% YOUTUBE-DL(1)
# NAME
-youtube-dl
+youtube-dl - download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms
# SYNOPSIS
**youtube-dl** [OPTIONS] URL [URL...]
# 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 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.
+ -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
+ --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
--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 DIR 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)
(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 in bytes per second (e.g.
+ 50K or 4.2M)
+ -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
+ -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
%(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
+ 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
- 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/dow
- nloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' .
+ , %(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
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 .annotation file
+ --write-thumbnail write thumbnail image to disk
## Verbosity / Simulation Options:
-q, --quiet activates quiet mode
--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
-v, --verbose print various debugging information
--dump-intermediate-pages print downloaded pages to debug problems(very
verbose)
+ --write-pages Write downloaded pages to files in the current
+ directory
## Video Format Options:
- -f, --format FORMAT video format code
+ -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)
- --write-sub write subtitle file (currently youtube only)
- --only-sub downloads only the subtitles (no video)
+
+## 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 (currently youtube only)
+ video
--list-subs lists all available subtitles for the video
- (currently youtube only)
- --sub-format LANG subtitle format [srt/sbv] (default=srt)
- (currently youtube only)
- --sub-lang LANG language of the subtitles to download (optional)
- use IETF language tags like 'en'
+ --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
+ --video-password PASSWORD video password (vimeo only)
## Post-processing Options:
-x, --extract-audio convert video files to audio-only files (requires
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)
+ --add-metadata add metadata to the files
# 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