# 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 and the URLs
- they would handle
- --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported
- extractors
- --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.
+ --list-extractors List all supported extractors and the URLs they would handle
+ --extractor-descriptions Output descriptions of all supported extractors
+ --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)
+ --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)
## 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
- seperated 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 seperated 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 (Experimental) Generic video filter.
- 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 (Experimental) Generic video filter. 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 If the URL refers to a video and a
- playlist, download only the video.
- --yes-playlist If the URL refers to a video and a
- playlist, download the 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 If the URL refers to a video and a playlist, download only the video.
+ --yes-playlist If the URL refers to a video and a playlist, download the 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 (experimental) set file xattribute
- ytdl.filesize with expected filesize
- --hls-prefer-native (experimental) Use the native HLS
- downloader instead of ffmpeg.
- --external-downloader COMMAND (experimental) Use the specified external
- downloader. Currently supports
- aria2c,curl,wget
+ --xattr-set-filesize (experimental) set file xattribute ytdl.filesize with expected filesize
+ --hls-prefer-native (experimental) Use the native HLS downloader instead of ffmpeg.
+ --external-downloader COMMAND Use the specified external downloader. Currently supports aria2c,curl,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 Specifies 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 Specifies 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 .annotation
- file
- --load-info FILE json file containing the video information
- (created with the "--write-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 .annotation file
+ --load-info FILE json file containing the video information (created with the "--write-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 activates 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-intermediate-pages print downloaded pages to debug problems
- (very verbose)
- --write-pages Write downloaded intermediary pages to
- files in the current directory to debug
- problems
+ --dump-intermediate-pages print downloaded pages 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.
+ -C, --call-home 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, specify the order of
- preference using slashes, as in -f 22/17/18
- . Instead of format codes, you can select
- by extension for the extensions aac, m4a,
- mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm. You can also use
- the special names "best", "bestvideo",
- "bestaudio", "worst". You can filter the
- video results by putting a condition in
- brackets, as in -f "best[height=720]" (or
- -f "[filesize>10M]"). This works for
- filesize, height, width, tbr, abr, vbr,
- asr, and fps and the comparisons <, <=, >,
- >=, =, != and for ext, acodec, vcodec,
- container, and protocol and the comparisons
- =, != . Formats for which the value is not
- known are excluded unless you put a
- question mark (?) after the operator. You
- can combine format filters, so -f "[height
- <=? 720][tbr>500]" selects up to 720p
- videos (or videos where the height is not
- known) with a bitrate of at least 500
- KBit/s. By default, youtube-dl will pick
- the best quality. Use commas to download
- multiple audio formats, such as -f
- 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio.
- You can merge the video and audio of two
- formats into a single file using -f <video-
- format>+<audio-format> (requires ffmpeg or
- avconv), for example -f
+ -f, --format FORMAT video format code, specify the order of preference using slashes, as in -f 22/17/18 . Instead of format codes, you can select by
+ extension for the extensions aac, m4a, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, webm. You can also use the special names "best", "bestvideo", "bestaudio",
+ "worst". You can filter the video results by putting a condition in brackets, as in -f "best[height=720]" (or -f "[filesize>10M]").
+ This works for filesize, height, width, tbr, abr, vbr, asr, and fps and the comparisons <, <=, >, >=, =, != and for ext, acodec,
+ vcodec, container, and protocol and the comparisons =, != . Formats for which the value is not known are excluded unless you put a
+ question mark (?) after the operator. You can combine format filters, so -f "[height <=? 720][tbr>500]" selects up to 720p videos
+ (or videos where the height is not known) with a bitrate of at least 500 KBit/s. By default, youtube-dl will pick the best quality.
+ Use commas to download multiple audio formats, such as -f 136/137/mp4/bestvideo,140/m4a/bestaudio. You can merge the video and audio
+ of two formats into a single file using -f <video-format>+<audio-format> (requires ffmpeg or avconv), for example -f
bestvideo+bestaudio.
--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
--max-quality FORMAT highest quality format to download
-F, --list-formats list all available formats
- --youtube-skip-dash-manifest Do not download the DASH manifest 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 manifest 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 downloads all the available subtitles of
- the video
+ --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, accepts formats
- preference, for example: "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: "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)
## 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|mkv)
- -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)
+ -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|mkv)
+ -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)
--embed-thumbnail embed thumbnail in the audio as cover art
--add-metadata write metadata to the video file
- --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)
+ --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 / commitdiff