-% youtube-dl(1)
+% YOUTUBE-DL(1)
# NAME
-youtube-dl
+youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
# SYNOPSIS
**youtube-dl** [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
# DESCRIPTION
**youtube-dl** is a small command-line program to download videos from
YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version
-2.x (x being at least 6), and it is not platform specific. It should work in
-your Unix box, in Windows or in Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain,
+2.6, 2.7, or 3.3+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on
+your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain,
which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
# OPTIONS
- -h, --help print this help text and exit
- --version print program version and exit
- -U, --update update this program to latest version
- -i, --ignore-errors continue on download errors
- -r, --rate-limit LIMIT download rate limit (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
- -R, --retries RETRIES number of retries (default is 10)
- --dump-user-agent display the current browser identification
- --user-agent UA specify a custom user agent
- --list-extractors List all supported extractors and the URLs they
- would handle
+ -h, --help print this help text and exit
+ --version print program version and exit
+ -U, --update update this program to latest version. Make sure
+ that you have sufficient permissions (run with
+ sudo if needed)
+ -i, --ignore-errors continue on download errors
+ --dump-user-agent display the current browser identification
+ --user-agent UA specify a custom user agent
+ --referer REF specify a custom referer, use if the video access
+ is restricted to one domain
+ --list-extractors List all supported extractors and the URLs they
+ would handle
+ --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported extractors
+ --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy
+ --no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation.
## Video Selection:
- --playlist-start NUMBER playlist video to start at (default is 1)
- --playlist-end NUMBER playlist video to end at (default is last)
- --match-title REGEX download only matching titles (regex or caseless
- sub-string)
- --reject-title REGEX skip download for matching titles (regex or
- caseless sub-string)
- --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
+ --playlist-start NUMBER playlist video to start at (default is 1)
+ --playlist-end NUMBER playlist video to end at (default is last)
+ --match-title REGEX download only matching titles (regex or caseless
+ sub-string)
+ --reject-title REGEX skip download for matching titles (regex or
+ caseless sub-string)
+ --max-downloads NUMBER Abort after downloading NUMBER files
+ --min-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos smaller than SIZE
+ (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
+ --max-filesize SIZE Do not download any videos larger than SIZE (e.g.
+ 50k or 44.6m)
+ --date DATE download only videos uploaded in this date
+ --datebefore DATE download only videos uploaded before this date
+ --dateafter DATE download only videos uploaded after this date
+
+## Download Options:
+ -r, --rate-limit LIMIT maximum download rate (e.g. 50k or 44.6m)
+ -R, --retries RETRIES number of retries (default is 10)
+ --buffer-size SIZE size of download buffer (e.g. 1024 or 16k)
+ (default is 1024)
+ --no-resize-buffer do not automatically adjust the buffer size. By
+ default, the buffer size is automatically resized
+ from an initial value of SIZE.
## Filesystem Options:
- -t, --title use title in file name
- --id use video ID in file name
- -l, --literal [deprecated] alias of --title
- -A, --auto-number number downloaded files starting from 00000
- -o, --output TEMPLATE output filename template. Use %(title)s to get the
- title, %(uploader)s for the uploader name,
- %(autonumber)s to get an automatically incremented
- number, %(ext)s for the filename extension,
- %(upload_date)s for the upload date (YYYYMMDD),
- %(extractor)s for the provider (youtube, metacafe,
- etc), %(id)s for the video id and %% for a literal
- percent. Use - to output to stdout.
- --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters, and
- avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
- -a, --batch-file FILE file containing URLs to download ('-' for stdin)
- -w, --no-overwrites do not overwrite files
- -c, --continue resume partially downloaded files
- --no-continue do not resume partially downloaded files (restart
- from beginning)
- --cookies FILE file to read cookies from and dump cookie jar in
- --no-part do not use .part files
- --no-mtime do not use the Last-modified header to set the file
- modification time
- --write-description write video description to a .description file
- --write-info-json write video metadata to a .info.json file
+ -t, --title use title in file name (default)
+ --id use only video ID in file name
+ -l, --literal [deprecated] alias of --title
+ -A, --auto-number number downloaded files starting from 00000
+ -o, --output TEMPLATE output filename template. Use %(title)s to get
+ the title, %(uploader)s for the uploader name,
+ %(uploader_id)s for the uploader nickname if
+ different, %(autonumber)s to get an automatically
+ incremented number, %(ext)s for the filename
+ extension, %(upload_date)s for the upload date
+ (YYYYMMDD), %(extractor)s for the provider
+ (youtube, metacafe, etc), %(id)s for the video id
+ , %(playlist)s for the playlist the video is in,
+ %(playlist_index)s for the position in the
+ playlist and %% for a literal percent. Use - to
+ output to stdout. Can also be used to download to
+ a different directory, for example with -o '/my/d
+ ownloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
+ --autonumber-size NUMBER Specifies the number of digits in %(autonumber)s
+ when it is present in output filename template or
+ --autonumber option is given
+ --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters, and
+ avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
+ -a, --batch-file FILE file containing URLs to download ('-' for stdin)
+ -w, --no-overwrites do not overwrite files
+ -c, --continue resume partially downloaded files
+ --no-continue do not resume partially downloaded files (restart
+ from beginning)
+ --cookies FILE file to read cookies from and dump cookie jar in
+ --no-part do not use .part files
+ --no-mtime do not use the Last-modified header to set the
+ file modification time
+ --write-description write video description to a .description file
+ --write-info-json write video metadata to a .info.json file
+ --write-thumbnail write thumbnail image to disk
## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
- -q, --quiet activates quiet mode
- -s, --simulate do not download the video and do not write anything
- to disk
- --skip-download do not download the video
- -g, --get-url simulate, quiet but print URL
- -e, --get-title simulate, quiet but print title
- --get-thumbnail simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
- --get-description simulate, quiet but print video description
- --get-filename simulate, quiet but print output filename
- --get-format simulate, quiet but print output format
- --no-progress do not print progress bar
- --console-title display progress in console titlebar
- -v, --verbose print various debugging information
+ -q, --quiet activates quiet mode
+ -s, --simulate do not download the video and do not write
+ anything to disk
+ --skip-download do not download the video
+ -g, --get-url simulate, quiet but print URL
+ -e, --get-title simulate, quiet but print title
+ --get-id simulate, quiet but print id
+ --get-thumbnail simulate, quiet but print thumbnail URL
+ --get-description simulate, quiet but print video description
+ --get-filename simulate, quiet but print output filename
+ --get-format simulate, quiet but print output format
+ --newline output progress bar as new lines
+ --no-progress do not print progress bar
+ --console-title display progress in console titlebar
+ -v, --verbose print various debugging information
+ --dump-intermediate-pages print downloaded pages to debug problems(very
+ verbose)
## Video Format Options:
- -f, --format FORMAT video format code
- --all-formats download all available video formats
- --prefer-free-formats prefer free video formats unless a specific one is
- requested
- --max-quality FORMAT highest quality format to download
- -F, --list-formats list all available formats (currently youtube only)
- --write-srt write video closed captions to a .srt file
- (currently youtube only)
- --srt-lang LANG language of the closed captions to download
- (optional) use IETF language tags like 'en'
+ -f, --format FORMAT video format code, specifiy the order of
+ preference using slashes: "-f 22/17/18". "-f mp4"
+ and "-f flv" are also supported
+ --all-formats download all available video formats
+ --prefer-free-formats prefer free video formats unless a specific one
+ is requested
+ --max-quality FORMAT highest quality format to download
+ -F, --list-formats list all available formats (currently youtube
+ only)
+
+## Subtitle Options:
+ --write-sub write subtitle file (currently youtube only)
+ --write-auto-sub write automatic subtitle file (currently youtube
+ only)
+ --only-sub [deprecated] alias of --skip-download
+ --all-subs downloads all the available subtitles of the
+ video
+ --list-subs lists all available subtitles for the video
+ --sub-format FORMAT subtitle format (default=srt) ([sbv/vtt] youtube
+ only)
+ --sub-lang LANGS languages of the subtitles to download (optional)
+ separated by commas, use IETF language tags like
+ 'en,pt'
## Authentication Options:
- -u, --username USERNAME account username
- -p, --password PASSWORD account password
- -n, --netrc use .netrc authentication data
+ -u, --username USERNAME account username
+ -p, --password PASSWORD account password
+ -n, --netrc use .netrc authentication data
+ --video-password PASSWORD video password (vimeo only)
## Post-processing Options:
- -x, --extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files (requires
- ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or avprobe)
- --audio-format FORMAT "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a", or "wav";
- best by default
- --audio-quality QUALITY ffmpeg/avconv audio quality specification, insert a
- value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse) for VBR or a
- specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
- -k, --keep-video keeps the video file on disk after the post-
- processing; the video is erased by default
+ -x, --extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files (requires
+ ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or avprobe)
+ --audio-format FORMAT "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", or
+ "wav"; best by default
+ --audio-quality QUALITY ffmpeg/avconv audio quality specification, insert
+ a value between 0 (better) and 9 (worse) for VBR
+ or a specific bitrate like 128K (default 5)
+ --recode-video FORMAT Encode the video to another format if necessary
+ (currently supported: mp4|flv|ogg|webm)
+ -k, --keep-video keeps the video file on disk after the post-
+ processing; the video is erased by default
+ --no-post-overwrites do not overwrite post-processed files; the post-
+ processed files are overwritten by default
+ --embed-subs embed subtitles in the video (only for mp4
+ videos)
# CONFIGURATION
-You can configure youtube-dl by placing default arguments (such as `--extract-audio --no-mtime` to always extract the audio and not copy the mtime) into `/etc/youtube-dl.conf` and/or `~/.local/config/youtube-dl.conf`.
+You can configure youtube-dl by placing default arguments (such as `--extract-audio --no-mtime` to always extract the audio and not copy the mtime) into `/etc/youtube-dl.conf` and/or `~/.config/youtube-dl.conf`.
# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
- `uploader`: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the person who uploaded the video.
- `upload_date`: The sequence will be replaced by the upload date in YYYYMMDD format.
- `title`: The sequence will be replaced by the video title.
-ext`: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like flv or mp4).
-epoch`: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when creating the file.
-autonumber`: The sequence will be replaced by a five-digit number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero.
+ - `ext`: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like flv or mp4).
+ - `epoch`: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when creating the file.
+ - `autonumber`: The sequence will be replaced by a five-digit number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero.
+ - `playlist`: The name or the id of the playlist that contains the video.
+ - `playlist_index`: The index of the video in the playlist, a five-digit number.
-The current default template is `%(id)s.%(ext)s`, but that will be switchted to `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` (which can be requested with `-t` at the moment).
+The current default template is `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`.
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:
$ youtube-dl --get-filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" BaW_jenozKc --restrict-filenames
youtube-dl_test_video_.mp4 # A simple file name
+# VIDEO SELECTION
+
+Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options `--date`, `--datebefore` or `--dateafter`, they accept dates in two formats:
+
+ - Absolute dates: Dates in the format `YYYYMMDD`.
+ - Relative dates: Dates in the format `(now|today)[+-][0-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?`
+
+Examples:
+
+ $ youtube-dl --dateafter now-6months #will only download the videos uploaded in the last 6 months
+ $ youtube-dl --date 19700101 #will only download the videos uploaded in January 1, 1970
+ $ youtube-dl --dateafter 20000101 --datebefore 20100101 #will only download the videos uploaded between 2000 and 2010
+
# FAQ
### Can you please put the -b option back?
-Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer need the -b option. For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be available in a specific high quality format you''re interested in. In that case, simply request it with the -f option and youtube-dl will try to download it.
+Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube-dl now defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer need the `-b` option. For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be available in a specific high quality format you're interested in. In that case, simply request it with the `-f` option and youtube-dl will try to download it.
### I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What's this?
-Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download too much. We''re [considering to provide a way to let you solve the CAPTCHA](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube-dl.
+Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download too much. We're [considering to provide a way to let you solve the CAPTCHA](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube-dl.
### I have downloaded a video but how can I play it?
means you're using an outdated version of Python. Please update to Python 2.6 or 2.7.
-To run youtube-dl under Python 2.5, you'll have to manually check it out like this:
-
- git clone git://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl.git
- cd youtube-dl
- python -m youtube_dl --help
-
-Please note that Python 2.5 is not supported anymore.
-
### What is this binary file? Where has the code gone?
Since June 2012 (#342) youtube-dl is packed as an executable zipfile, simply unzip it (might need renaming to `youtube-dl.zip` first on some systems) or clone the git repository, as laid out above. If you modify the code, you can run it by executing the `__main__.py` file. To recompile the executable, run `make youtube-dl`.
Please include:
* Your exact command line, like `youtube-dl -t "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHlDtZ6Oc3s&feature=channel_video_title"`. A common mistake is not to escape the `&`. Putting URLs in quotes should solve this problem.
+* If possible re-run the command with `--verbose`, and include the full output, it is really helpful to us.
* The output of `youtube-dl --version`
* The output of `python --version`
* The name and version of your Operating System ("Ubuntu 11.04 x64" or "Windows 7 x64" is usually enough).
+
+For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube-dl on freenode.
projects / youtube-dl / blobdiff