# YT-DLP
A command-line program to download videos from YouTube and many other [video platforms](supportedsites.md)
-<!-- GHA doesnot have for-the-badge style
+<!-- GHA doesn't have for-the-badge style
[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/actions)
-->
[](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest)
yt-dlp is a [youtube-dl](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) fork based on the now inactive [youtube-dlc](https://github.com/blackjack4494/yt-dlc). The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project
* [NEW FEATURES](#new-features)
+ * [Differences in default behavior](#differences-in-default-behavior)
* [INSTALLATION](#installation)
- * [Dependancies](#dependancies)
+ * [Dependencies](#dependencies)
* [Update](#update)
* [Compile](#compile)
* [USAGE AND OPTIONS](#usage-and-options)
* **[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))
-* **Merged with youtube-dl v2021.04.07**: 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)
+* **Merged with youtube-dl v2021.04.17**: 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)
* **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.
* **Youtube improvements**:
- * All Youtube Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) works correctly and supports downloading multiple pages of content
- * Youtube search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`) along with Search URLs works correctly
+ * All Youtube Feeds (`:ytfav`, `:ytwatchlater`, `:ytsubs`, `:ythistory`, `:ytrec`) works and supports downloading multiple pages of content
+ * Youtube search (`ytsearch:`, `ytsearchdate:`) along with Search URLs work
+ * Youtube mixes supports downloading multiple pages of content
* Redirect channel's home URL automatically to `/video` to preserve the old behaviour
* **Split video by chapters**: Videos can be split into multiple files based on chapters using `--split-chapters`
* **New extractors**: AnimeLab, Philo MSO, Rcs, Gedi, bitwave.tv, mildom, audius, zee5, mtv.it, wimtv, pluto.tv, niconico users, discoveryplus.in, mediathek, NFHSNetwork, nebula
-* **Fixed extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks, la7 podcasts, linuxacadamy, nitter
+* **Fixed extractors**: archive.org, roosterteeth.com, skyit, instagram, itv, SouthparkDe, spreaker, Vlive, akamai, ina, rumble, tennistv, amcnetworks, la7 podcasts, linuxacadamy, nitter, twitcasting, viu
* **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 using `--paths` (`-P`)
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.
+### Differences in default behavior
+
+Some of yt-dlp's default options are different from that of youtube-dl and youtube-dlc.
+
+1. The options `--id`, `--auto-number` (`-A`), `--title` (`-t`) and `--literal` (`-l`), no longer work. See [removed options](#Removed) for details
+1. `avconv` is not supported as as an alternative to `ffmpeg`
+1. The default [output template](#output-template) is `%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`. There is no real reason for this change. This was changed before yt-dlp was ever made public and now there are no plans to change it back to `%(title)s.%(id)s.%(ext)s`. Instead, you may use `--compat-options filename`
+1. The default [format sorting](sorting-formats) is different from youtube-dl and prefers higher resolution and better codecs rather than higher bitrates. You can use the `--format-sort` option to change this to any order you prefer, or use `--compat-options format-sort` to use youtube-dl's sorting order
+1. The default format selector is `bv*+ba/b`. This means that if a combined video + audio format that is better than the best video-only format is found, the former will be prefered. Use `-f bv+ba/b` or `--compat-options format-spec` to revert this
+1. Unlike youtube-dlc, yt-dlp does not allow merging multiple audio/video streams into one file by default (since this conflicts with the use of `-f bv*+ba`). If needed, this feature must be enabled using `--audio-multistreams` and `--video-multistreams`. You can also use `--compat-options multistreams` to enable both
+1. `--ignore-errors` is enabled by default. Use `--abort-on-error` or `--compat-options abort-on-error` to abort on errors instead
+1. When writing metadata files such as thumbnails, description or infojson, the same information (if available) is also written for playlists. Use `--no-write-playlist-metafiles` or `--compat-options no-playlist-metafiles` to not write these files
+1. `playlist_index` behaves differently when used with options like `--playlist-reverse` and `--playlist-items`. See [#302](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/302) for details. You can use `--compat-options playlist-index` if you want to keep the earlier behavior
+1. The output of `-F` is listed in a new format. Use `--compat-options list-formats` to revert this
+1. Youtube live chat (if available) is considered as a subtitle. Use `--sub-langs all,-live_chat` to download all subtitles except live chat. You can also use `--compat-options no-live-chat` to prevent live chat from downloading
+1. Youtube channel URLs are automatically redirected to `/video`. Either append a `/featured` to the URL or use `--compat-options no-youtube-channel-redirect` to download only the videos in the home page
+1. Unavailable videos are also listed for youtube playlists. Use `--compat-options no-youtube-unavailable-videos` to remove this
+
+For ease of use, a few more compat options are available:
+1. `--compat-options all` = Use all compat options
+1. `--compat-options youtube-dl` = `--compat-options all,-multistreams`
+1. `--compat-options youtube-dlc` = `--compat-options all,-no-live-chat,-no-youtube-channel-redirect`
+
# INSTALLATION
yt-dlp is not platform specific. So it should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS
You can install yt-dlp using one of the following methods:
* Download the binary from the [latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) (recommended method)
-* Use [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp): `python -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
-* Use pip+git: `python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
-* Install master branch: `python -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
+* Use [PyPI package](https://pypi.org/project/yt-dlp): `python3 -m pip install --upgrade yt-dlp`
+* Use pip+git: `python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp.git@release`
+* Install master branch: `python3 -m pip install --upgrade git+https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp`
+
+Note that on some systems, you may need to use `py` or `python` instead of `python3`
UNIX users (Linux, macOS, BSD) can also install the [latest release](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest) one of the following ways:
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
```
-### DEPENDANCIES
-
-Python versions 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+ are currently supported. However, 3.2+ is strongly recommended and python2 support will be deprecated in the future.
+### DEPENDENCIES
+Python versions 3.6+ (CPython and PyPy) are officially supported. Other versions and implementations may or maynot work correctly.
-Although there are no required dependancies, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended. Other optional dependancies are `sponskrub`, `AtomicParsley`, `mutagen`, `pycryptodome` and any of the supported external downloaders. Note that the windows releases are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen and pycryptodome included.
+Although there are no required dependencies, `ffmpeg` and `ffprobe` are highly recommended. Other optional dependencies are `sponskrub`, `AtomicParsley`, `mutagen`, `pycryptodome` and any of the supported external downloaders. Note that the windows releases are already built with the python interpreter, mutagen and pycryptodome included.
### UPDATE
You can use `yt-dlp -U` to update if you are using the provided release.
**For Windows**:
To build the Windows executable, you must have pyinstaller (and optionally mutagen and pycryptodome)
- python -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome
+ python3 -m pip install --upgrade pyinstaller mutagen pycryptodome
-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.
+Once you have all the necessary dependencies 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.
You can also build the executable without any version info or metadata by using:
yt-dlp [OPTIONS] [--] URL [URL...]
`Ctrl+F` is your friend :D
-<!-- Autogenerated -->
+<!-- Auto generated -->
## General Options:
-h, --help Print this help text and exit
--mark-watched Mark videos watched (YouTube only)
--no-mark-watched Do not mark videos watched (default)
--no-colors Do not emit color codes in output
+ --compat-options OPTS Options that can help keep compatibility
+ with youtube-dl and youtube-dlc
+ configurations by reverting some of the
+ changes made in yt-dlp. See "Differences in
+ default behavior" for details
## Network Options:
--proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy.
-c, --continue Resume partially downloaded files/fragments
(default)
--no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded
- fragments. If the file is unfragmented,
+ fragments. If the file is not fragmented,
restart download of the entire file
--part Use .part files instead of writing directly
into output file (default)
--no-warnings Ignore warnings
-s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write
anything to disk
+ --ignore-no-formats-error Ignore "No video formats" error. Usefull
+ for extracting metadata even if the video
+ is not actually available for download
+ (experimental)
+ --no-ignore-no-formats-error Throw error when no downloadable video
+ formats are found (default)
--skip-download Do not download the video but write all
related files (Alias: --no-download)
-g, --get-url Simulate, quiet but print URL
--print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
JSON (video is still being downloaded)
--force-write-archive Force download archive entries to be
- written as far as no errors occur,even if
- -s or another simulation switch is used
+ written as far as no errors occur, even if
+ -s or another simulation option is used
(Alias: --force-download-archive)
--newline Output progress bar as new lines
--no-progress Do not print progress bar
containers irrespective of quality
--no-prefer-free-formats Don't give any special preference to free
containers (default)
+ --check-formats Check that the formats selected are
+ actually downloadable (Experimental)
-F, --list-formats List all available formats of requested
videos
- --list-formats-as-table Present the output of -F in tabular form
- (default)
- --list-formats-old Present the output of -F in the old form
- (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
--merge-output-format FORMAT If a merge is required (e.g.
bestvideo+bestaudio), output to given
container format. One of mkv, mp4, ogg,
webm, flv. Ignored if no merge is required
--allow-unplayable-formats Allow unplayable formats to be listed and
- downloaded. All video postprocessing will
+ downloaded. All video post-processing will
also be turned off
--no-allow-unplayable-formats Do not allow unplayable formats to be
listed or downloaded (default)
**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
-The simplest 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"` (hard-coding file extension like this is _not_ recommended and could break certain postprocessing).
+The simplest 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"` (hard-coding file extension like this is _not_ recommended and could break some post-processing).
It may however also 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.
The field names themselves (the part inside the parenthesis) can also have some special formatting:
-1. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s` or `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`
-2. **Offset numbers**: Numeric fields can have an initial offset specified by using a `+` seperator. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`. This can also be used in conjunction with the datetime formatting. Eg: `%(epoch+-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
-3. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) seperator. Eg: `%(tags.0)s` or `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)`. Note that the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
+1. **Object traversal**: The dictionaries and lists available in metadata can be traversed by using a `.` (dot) separator. You can also do python slicing using `:`. Eg: `%(tags.0)s`, `%(subtitles.en.-1.ext)`, `%(id.3:7:-1)s`. Note that the fields that become available using this method are not listed below. Use `-j` to see such fields
+1. **Addition**: Addition and subtraction of numeric fields can be done using `+` and `-` respectively. Eg: `%(playlist_index+10)03d`, `%(n_entries+1-playlist_index)d`
+1. **Date/time Formatting**: Date/time fields can be formatted according to [strftime formatting](https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes) by specifying it separated from the field name using a `>`. Eg: `%(duration>%H-%M-%S)s`, `%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s`, `%(epoch-3600>%H-%M-%S)s`
+1. **Default**: A default value can be specified for when the field is empty using a `|` seperator. This overrides `--output-na-template`. Eg: `%(uploader|Unknown)s`
To summarize, the general syntax for a field is:
```
-%(name[.keys][+offset][>strf])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
+%(name[.keys][addition][>strf][|default])[flags][width][.precision][length]type
```
-Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different filetypes supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation`, `infojson`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. 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.
+Additionally, you can set different output templates for the various metadata files separately from the general output template by specifying the type of file followed by the template separated by a colon `:`. The different file types supported are `subtitle`, `thumbnail`, `description`, `annotation`, `infojson`, `pl_description`, `pl_infojson`, `chapter`. 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.
The available fields are:
- `ba*`, `bestaudio*`: Select the best quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `best*[acodec!=none]`
- `wa*`, `worstaudio*`: Select the worst quality format that contains audio. It may also contain video. Equivalent to `worst*[acodec!=none]`
-For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recomended not to 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.
+For example, to download the worst quality video-only format you can use `-f worstvideo`. It is however recommended not to 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.
You can select the n'th best format of a type by using `best<type>.<n>`. For example, `best.2` will select the 2nd best combined format. Similarly, `bv*.3` will select the 3rd best format that contains a video stream.
Any string comparison may be prefixed with negation `!` in order to produce an opposite comparison, e.g. `!*=` (does not contain).
-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.
+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 website. Any other field made available by the extractor can also be used for filtering.
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.
- `br`: Equivalent to using `tbr,vbr,abr`
- `asr`: Audio sample rate in Hz
-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, separated 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.
+Note that any other **numerical** field made available by the extractor can also be used. All fields, unless specified otherwise, are sorted in descending order. To reverse this, prefix the field with a `+`. Eg: `+res` prefers format with the smallest resolution. Additionally, you can suffix a preferred value for the fields, separated 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 preferred 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.
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.
-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`.
+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 respects. 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`.
**Tip**: You can use the `-v -F` to see how the formats have been sorted (worst to best).
Note that on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
```bash
-# Download and merge the best best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
+# Download and merge the best video-only format and the best audio-only format,
# or download the best combined format if video-only format is not available
$ yt-dlp -f 'bv+ba/b'
# More complex examples
-# Download the best video no better than 720p prefering framerate greater than 30,
-# or the worst video (still prefering framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
+# Download the best video no better than 720p preferring framerate greater than 30,
+# or the worst video (still preferring framerate greater than 30) if there is no such video
$ yt-dlp -f '((bv*[fps>30]/bv*)[height<=720]/(wv*[fps>30]/wv*)) + ba / (b[fps>30]/b)[height<=720]/(w[fps>30]/w)'
# Download the video with the largest resolution no better than 720p,
# or the video with the smallest resolution available if there is no such video,
-# prefering larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
+# preferring larger framerate for formats with the same resolution
$ yt-dlp -S 'res:720,fps'
# Download the video with smallest resolution no worse than 480p,
# or the video with the largest resolution available if there is no such video,
-# prefering better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
+# preferring better codec and then larger total bitrate for the same resolution
$ yt-dlp -S '+res:480,codec,br'
```
These are all the deprecated options and the current alternative to achieve the same effect
#### Not recommended
-While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same effect
+While these options still work, their use is not recommended since there are other alternatives to achieve the same
--all-formats -f all
--all-subs --sub-langs all --write-subs
--metadata-from-title FORMAT --parse-metadata "%(title)s:FORMAT"
--hls-prefer-native --downloader "m3u8:native"
--hls-prefer-ffmpeg --downloader "m3u8:ffmpeg"
+ --list-formats-old --compat-options list-formats (Alias: --no-list-formats-as-table)
+ --list-formats-as-table --compat-options -list-formats [Default] (Alias: --no-list-formats-old)
--sponskrub-args ARGS --ppa "sponskrub:ARGS"
--test Used by developers for testing extractors. Not intended for the end user
--include-ads No longer supported
--no-include-ads Default
--youtube-print-sig-code No longer supported
+
+#### Removed
+These options were deprecated since 2014 and have now been entirely removed
+
--id -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s"
-A, --auto-number -o "%(autonumber)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
-t, --title -o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"
-l, --literal -o accepts literal names
-#### Removed
-Currently, there are no options that have been completely removed. But there are plans to remove the old output options `-A`,`-t`, `-l`, `--id` (which have been deprecated since 2014) in the near future. If you are still using these, please move to using `--output` instead
-
-
# MORE
For FAQ, Developer Instructions etc., see the [original README](https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#faq)
projects / yt-dlp.git / blobdiff