Overview

Youtube-dl or YTDL is a command-line program which downloads YouTube videos into a local file. The file can be downloaded as a video or audio file with a variety of formats. Download YTDL from the GitHub repository. A video must be public or unlisted to be downloaded.

This is a simple guide for downloading full or partial videos and playlists on Windows. For a complete guide to YTDL and its features, refer to the YTDL README

It's recommended that you download the FFmpeg command-line program to access a wider variety of file extension formats. Download here.

Getting Started

NOTE: If a string in the following descriptions contains parentheses ( ), do not include the parentheses in Command Prompt. After downloading the YTDL program, move the file to your desired drive.

1. Open Command Prompt.

2. Type (Drive Letter): where YTDL is located and hit Enter

   _{Ex. YTDL is located on the C drive. Type C:}

3. If you placed YTDL in a folder on the drive, type cd (Folder Name) and hit Enter

   _{Ex. YTDL is located in a folder called YTDL which is in the C drive. Type cd YTDL}

Downloading Videos

YTDL will automatically attempt to download the best quality video available if no file extension strings are specified. You can choose the format of the video file with the string -f bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)]. Available video file extensions include .3gp, .flv, .mp4, and .webm. FFmpeg allows for additional file extensions.

Single Video

To download a single video, use the following strings in Command Prompt after following the Getting Started step.

String	Function	Type
youtube-dl.exe	Enables Youtube-dl.	Required
-f	Allows file format strings to alter the video file.	Optional
"bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)]"	Allows you to specify the video file extension.	Optional
(YouTube Video URL)	The link to the YouTube video.	Required

Example template:

4. Type youtube-dl.exe -f bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)] (YouTube Video URL) and hit Enter.

Partial Download

NOTE: Partially downloading a YouTube video or audio requires YT-DLP, a Youtube-dl fork which adds additional functions. Download here. It also requires FFmpeg.

You can download a specific portion of a video with additional file format strings.

String	Function	Type
yt-dlp	Enables YT-DLP.	Required
-f	Allows file format strings to alter the video file.	Optional
"bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)]"	Allows you to specify the video file extension.	Optional
--external-downloader ffmpeg	Enables FFmpeg.	Required
--external-downloader-args	Enables following argument strings to the external downloader.	Required
"ffmpeg_i:-ss 00:00:00.00 -to 00:00:00.00"	Specifies the portion of the video to be downloaded where -ss 00:00:00.00 is the time to start the download and -to 00:00:00.00 is the time to end the download.	Required, options available
"ffmpeg_i:-ss 00:00:00.00 -t (Time in Seconds)"	Specifies the portion of the video to be downloaded where -ss 00:00:00.00 is the time to start the download and-t (Time in Seconds) is the duration of the download in seconds.	Required, options available
(YouTube Video URL)	The link to the YouTube video.	Required

Example template:

4. Type yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)]" --external-downloader ffmpeg --external-downloader-args "ffmpeg_i:-ss 00:00:00.00 -to 00:00:00.00" "(YouTube URL)" and hit Enter.

Playlist

You can download a YouTube playlist with additional file format strings.

String	Function	Type
youtube-dl.exe	Enables Youtube-dl.	Required
"bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)]"	Allows you to specify the video file extension.	Optional
--playlist	Specifies that a playlist is to be downloaded.	Required
-start (Video's Number in Playlist)	Specifies at which video to start downloading the playlist where (Video's Number in Playlist) is the video's position in the playlist. Ex. Second video is 2, third video is 3, etc.	Optional
(YouTube Playlist URL)	The link to the YouTube playlist.	Required

Example template:

4. Type youtube-dl.exe -f bestvideo[ext=(Video File Extension)] --playlist-start (Video's Number in Playlist) (YouTube Playlist URL) and hit Enter.

Downloading Audio

YTDL will automatically attempt to download the best quality audio available if no file extension strings are specified. You can choose the format of the audio file with the string -f bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)]. Available audio file extensions include .aac, .m4a, .mp3, .ogg, and .wav. FFmpeg allows for additional file extensions.

Single Audio

To download a single audio, use the following strings in Command Prompt after following the Getting Started step.

String	Function	Type
youtube-dl.exe	Enables Youtube-dl.	Required
-f	Allows file format strings to alter the video file.	Optional
"bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)]"	Allows you to specify the video file extension.	Optional
(YouTube Video URL)	The link to the YouTube video.	Required

Example template:

4. Type youtube-dl.exe -f bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)] (YouTube Video URL) and hit Enter.

Partial Audio

NOTE: Partially downloading a YouTube video or audio requires YT-DLP, a Youtube-dl fork which adds additional functions. Download here. It also requires FFmpeg.

You can download a specific portion of an audio with additional file format strings.

String	Function	Type
yt-dlp	Enables YT-DLP.	Required
-f	Allows file format strings to alter the audio file.	Optional
"bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)]"	Allows you to specify the audio file extension.	Optional
--external-downloader ffmpeg	Enables FFmpeg.	Required
--external-downloader-args	Enables following argument strings to the external downloader.	Required
"ffmpeg_i:-ss 00:00:00.00 -to 00:00:00.00"	Specifies the portion of the audio to be downloaded where -ss 00:00:00.00 is the time to start the download and -to 00:00:00.00 is the time to end the download.	Required, options available
"ffmpeg_i:-ss 00:00:00.00 -t (Time in Seconds)"	Specifies the portion of the audio to be downloaded where -ss 00:00:00.00 is the time to start the download and-t (Time in Seconds) is the duration of the download in seconds.	Required, options available
(YouTube Video URL)	The link to the YouTube video.	Required

Example template:

4. Type yt-dlp -f "bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)]" --external-downloader ffmpeg --external-downloader-args "ffmpeg_i:-ss 00:00:00.00 -to 00:00:00.00" "(YouTube URL)" and hit Enter.

Playlist

You can download a YouTube playlist with additional file format strings.

String	Function	Type
youtube-dl.exe	Enables Youtube-dl.	Required
"bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)]"	Allows you to specify the audio file extension.	Optional
--playlist	Specifies that a playlist is to be downloaded.	Required
-start (Video's Number in Playlist)	Specifies at which video to start downloading the playlist where (Video's Number in Playlist) is the video's position in the playlist. Ex. Second video is 2, third video is 3, etc.	Optional
(YouTube Playlist URL)	The link to the YouTube playlist.	Required

Example template:

4. Type youtube-dl.exe -f bestaudio[ext=(Audio File Extension)] --playlist-start (Video's Number in Playlist) (YouTube Playlist URL) and hit Enter.

Result

Downloaded video and audio files are located in the same drive/folder where you placed youtube-dl.exe/yt-dlp.exe.