yt-dlp

yt-dlp

yt-dlp is a free, open-source command-line program for downloading video and audio from YouTube and thousands of other websites. It is a fork of youtube-dl based on the now inactive youtube-dlc project, and it adds many features and fixes while keeping most youtube-dl options. yt-dlp is released under the Unlicense and developed on GitHub, with frequent releases.

yt-dlp allows users to download videos and audio from YouTube and many other websites in a flexible, scriptable way.

Features

yt-dlp offers a wide range of options for downloading and processing online media.

• Wide Site Support: yt-dlp can download from YouTube and a large number of other video and audio sites listed in its supported sites file.

• Format Selection: you can list all available formats and choose exactly which video and audio quality, codec and container to download.

• Merging and Conversion: with FFmpeg installed, yt-dlp merges separate video and audio streams and can convert the result to other formats.

• Audio Extraction: the extract audio option saves only the sound track, for example as MP3 or M4A.

• Playlists and Channels: yt-dlp can download whole playlists and channels, or only selected items from them.

• Resume Downloads: if your download is interrupted, yt-dlp can continue it from the point where it stopped.

• Download Archive: an archive file records finished videos so they are skipped next time, which is useful for keeping a channel copy up to date.

• Subtitles and Metadata: subtitles, chapters, thumbnails and metadata can be downloaded or embedded into the output file.

• SponsorBlock: sponsor segments marked by the SponsorBlock community can be removed or marked as chapters.

• Output Templates: file names and folders are built from customizable templates using the video title, uploader, date and other fields.

• Download Speed Settings: you can limit the download rate and download several fragments of a stream at the same time.

• Live Streams: live broadcasts can be recorded, on supported sites even from the start.

• Cookies: cookies can be loaded from a file or directly from your browser to access content that requires a login.

• Configuration Files: frequently used options can be stored in configuration files instead of typing them every time.

• Chapter Splitting: videos can be split into separate files based on their chapters.

• Browser Impersonation: requests can imitate browsers such as Chrome or Edge for sites that use TLS fingerprinting.

• Self-Update: the standalone executable can update itself to the latest release with the -U option.

• Standalone Windows Builds: yt-dlp.exe runs without installing Python; FFmpeg and a JavaScript runtime such as Deno are recommended for full YouTube support.