
436 on the current platform (.url, .webloc or
437 .desktop). The URL may be cached by the OS
438 --write-url-link Write a .url Windows internet shortcut. The
439 OS caches the URL based on the file path
440 --write-webloc-link Write a .webloc macOS internet shortcut
441 --write-desktop-link Write a .desktop Linux internet shortcut
443 ## Verbosity and Simulation Options:
444 -q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
445 --no-warnings Ignore warnings
446 -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
448 --skip-download Do not download the video
449 -g, --get-url Simulate, quiet but print URL
450 -e, --get-title Simulate, quiet but print title
451 --get-id Simulate, quiet but print id
452 --get-thumbnail Simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
453 --get-description Simulate, quiet but print video description
454 --get-duration Simulate, quiet but print video length
455 --get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
456 --get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
457 -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
458 See "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a description of
460 -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
461 for each command-line argument. If the URL
462 refers to a playlist, dump the whole
463 playlist information in a single line
464 --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
465 JSON (video is still being downloaded)
466 --force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
467 written as far as no errors occur,even if
468 -s or another simulation switch is used
469 (Alias: --force-download-archive)
470 --newline Output progress bar as new lines
471 --no-progress Do not print progress bar
472 --console-title Display progress in console titlebar
473 -v, --verbose Print various debugging information
474 --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
475 to debug problems (very verbose)
476 --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
477 files in the current directory to debug
479 --print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
482 --encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
483 --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
484 --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
485 information about the video. (Currently
486 supported only for YouTube)
487 --user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
488 --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
489 access is restricted to one domain
490 --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
491 separated by a colon ":". You can use this
492 option multiple times
493 --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
494 bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
495 or fribidi executable in PATH
496 --sleep-requests SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep between requests
497 during data extraction
498 --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
499 download when used alone or a lower bound
500 of a range for randomized sleep before each
501 download (minimum possible number of
502 seconds to sleep) when used along with
504 --max-sleep-interval SECONDS Upper bound of a range for randomized sleep
505 before each download (maximum possible
506 number of seconds to sleep). Must only be
507 used along with --min-sleep-interval
508 --sleep-subtitles SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
511 ## Video Format Options:
512 -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see "FORMAT SELECTION"
514 -S, --format-sort SORTORDER Sort the formats by the fields given, see
515 "Sorting Formats" for more details
516 --S-force, --format-sort-force Force user specified sort order to have
517 precedence over all fields, see "Sorting
518 Formats" for more details
519 --no-format-sort-force Some fields have precedence over the user
520 specified sort order (default), see
521 "Sorting Formats" for more details
522 --video-multistreams Allow multiple video streams to be merged
524 --no-video-multistreams Only one video stream is downloaded for
525 each output file (default)
526 --audio-multistreams Allow multiple audio streams to be merged
528 --no-audio-multistreams Only one audio stream is downloaded for
529 each output file (default)
530 --all-formats Download all available video formats
531 --prefer-free-formats Prefer video formats with free containers
532 over non-free ones of same quality. Use
533 with "-S ext" to strictly prefer free
534 containers irrespective of quality
535 --no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
537 -F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
539 --list-formats-as-table Present the output of -F in tabular form
541 --list-formats-old Present the output of -F in the old form
542 (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
543 --merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
544 bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
545 container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
546 webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
547 --allow-unplayable-formats Allow unplayable formats to be listed and
548 downloaded. All video postprocessing will
550 --no-allow-unplayable-formats Do not allow unplayable formats to be
551 listed or downloaded (default)
554 --write-subs Write subtitle file
555 --no-write-subs Do not write subtitle file (default)
556 --write-auto-subs Write automatically generated subtitle file
558 --no-write-auto-subs Do not write automatically generated
559 subtitle file (default)
560 --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
562 --list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
563 --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
564 preference, for example: "srt" or
566 --sub-lang LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download
567 (optional) separated by commas, use --list-
568 subs for available language tags
570 ## Authentication Options:
571 -u, --username USERNAME Login with this account ID
572 -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
573 out, yt-dlp will ask interactively
574 -2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor authentication code
575 -n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
576 --video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, youku)
578 ## Adobe Pass Options:
579 --ap-mso MSO Adobe Pass multiple-system operator (TV
580 provider) identifier, use --ap-list-mso for
581 a list of available MSOs
582 --ap-username USERNAME Multiple-system operator account login
583 --ap-password PASSWORD Multiple-system operator account password.
584 If this option is left out, yt-dlp will ask
586 --ap-list-mso List all supported multiple-system
589 ## Post-Processing Options:
590 -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
591 (requires ffmpeg and ffprobe)
592 --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac",
593 "flac", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", "vorbis", or
594 "wav"; "best" by default; No effect without
596 --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg audio quality, insert a
597 value between
0 (better) and
9 (worse) for
598 VBR or a specific bitrate like
128K
600 --remux-video FORMAT Remux the video into another container if
601 necessary (currently supported: mp4|mkv|flv
602 |webm|mov|avi|mp3|mka|m4a|ogg|opus). If
603 target container does not support the
604 video/audio codec, remuxing will fail. You
605 can specify multiple rules; eg.
606 "aac>m4a/mov>mp4/mkv" will remux aac to
607 m4a, mov to mp4 and anything else to mkv.
608 --recode-video FORMAT Re-encode the video into another format if
609 re-encoding is necessary. The supported
610 formats are the same as --remux-video
611 --postprocessor-args NAME:ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessors.
612 Specify the postprocessor/executable name
613 and the arguments separated by a colon ":"
614 to give the argument to the specified
615 postprocessor/executable. Supported
616 postprocessors are: SponSkrub,
617 ExtractAudio, VideoRemuxer, VideoConvertor,
618 EmbedSubtitle, Metadata, Merger,
619 FixupStretched, FixupM4a, FixupM3u8,
620 SubtitlesConvertor and EmbedThumbnail. The
621 supported executables are: SponSkrub,
622 FFmpeg, FFprobe, and AtomicParsley. You can
623 also specify "PP+EXE:ARGS" to give the
624 arguments to the specified executable only
625 when being used by the specified
626 postprocessor. Additionally, for
627 ffmpeg/ffprobe, a number can be appended to
628 the exe name seperated by "_i" to pass the
629 argument before the specified input file.
630 Eg: --ppa "Merger+ffmpeg_i1:-v quiet". You
631 can use this option multiple times to give
632 different arguments to different
633 postprocessors. (Alias: --ppa)
634 -k, --keep-video Keep the intermediate video file on disk
635 after post-processing
636 --no-keep-video Delete the intermediate video file after
637 post-processing (default)
638 --post-overwrites Overwrite post-processed files (default)
639 --no-post-overwrites Do not overwrite post-processed files
640 --embed-subs Embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4,
642 --no-embed-subs Do not embed subtitles (default)
643 --embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
644 --no-embed-thumbnail Do not embed thumbnail (default)
645 --add-metadata Write metadata to the video file
646 --no-add-metadata Do not write metadata (default)
647 --parse-metadata FIELD:FORMAT Parse additional metadata like title/artist
648 from other fields. Give field name to
649 extract data from, and format of the field
650 seperated by a ":". Either regular
651 expression with named capture groups or a
652 similar syntax to the output template can
653 also be used. The parsed parameters replace
654 any existing values and can be use in
655 output template. This option can be used
656 multiple times. Example: --parse-metadata
657 "title:%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a
658 title like "Coldplay - Paradise". Example
659 (regex): --parse-metadata
660 "description:Artist - (?P<artist>.+?)"
661 --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
662 (using dublin core and xdg standards)
663 --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
664 file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
665 emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
666 default; fix file if we can, warn
668 --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg binary; either the
669 path to the binary or its containing
671 --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
672 downloading and post-processing, similar to
673 find's -exec syntax. Example: --exec 'adb
674 push {} /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'
675 --convert-subs FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format
676 (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt|lrc)
678 ## SponSkrub (SponsorBlock) Options:
679 [SponSkrub](https://github.com/yt-dlp/SponSkrub) is a utility to
680 mark/remove sponsor segments from downloaded YouTube videos using
681 [SponsorBlock API](https://sponsor.ajay.app)
683 --sponskrub Use sponskrub to mark sponsored sections.
684 This is enabled by default if the sponskrub
685 binary exists (Youtube only)
686 --no-sponskrub Do not use sponskrub
687 --sponskrub-cut Cut out the sponsor sections instead of
689 --no-sponskrub-cut Simply mark the sponsor sections, not cut
691 --sponskrub-force Run sponskrub even if the video was already
693 --no-sponskrub-force Do not cut out the sponsor sections if the
694 video was already downloaded (default)
695 --sponskrub-location PATH Location of the sponskrub binary; either
696 the path to the binary or its containing
699 ## Extractor Options:
700 --extractor-retries RETRIES Number of retries for known extractor
701 errors (default is
3), or "infinite"
702 --allow-dynamic-mpd Process dynamic DASH manifests (default)
703 (Alias: --no-ignore-dynamic-mpd)
704 --ignore-dynamic-mpd Do not process dynamic DASH manifests
705 (Alias: --no-allow-dynamic-mpd)
706 --hls-split-discontinuity Split HLS playlists to different formats at
707 discontinuities such as ad breaks
708 --no-hls-split-discontinuity Do not split HLS playlists to different
709 formats at discontinuities such as ad
711 --youtube-include-dash-manifest Download the DASH manifests and related
712 data on YouTube videos (default)
713 (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-dash-manifest)
714 --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and
715 related data on YouTube videos
716 (Alias: --no-youtube-include-dash-manifest)
717 --youtube-include-hls-manifest Download the HLS manifests and related data
718 on YouTube videos (default)
719 (Alias: --no-youtube-skip-hls-manifest)
720 --youtube-skip-hls-manifest Do not download the HLS manifests and
721 related data on YouTube videos
722 (Alias: --no-youtube-include-hls-manifest)
726 You can configure yt-dlp by placing any supported command line option to a configuration file. The configuration is loaded from the following locations:
728 1. **Main Configuration**: The file given by
`--config-location`
729 1. **Portable Configuration**:
`yt-dlp.conf` in the same directory as the bundled binary. If you are running from source-code (
`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`), the root directory is used instead.
730 1. **Home Configuration**:
`yt-dlp.conf` in the home path given by
`-P "home:<path>"`, or in the current directory if no such path is given
731 1. **User Configuration**:
732 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Linux/macOS)
733 * `%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%/yt-dlp.conf`
734 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config` (recommended on Windows)
735 * `%APPDATA%/yt-dlp/config.txt`
737 * `~/yt-dlp.conf.txt`
739 Note that
`~` points to
`C:\Users\<user name>` on windows. Also,
`%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%` defaults to
`~/.config` if undefined
740 1. **System Configuration**:
`/etc/yt-dlp.conf` or
`/etc/yt-dlp.conf`
742 For example, with the following configuration file yt-dlp will always extract the audio, not copy the mtime, use a proxy and save all videos under
`YouTube` directory in your home directory:
744 # Lines starting with # are comments
746 # Always extract audio
749 # Do not copy the mtime
753 --proxy 127.0.0.1:3128
755 # Save all videos under YouTube directory in your home directory
756 -o ~/YouTube/%(title)s.%(ext)s
759 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`.
761 You can use
`--ignore-config` if you want to disable all configuration files for a particular yt-dlp run. If
`--ignore-config` is found inside any configuration file, no further configuration will be loaded. For example, having the option in the portable configuration file prevents loading of user and system configurations. Additionally, (for backward compatibility) if
`--ignore-config` is found inside the system configuration file, the user configuration is not loaded.
763 ### Authentication with `.netrc` file
765 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 yt-dlp 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:
768 chmod a-rwx,u+rw $HOME/.netrc
770 After that you can add credentials for an extractor in the following format, where *extractor* is the name of the extractor in lowercase:
772 machine <extractor> login <login> password <password>
776 machine youtube login myaccount@gmail.com password my_youtube_password
777 machine twitch login my_twitch_account_name password my_twitch_password
779 To activate authentication with the
`.netrc` file you should pass
`--netrc` to yt-dlp or place it in the [configuration file](#configuration).
781 On Windows you may also need to setup the
`%HOME%` environment variable manually. For example:
783 set HOME=%USERPROFILE%
788 The
`-o` option is used to indicate a template for the output file names while
`-P` option is used to specify the path each type of file should be saved to.
790 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
792 The basic usage of
`-o` is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in
`yt-dlp -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. Date/time fields can also be formatted according to
[strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it inside the parantheses seperated from the field name using a
`>`. For example,
`%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`.
794 Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files seperately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template seperated by a colon ":". The different filetypes supported are
`subtitle|thumbnail|description|annotation|infojson|pl_description|pl_infojson`. For example,
`-o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' -o 'thumbnail:%(title)s\%(title)s.%(ext)s'` will put the thumbnails in a folder with the same name as the video.
796 The available fields are:
798 - `id` (string): Video identifier
799 - `title` (string): Video title
800 - `url` (string): Video URL
801 - `ext` (string): Video filename extension
802 - `alt_title` (string): A secondary title of the video
803 - `display_id` (string): An alternative identifier for the video
804 - `uploader` (string): Full name of the video uploader
805 - `license` (string): License name the video is licensed under
806 - `creator` (string): The creator of the video
807 - `release_date` (string): The date (YYYYMMDD) when the video was released
808 - `timestamp` (numeric): UNIX timestamp of the moment the video became available
809 - `upload_date` (string): Video upload date (YYYYMMDD)
810 - `uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the video uploader
811 - `channel` (string): Full name of the channel the video is uploaded on
812 - `channel_id` (string): Id of the channel
813 - `location` (string): Physical location where the video was filmed
814 - `duration` (numeric): Length of the video in seconds
815 - `duration_string` (string): Length of the video (HH-mm-ss)
816 - `view_count` (numeric): How many users have watched the video on the platform
817 - `like_count` (numeric): Number of positive ratings of the video
818 - `dislike_count` (numeric): Number of negative ratings of the video
819 - `repost_count` (numeric): Number of reposts of the video
820 - `average_rating` (numeric): Average rating give by users, the scale used depends on the webpage
821 - `comment_count` (numeric): Number of comments on the video (For some extractors, comments are only downloaded at the end, and so this field cannot be used)
822 - `age_limit` (numeric): Age restriction for the video (years)
823 - `is_live` (boolean): Whether this video is a live stream or a fixed-length video
824 - `was_live` (boolean): Whether this video was originally a live stream
825 - `playable_in_embed` (string): Whether this video is allowed to play in embedded players on other sites
826 - `start_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should start, as specified in the URL
827 - `end_time` (numeric): Time in seconds where the reproduction should end, as specified in the URL
828 - `format` (string): A human-readable description of the format
829 - `format_id` (string): Format code specified by
`--format`
830 - `format_note` (string): Additional info about the format
831 - `width` (numeric): Width of the video
832 - `height` (numeric): Height of the video
833 - `resolution` (string): Textual description of width and height
834 - `tbr` (numeric): Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
835 - `abr` (numeric): Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
836 - `acodec` (string): Name of the audio codec in use
837 - `asr` (numeric): Audio sampling rate in Hertz
838 - `vbr` (numeric): Average video bitrate in KBit/s
839 - `fps` (numeric): Frame rate
840 - `vcodec` (string): Name of the video codec in use
841 - `container` (string): Name of the container format
842 - `filesize` (numeric): The number of bytes, if known in advance
843 - `filesize_approx` (numeric): An estimate for the number of bytes
844 - `protocol` (string): The protocol that will be used for the actual download
845 - `extractor` (string): Name of the extractor
846 - `extractor_key` (string): Key name of the extractor
847 - `epoch` (numeric): Unix epoch when creating the file
848 - `autonumber` (numeric): Number that will be increased with each download, starting at
`--autonumber-start`
849 - `playlist` (string): Name or id of the playlist that contains the video
850 - `playlist_index` (numeric): Index of the video in the playlist padded with leading zeros according to the total length of the playlist
851 - `playlist_id` (string): Playlist identifier
852 - `playlist_title` (string): Playlist title
853 - `playlist_uploader` (string): Full name of the playlist uploader
854 - `playlist_uploader_id` (string): Nickname or id of the playlist uploader
856 Available for the video that belongs to some logical chapter or section:
858 - `chapter` (string): Name or title of the chapter the video belongs to
859 - `chapter_number` (numeric): Number of the chapter the video belongs to
860 - `chapter_id` (string): Id of the chapter the video belongs to
862 Available for the video that is an episode of some series or programme:
864 - `series` (string): Title of the series or programme the video episode belongs to
865 - `season` (string): Title of the season the video episode belongs to
866 - `season_number` (numeric): Number of the season the video episode belongs to
867 - `season_id` (string): Id of the season the video episode belongs to
868 - `episode` (string): Title of the video episode
869 - `episode_number` (numeric): Number of the video episode within a season
870 - `episode_id` (string): Id of the video episode
872 Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
874 - `track` (string): Title of the track
875 - `track_number` (numeric): Number of the track within an album or a disc
876 - `track_id` (string): Id of the track
877 - `artist` (string): Artist(s) of the track
878 - `genre` (string): Genre(s) of the track
879 - `album` (string): Title of the album the track belongs to
880 - `album_type` (string): Type of the album
881 - `album_artist` (string): List of all artists appeared on the album
882 - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
883 - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
885 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 placeholder value provided with
`--output-na-placeholder` (
`NA` by default).
887 For example for
`-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title
`yt-dlp test video` and id
`BaW_jenozKcj`, this will result in a
`yt-dlp test video-BaW_jenozKcj.mp4` file created in the current directory.
889 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`.
891 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.
893 To use percent literals in an output template use
`%%`. To output to stdout use
`-o -`.
895 The current default template is
`%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`.
897 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:
899 #### Output template and Windows batch files
901 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"`.
903 #### Output template examples
905 Note that on Windows you need to use double quotes instead of single.
908 $ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
909 youtube-dl test video ''_ä↭𝕐.mp4 # All kinds of weird characters
911 $ yt-dlp --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
912 youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
914 # Download YouTube playlist videos in separate directory indexed by video order in a playlist
915 $ yt-dlp -o '%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
917 # Download YouTube playlist videos in seperate directories according to their uploaded year
918 $ yt-dlp -o '%(upload_date>%Y)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re
920 # Download all playlists of YouTube channel/user keeping each playlist in separate directory:
921 $ yt-dlp -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation/playlists
923 # Download Udemy course keeping each chapter in separate directory under MyVideos directory in your home
924 $ yt-dlp -u user -p password -P '~/MyVideos' -o '%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number)s - %(chapter)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s' https://www.udemy.com/java-tutorial/
926 # Download entire series season keeping each series and each season in separate directory under C:/MyVideos
927 $ yt-dlp -P "C:/MyVideos" -o "%(series)s/%(season_number)s - %(season)s/%(episode_number)s - %(episode)s.%(ext)s" https://videomore.ru/kino_v_detalayah/5_sezon/367617
929 # Stream the video being downloaded to stdout
930 $ yt-dlp -o - BaW_jenozKc
935 By default, yt-dlp tries to download the best available quality if you **don't** pass any options.
936 This 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 is unavailable, or if you use yt-dlp to stream to
`stdout` (
`-o -`), the default becomes
`-f best/bestvideo+bestaudio`.
938 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.
940 **tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
942 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.
944 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.
946 You can also use special names to select particular edge case formats:
948 - `all`: Select all formats
949 - `b*`,
`best*`: Select the best quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
950 - `w*`,
`worst*`: Select the worst quality format irrespective of whether it contains video or audio.
951 - `b`,
`best`: Select the best quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
952 - `w`,
`worst`: Select the worst quality format that contains both video and audio. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec!=none][acodec!=none]`
953 - `bv`,
`bestvideo`: Select the best quality video-only format. Equivalent to
`best*[acodec=none]`
954 - `wv`,
`worstvideo`: Select the worst quality video-only format. Equivalent to
`worst*[acodec=none]`
955 - `bv*`,
`bestvideo*`: Select the best quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec!=none]`
956 - `wv*`,
`worstvideo*`: Select the worst quality format that contains video. It may also contain audio. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec!=none]`
957 - `ba`,
`bestaudio`: Select the best quality audio-only format. Equivalent to
`best*[vcodec=none]`
958 - `wa`,
`worstaudio`: Select the worst quality audio-only format. Equivalent to
`worst*[vcodec=none]`
959 - `ba*`,
`bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to
`best*[acodec!=none]`
960 - `wa*`,
`worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to
`worst*[acodec!=none]`
962 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.
964 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.
966 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`.
968 You can merge the video and audio of multiple formats into a single file using
`-f <format1>+<format2>+...` (requires ffmpeg installed), for example
`-f bestvideo+bestaudio` will download the best video-only format, the best audio-only format and mux them together with ffmpeg. 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`.
972 You can also filter the video formats by putting a condition in brackets, as in
`-f "best[height=720]"` (or
`-f "[filesize>10M]"`).
974 The following numeric meta fields can be used with comparisons
`<`,
`<=`,
`>`,
`>=`,
`=` (equals),
`!=` (not equals):
976 - `filesize`: The number of bytes, if known in advance
977 - `width`: Width of the video, if known
978 - `height`: Height of the video, if known
979 - `tbr`: Average bitrate of audio and video in KBit/s
980 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
981 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
982 - `asr`: Audio sampling rate in Hertz
985 Also filtering work for comparisons
`=` (equals),
`^=` (starts with),
`$=` (ends with),
`*=` (contains) and following string meta fields:
987 - `ext`: File extension
988 - `acodec`: Name of the audio codec in use
989 - `vcodec`: Name of the video codec in use
990 - `container`: Name of the container format
991 - `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`)
992 - `format_id`: A short description of the format
993 - `language`: Language code
995 Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation
`!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g.
`!*=` (does not contain).
997 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.
999 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. You can also use the filters with
`all` to download all formats that satisfy the filter. For example,
`-f "all[vcodec=none]"` selects all audio-only formats.
1001 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]'`.
1005 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:
1007 - `hasvid`: Gives priority to formats that has a video stream
1008 - `hasaud`: Gives priority to formats that has a audio stream
1009 - `ie_pref`: The format preference as given by the extractor
1010 - `lang`: Language preference as given by the extractor
1011 - `quality`: The quality of the format as given by the extractor
1012 - `source`: Preference of the source as given by the extractor
1013 - `proto`: Protocol used for download (
`https`/
`ftps` >
`http`/
`ftp` >
`m3u8-native` >
`m3u8` >
`http-dash-segments` > other >
`mms`/
`rtsp` > unknown >
`f4f`/
`f4m`)
1014 - `vcodec`: Video Codec (
`av01` >
`vp9.2` >
`vp9` >
`h265` >
`h264` >
`vp8` >
`h263` >
`theora` > other > unknown)
1015 - `acodec`: Audio Codec (
`opus` >
`vorbis` >
`aac` >
`mp4a` >
`mp3` >
`ac3` >
`dts` > other > unknown)
1016 - `codec`: Equivalent to
`vcodec,acodec`
1017 - `vext`: Video Extension (
`mp4` >
`webm` >
`flv` > other > unknown). If
`--prefer-free-formats` is used,
`webm` is prefered.
1018 - `aext`: 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`.
1019 - `ext`: Equivalent to
`vext,aext`
1020 - `filesize`: Exact filesize, if know in advance. This will be unavailable for mu38 and DASH formats.
1021 - `fs_approx`: Approximate filesize calculated from the manifests
1022 - `size`: Exact filesize if available, otherwise approximate filesize
1023 - `height`: Height of video
1024 - `width`: Width of video
1025 - `res`: Video resolution, calculated as the smallest dimension.
1026 - `fps`: Framerate of video
1027 - `tbr`: Total average bitrate in KBit/s
1028 - `vbr`: Average video bitrate in KBit/s
1029 - `abr`: Average audio bitrate in KBit/s
1030 - `br`: Equivalent to using
`tbr,vbr,abr`
1031 - `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
1033 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` >
`vp9.2` >
`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.
1035 The fields
`hasvid`,
`ie_pref`,
`lang` 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:
`quality,res,fps,codec:vp9.2,size,br,asr,proto,ext,hasaud,source,id`. Note that the extractors may override this default order, but they cannot override the user-provided order.
1037 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`.
1039 **Tip**: You can use the
`-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
1041 ## Format Selection examples
1043 Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
1046 # Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
1047 # or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
1048 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv+ba/b'
1050 # Download best format that contains video,
1051 # and if it doesn't already have an audio stream, merge it with best audio-only format
1052 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*+ba/b'
1057 # Download the best video-only format and the best audio-only format without merging them
1058 # For this case, an output template should be used since
1059 # by default, bestvideo and bestaudio will have the same file name.
1060 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv,ba' -o '%(title)s.f%(format_id)s.%(ext)s'
1064 # The following examples show the old method (without -S) of format selection
1065 # and how to use -S to achieve a similar but better result
1067 # Download the worst video available (old method)
1068 $ yt-dlp -f 'wv*+wa/w'
1070 # Download the best video available but with the smallest resolution
1073 # Download the smallest video available
1074 $ yt-dlp -S '+size,+br'
1078 # Download the best mp4 video available, or the best video if no mp4 available
1079 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4] / bv*+ba/b'
1081 # Download the best video with the best extension
1082 # (For video, mp4 > webm > flv. For audio, m4a > aac > mp3 ...)
1087 # Download the best video available but no better than 480p,
1088 # or the worst video if there is no video under 480p
1089 $ yt-dlp -f 'bv*[height<=480]+ba/b[height<=480] / wv*+ba/w'
1091 # Download the best video available with the largest height but no better than 480p,
1092 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1093 $ yt-dlp -S 'height:480'
1095 # Download the best video available with the largest resolution but no better than 480p,
1096 # or the best video with the smallest resolution if there is no video under 480p
1097 # Resolution is determined by using the smallest dimension.
1098 # So this works correctly for vertical videos as well
1099 $ yt-dlp -S 'res:480'
1103 # Download the best video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1104 # or the worst video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1105 $ yt-dlp -f 'b[filesize<50M] / w'
1107 # Download largest video (that also has audio) but no bigger than 50 MB,
1108 # or the smallest video (that also has audio) if there is no video under 50 MB
1109 $ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize:50M'
1111 # Download best video (that also has audio) that is closest in size to 50 MB
1112 $ yt-dlp -f 'b' -S 'filesize~50M'
1116 # Download best video available via direct link over HTTP/HTTPS protocol,
1117 # or the best video available via any protocol if there is no such video
1118 $ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[protocol^=http][protocol!*=dash] / (bv*+ba/b)'
1120 # Download best video available via the best protocol
1121 # (https/ftps > http/ftp > m3u8_native > m3u8 > http_dash_segments ...)
1126 # Download the best video with h264 codec, or the best video if there is no such video
1127 $ yt-dlp -f '(bv*+ba/b)[vcodec^=avc1] / (bv*+ba/b)'
1129 # Download the best video with best codec no better than h264,
1130 # or the best video with worst codec if there is no such video
1131 $ yt-dlp -S 'codec:h264'
1133 # Download the best video with worst codec no worse than h264,
1134 # or the best video with best codec if there is no such video
1135 $ yt-dlp -S '+codec:h264'
1139 # More complex examples
1141 # Download the best video no better than 720p prefering framerate greater than 30,
1142 # or the worst video (still prefering framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
1143 $ yt-dlp -f '((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)'
1145 # Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
1146 # or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
1147 # prefering larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
1148 $ yt-dlp -S 'res:720,fps'
1152 # Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
1153 # or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
1154 # prefering better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
1155 $ yt-dlp -S '+res:480,codec,br'
1160 Plugins are loaded from
`<root-dir>/ytdlp_plugins/<type>/__init__.py`. Currently only
`extractor` plugins are supported. Support for
`downloader` and
`postprocessor` plugins may be added in the future. See [ytdlp_plugins](ytdlp_plugins) for example.
1162 **Note**:
`<root-dir>` is the directory of the binary (
`<root-dir>/yt-dlp`), or the root directory of the module if you are running directly from source-code (
`<root dir>/yt_dlp/__main__.py`)
1165 For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the
[original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)