# OPTIONS
-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, for example to skip unavailable videos in a playlist
- --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos (in the playlist or the command line) if an error occurs
+ -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, for example to
+ skip unavailable videos in a playlist
+ --abort-on-error Abort downloading of further videos (in the
+ playlist or the command line) if an error
+ occurs
--dump-user-agent Display the current browser identification
--list-extractors List all supported extractors
- --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported extractors
- --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic extractor
- --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos from google videos for youtube-dl "large apple".
- Use the value "auto" to let youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a warning when guessing). "error" just throws an error. The
- default value "fixup_error" repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if this is not possible instead of searching.
- --ignore-config Do not read configuration files. When given in the global configuration file /etc/youtube-dl.conf: Do not read the user configuration
- in ~/.config/youtube-dl/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt on Windows)
- --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist, only list them.
+ --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
+ extractors
+ --force-generic-extractor Force extraction to use the generic
+ extractor
+ --default-search PREFIX Use this prefix for unqualified URLs. For
+ example "gvsearch2:" downloads two videos
+ from google videos for youtube-dl "large
+ apple". Use the value "auto" to let
+ youtube-dl guess ("auto_warning" to emit a
+ warning when guessing). "error" just throws
+ an error. The default value "fixup_error"
+ repairs broken URLs, but emits an error if
+ this is not possible instead of searching.
+ --ignore-config Do not read configuration files. When given
+ in the global configuration file /etc
+ /youtube-dl.conf: Do not read the user
+ configuration in ~/.config/youtube-
+ dl/config (%APPDATA%/youtube-dl/config.txt
+ on Windows)
+ --flat-playlist Do not extract the videos of a playlist,
+ only list them.
--no-color Do not emit color codes in output
## Network Options:
- --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Pass in an empty string (--proxy "") for direct connection
+ --proxy URL Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS proxy. Pass in
+ an empty string (--proxy "") for direct
+ connection
--socket-timeout SECONDS Time to wait before giving up, in seconds
- --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to (experimental)
- -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4 (experimental)
- -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6 (experimental)
- --cn-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for some Chinese sites. The default proxy specified by --proxy (or none, if the options is
- not present) is used for the actual downloading. (experimental)
+ --source-address IP Client-side IP address to bind to
+ (experimental)
+ -4, --force-ipv4 Make all connections via IPv4
+ (experimental)
+ -6, --force-ipv6 Make all connections via IPv6
+ (experimental)
+ --cn-verification-proxy URL Use this proxy to verify the IP address for
+ some Chinese sites. The default proxy
+ specified by --proxy (or none, if the
+ options is not present) is used for the
+ actual downloading. (experimental)
## Video Selection:
--playlist-start NUMBER Playlist video to start at (default is 1)
--playlist-end NUMBER Playlist video to end at (default is last)
- --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify indices of the videos in the playlist separated by commas like: "--playlist-items 1,2,5,8"
- if you want to download videos indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can specify range: "--playlist-items 1-3,7,10-13", it will
- download the videos at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
- --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)
+ --playlist-items ITEM_SPEC Playlist video items to download. Specify
+ indices of the videos in the playlist
+ separated by commas like: "--playlist-items
+ 1,2,5,8" if you want to download videos
+ indexed 1, 2, 5, 8 in the playlist. You can
+ specify range: "--playlist-items
+ 1-3,7,10-13", it will download the videos
+ at index 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
+ --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)
+ --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 on or before this date (i.e. inclusive)
- --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after this date (i.e. inclusive)
- --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than COUNT views
- --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than COUNT views
- --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter (experimental). Specify any key (see help for -o for a list of available keys) to match if the key is present,
- !key to check if the key is not present,key > NUMBER (like "comment_count > 12", also works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to compare against
- a number, and & to require multiple matches. Values which are not known are excluded unless you put a question mark (?) after the
- operator.For example, to only match videos that have been liked more than 100 times and disliked less than 50 times (or the dislike
- functionality is not available at the given service), but who also have a description, use --match-filter "like_count > 100 &
+ --datebefore DATE Download only videos uploaded on or before
+ this date (i.e. inclusive)
+ --dateafter DATE Download only videos uploaded on or after
+ this date (i.e. inclusive)
+ --min-views COUNT Do not download any videos with less than
+ COUNT views
+ --max-views COUNT Do not download any videos with more than
+ COUNT views
+ --match-filter FILTER Generic video filter (experimental).
+ Specify any key (see help for -o for a list
+ of available keys) to match if the key is
+ present, !key to check if the key is not
+ present,key > NUMBER (like "comment_count >
+ 12", also works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to
+ compare against a number, and & to require
+ multiple matches. Values which are not
+ known are excluded unless you put a
+ question mark (?) after the operator.For
+ example, to only match videos that have
+ been liked more than 100 times and disliked
+ less than 50 times (or the dislike
+ functionality is not available at the given
+ service), but who also have a description,
+ use --match-filter "like_count > 100 &
dislike_count <? 50 & description" .
- --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers to a video and a playlist.
- --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to a video and a playlist.
- --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given age
- --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the archive file. Record the IDs of all downloaded videos in it.
- --include-ads Download advertisements as well (experimental)
+ --no-playlist Download only the video, if the URL refers
+ to a video and a playlist.
+ --yes-playlist Download the playlist, if the URL refers to
+ a video and a playlist.
+ --age-limit YEARS Download only videos suitable for the given
+ age
+ --download-archive FILE Download only videos not listed in the
+ archive file. Record the IDs of all
+ downloaded videos in it.
+ --include-ads Download advertisements as well
+ (experimental)
## Download Options:
- -r, --rate-limit LIMIT Maximum download rate in bytes per second (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
- -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or "infinite".
- --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.
+ -r, --rate-limit LIMIT Maximum download rate in bytes per second
+ (e.g. 50K or 4.2M)
+ -R, --retries RETRIES Number of retries (default is 10), or
+ "infinite".
+ --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.
--playlist-reverse Download playlist videos in reverse order
- --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with expected filesize (experimental)
- --hls-prefer-native Use the native HLS downloader instead of ffmpeg (experimental)
- --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader. Currently supports aria2c,axel,curl,httpie,wget
- --external-downloader-args ARGS Give these arguments to the external downloader
+ --xattr-set-filesize Set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with
+ expected filesize (experimental)
+ --hls-prefer-native Use the native HLS downloader instead of
+ ffmpeg (experimental)
+ --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader.
+ Currently supports
+ aria2c,axel,curl,httpie,wget
+ --external-downloader-args ARGS Give these arguments to the external
+ downloader
## Filesystem Options:
- -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for stdin)
+ -a, --batch-file FILE File containing URLs to download ('-' for
+ stdin)
--id Use only video ID in file name
- -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, %(format)s for
- the format description (like "22 - 1280x720" or "HD"), %(format_id)s for the unique id of the format (like YouTube's itags: "137"),
- %(upload_date)s for the upload date (YYYYMMDD), %(extractor)s for the provider (youtube, metacafe, etc), %(id)s for the video id,
- %(playlist_title)s, %(playlist_id)s, or %(playlist)s (=title if present, ID otherwise) for the playlist the video is in,
- %(playlist_index)s for the position in the playlist. %(height)s and %(width)s for the width and height of the video format.
- %(resolution)s for a textual description of the resolution of the video format. %% for a literal percent. Use - to output to stdout.
- Can also be used to download to a different directory, for example with -o '/my/downloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
- --autonumber-size NUMBER Specify the number of digits in %(autonumber)s when it is present in output filename template or --auto-number option is given
- --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in filenames
- -A, --auto-number [deprecated; use -o "%(autonumber)s-%(title)s.%(ext)s" ] Number downloaded files starting from 00000
- -t, --title [deprecated] Use title in file name (default)
+ -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, %(format)s for the
+ format description (like "22 - 1280x720" or
+ "HD"), %(format_id)s for the unique id of
+ the format (like YouTube's itags: "137"),
+ %(upload_date)s for the upload date
+ (YYYYMMDD), %(extractor)s for the provider
+ (youtube, metacafe, etc), %(id)s for the
+ video id, %(playlist_title)s,
+ %(playlist_id)s, or %(playlist)s (=title if
+ present, ID otherwise) for the playlist the
+ video is in, %(playlist_index)s for the
+ position in the playlist. %(height)s and
+ %(width)s for the width and height of the
+ video format. %(resolution)s for a textual
+ description of the resolution of the video
+ format. %% for a literal percent. Use - to
+ output to stdout. Can also be used to
+ download to a different directory, for
+ example with -o '/my/downloads/%(uploader)s
+ /%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
+ --autonumber-size NUMBER Specify the number of digits in
+ %(autonumber)s when it is present in output
+ filename template or --auto-number option
+ is given
+ --restrict-filenames Restrict filenames to only ASCII
+ characters, and avoid "&" and spaces in
+ filenames
+ -A, --auto-number [deprecated; use -o
+ "%(autonumber)s-%(title)s.%(ext)s" ] Number
+ downloaded files starting from 00000
+ -t, --title [deprecated] Use title in file name
+ (default)
-l, --literal [deprecated] Alias of --title
-w, --no-overwrites Do not overwrite files
- -c, --continue Force resume of partially downloaded files. By default, youtube-dl will resume downloads if possible.
- --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded files (restart from beginning)
- --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly into output file
- --no-mtime Do not use the Last-modified header to set the file modification time
- --write-description Write video description to a .description file
+ -c, --continue Force resume of partially downloaded files.
+ By default, youtube-dl will resume
+ downloads if possible.
+ --no-continue Do not resume partially downloaded files
+ (restart from beginning)
+ --no-part Do not use .part files - write directly
+ into output file
+ --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-annotations Write video annotations to a .annotations.xml file
- --load-info FILE JSON file containing the video information (created with the "--write-info-json" option)
- --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie jar in
- --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl can store some downloaded information permanently. By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl
- or ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the moment, only YouTube player files (for videos with obfuscated signatures) are cached, but that may
- change.
+ --write-annotations Write video annotations to a
+ .annotations.xml file
+ --load-info FILE JSON file containing the video information
+ (created with the "--write-info-json"
+ option)
+ --cookies FILE File to read cookies from and dump cookie
+ jar in
+ --cache-dir DIR Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl
+ can store some downloaded information
+ permanently. By default $XDG_CACHE_HOME
+ /youtube-dl or ~/.cache/youtube-dl . At the
+ moment, only YouTube player files (for
+ videos with obfuscated signatures) are
+ cached, but that may change.
--no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
--rm-cache-dir Delete all filesystem cache files
## Thumbnail images:
--write-thumbnail Write thumbnail image to disk
--write-all-thumbnails Write all thumbnail image formats to disk
- --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail formats
+ --list-thumbnails Simulate and list all available thumbnail
+ formats
## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
-q, --quiet Activate quiet mode
--no-warnings Ignore warnings
- -s, --simulate Do not download the video and do not write anything to disk
+ -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-duration Simulate, quiet but print video length
--get-filename Simulate, quiet but print output filename
--get-format Simulate, quiet but print output format
- -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information. See --output for a description of available keys.
- -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information for each command-line argument. If the URL refers to a playlist, dump the whole playlist
- information in a single line.
- --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as JSON (video is still being downloaded).
+ -j, --dump-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information.
+ See --output for a description of available
+ keys.
+ -J, --dump-single-json Simulate, quiet but print JSON information
+ for each command-line argument. If the URL
+ refers to a playlist, dump the whole
+ playlist information in a single line.
+ --print-json Be quiet and print the video information as
+ JSON (video is still being downloaded).
--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-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64 to debug problems (very verbose)
- --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to files in the current directory to debug problems
+ --dump-pages Print downloaded pages encoded using base64
+ to debug problems (very verbose)
+ --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
+ files in the current directory to debug
+ problems
--print-traffic Display sent and read HTTP traffic
-C, --call-home Contact the youtube-dl server for debugging
- --no-call-home Do NOT contact the youtube-dl server for debugging
+ --no-call-home Do NOT contact the youtube-dl server for
+ debugging
## Workarounds:
--encoding ENCODING Force the specified encoding (experimental)
--no-check-certificate Suppress HTTPS certificate validation
- --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve information about the video. (Currently supported only for YouTube)
+ --prefer-insecure Use an unencrypted connection to retrieve
+ information about the video. (Currently
+ supported only for YouTube)
--user-agent UA Specify a custom user agent
- --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video access is restricted to one domain
- --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value, separated by a colon ':'. You can use this option multiple times
- --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv or fribidi executable in PATH
- --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each download.
+ --referer URL Specify a custom referer, use if the video
+ access is restricted to one domain
+ --add-header FIELD:VALUE Specify a custom HTTP header and its value,
+ separated by a colon ':'. You can use this
+ option multiple times
+ --bidi-workaround Work around terminals that lack
+ bidirectional text support. Requires bidiv
+ or fribidi executable in PATH
+ --sleep-interval SECONDS Number of seconds to sleep before each
+ download.
## Video Format Options:
- -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see the "FORMAT SELECTION" for all the info
+ -f, --format FORMAT Video format code, see the "FORMAT
+ SELECTION" for all the info
--all-formats Download all available video formats
- --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats unless a specific one is requested
+ --prefer-free-formats Prefer free video formats unless a specific
+ one is requested
-F, --list-formats List all available formats
- --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and related data on YouTube videos
- --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
+ --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifests and
+ related data on YouTube videos
+ --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
## Subtitle Options:
--write-sub Write subtitle file
- --write-auto-sub Write automatic subtitle file (YouTube only)
- --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the video
+ --write-auto-sub Write automatic subtitle file (YouTube
+ only)
+ --all-subs Download all the available subtitles of the
+ video
--list-subs List all available subtitles for the video
- --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats preference, for example: "srt" or "ass/srt/best"
- --sub-lang LANGS Languages of the subtitles to download (optional) separated by commas, use IETF language tags like 'en,pt'
+ --sub-format FORMAT Subtitle format, accepts formats
+ preference, for example: "srt" or
+ "ass/srt/best"
+ --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 Login with this account ID
- -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left out, youtube-dl will ask interactively.
+ -p, --password PASSWORD Account password. If this option is left
+ out, youtube-dl will ask interactively.
-2, --twofactor TWOFACTOR Two-factor auth code
-n, --netrc Use .netrc authentication data
--video-password PASSWORD Video password (vimeo, smotri, youku)
## Post-processing Options:
- -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or avprobe)
- --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac", "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", or "wav"; "best" by default
- --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, 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|mkv|avi)
+ -x, --extract-audio Convert video files to audio-only files
+ (requires ffmpeg or avconv and ffprobe or
+ avprobe)
+ --audio-format FORMAT Specify audio format: "best", "aac",
+ "vorbis", "mp3", "m4a", "opus", or "wav";
+ "best" by default
+ --audio-quality QUALITY Specify ffmpeg/avconv audio quality, 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|mkv|avi)
--postprocessor-args ARGS Give these arguments to the postprocessor
- -k, --keep-video Keep 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 mkv and mp4 videos)
+ -k, --keep-video Keep 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 mkv
+ and mp4 videos)
--embed-thumbnail Embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
--add-metadata Write metadata to the video file
- --metadata-from-title FORMAT Parse additional metadata like song title / artist from the video title. The format syntax is the same as --output, the parsed
- parameters replace existing values. Additional templates: %(album)s, %(artist)s. Example: --metadata-from-title "%(artist)s -
- %(title)s" matches a title like "Coldplay - Paradise"
- --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs (using dublin core and xdg standards)
- --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the default;
- fix file if we can, warn otherwise)
- --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the postprocessors (default)
- --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the postprocessors
- --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg/avconv binary; either the path to the binary or its containing directory.
- --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after downloading, similar to find's -exec syntax. Example: --exec 'adb push {} /sdcard/Music/ && rm
- {}'
- --convert-subtitles FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt)
+ --metadata-from-title FORMAT Parse additional metadata like song title /
+ artist from the video title. The format
+ syntax is the same as --output, the parsed
+ parameters replace existing values.
+ Additional templates: %(album)s,
+ %(artist)s. Example: --metadata-from-title
+ "%(artist)s - %(title)s" matches a title
+ like "Coldplay - Paradise"
+ --xattrs Write metadata to the video file's xattrs
+ (using dublin core and xdg standards)
+ --fixup POLICY Automatically correct known faults of the
+ file. One of never (do nothing), warn (only
+ emit a warning), detect_or_warn (the
+ default; fix file if we can, warn
+ otherwise)
+ --prefer-avconv Prefer avconv over ffmpeg for running the
+ postprocessors (default)
+ --prefer-ffmpeg Prefer ffmpeg over avconv for running the
+ postprocessors
+ --ffmpeg-location PATH Location of the ffmpeg/avconv binary;
+ either the path to the binary or its
+ containing directory.
+ --exec CMD Execute a command on the file after
+ downloading, similar to find's -exec
+ syntax. Example: --exec 'adb push {}
+ /sdcard/Music/ && rm {}'
+ --convert-subtitles FORMAT Convert the subtitles to other format
+ (currently supported: srt|ass|vtt)
# CONFIGURATION
projects / youtube-dl / blobdiff