% YOUTUBE-DL(1)
# NAME
-youtube-dl
+youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
# SYNOPSIS
**youtube-dl** [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
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)
- --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.
- --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, for example to to
+ skip unavailable videos in a playlist
+ --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.
+ --cache-dir None Location in the filesystem where youtube-dl can
+ store downloaded information permanently. By
+ default $XDG_CACHE_HOME/youtube-dl or ~/.cache
+ /youtube-dl .
+ --no-cache-dir Disable filesystem caching
## 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
- --min-filesize SIZE Skip files smaller than this size
- --max-filesize SIZE Skip files larger than this size
+ --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
+ --no-playlist download only the currently playing video
+ --age-limit YEARS download only videos suitable for the given age
+ --download-archive FILE Download only videos not present in the archive
+ file. Record all downloaded videos in it.
+
+## 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,
- %(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
- 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/downloads/%(upl
- oader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
- --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
+ --write-auto-sub write automatic subtitle file (youtube only)
+ --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", "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
+ -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
- `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?
projects / youtube-dl / blobdiff