18 yt-dlp

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Introduction

Key Features

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Open-Source?
    Registration Needed?
    Installation Required?
    AI-empowered?

    Specifications

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    Video Demonstration

    User Guide

    yt-dlp
    Download and Install
    Download and Extract Videos
    Configure Video and Audio Quality
    Extract Audio from a Video
    Archive Playlists in Bulk
    Download Subtitles

    This guide outlines how to use yt-dlp for downloading videos, extracting audio, managing playlists, and handling subtitles from the command line. (Reference Version: 2025.07.21)

    Download and Install yt-dlp

    a. Navigate to the website: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp;
    b. Click Releases on the right-side panel to go to the latest release page;
    c. Select the recommended executable for your operating system from the Assets section (Note: For Windows, this is yt-dlp.exe; for macOS, it is yt-dlp_macos);
    d. Place the downloaded file into a directory included in your system's PATH, e.g., C:\Users\UserName (Note: This allows the yt-dlp command to run in the terminal or command prompt).

    Download and Extract Videos

    a. Open your command-line interface (Note: This is Terminal on macOS/Linux or Command Prompt/PowerShell on Windows);
    b. Input the following command and press Enter to download a video in the best available quality;
    yt-dlp "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"
    c. Input the following command and press Enter to update yt-dlp to the latest version;
    yt-dlp -U
    d. Input the following command to install FFmpeg (Note: Please refer to the Scoop user guide for how to install and use Scoop);
    scoop install ffmpeg
    e. Type ffmpeg -version and press Enter in a terminal window to verify the installation (Note: This command should display information about the installed FFmpeg build);
    f. Determine the start and end times for the clip you want to extract, e.g., 01:15 to 03:40;
    g. Input the following command, replacing the times and URL, to download only the specified segment of the video (Note: The * indicates a time-based range, and this operation requires the successfully installed FFmpeg).
    yt-dlp --download-sections "*01:15-03:40" "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"

    Configure Video and Audio Quality

    a. Input the following command and press Enter to list all available formats for a video;
    yt-dlp -F "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"
    b. Identify the desired format code from the list and input the following command to download it;
    yt-dlp -f FORMAT_CODE "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"
    c. Input the following command to download the best available video-only stream and the best audio-only stream and merge them into a single file (Note: This often results in the highest quality and requires FFmpeg to be installed).
    yt-dlp -f bestvideo+bestaudio "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"

    Extract Audio from a Video

    a. Copy the URL of the video you wish to extract audio from;
    b. Input the following command and press Enter to download the video, extract its audio track, and save it as an MP3 file (Note: The -x flag instructs the tool to extract audio, and --audio-format specifies the desired output format).
    yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"

    Archive Playlists in Bulk

    a. Copy the URL of the playlist you want to archive;
    b. Input the following command to download all videos from the playlist into a new directory named after the playlist, with files numbered and titled correctly;
    yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" "YOUR_PLAYLIST_URL"
    c. Input the following command to download only videos not listed in a specific archive file, and add the new video IDs to it upon successful download (Note: This prevents re-downloading content you already have).
    yt-dlp --download-archive archive.txt "YOUR_PLAYLIST_URL"

    Download Subtitles

    a. Input the following command to list all available subtitles for a video;
    yt-dlp --list-subs "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"
    b. Input the following command to download all available English subtitles;
    yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-langs "en.*" "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"
    c. Input the following command to download automatically generated captions if no manual subtitles are available;
    yt-dlp --write-auto-subs "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"
    d. Input the following command to download the best video and embed the English subtitles directly into the final file (Note: This is supported for containers like MP4 and MKV).
    yt-dlp --embed-subs --sub-langs "en.*" "YOUR_VIDEO_URL"

    Educational Scenarios

    Educators' Perspectives
    Learners' Perspectives