youtube-dl: How to Download Quality Videos from YouTube and Beyond
How to Download Quality Videos with youtube-dl
Do you want to download videos from YouTube and other sites in high quality and various formats? Do you want to have more control over the video and audio options? Do you want to download multiple videos or playlists at once? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should try youtube-dl, a powerful command-line tool that can do all these things and more.
What is youtube-dl and why use it?
youtube-dl is a command-line tool for downloading videos from YouTube and other sites
youtube-dl is a free and open source program that can download videos from YouTube.com and over 1,000 other video hosting websites. It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on macOS. It is released to the public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like.
download quality youtube-dl
youtube-dl allows you to choose the video quality, format, and audio track
One of the main advantages of youtube-dl is that it lets you choose the video quality, format, and audio track that you want to download. You can list the available formats and quality levels for any video with the -F option, and then select the one you prefer with the -f option. You can also use the best or bestvideo+bestaudio options to automatically download the highest quality video and audio tracks that are available as a single file. You can also specify the output file name and location with the -o option.
How to install youtube-dl on your system?
For Linux and macOS users, use curl, wget, pip, Homebrew, or MacPorts
To install youtube-dl on your Linux or macOS system, you can use one of the following methods:
Use curl or wget to download the latest version of youtube-dl and place it in a directory on your PATH (such as /usr/local/bin):sudo curl -L [7]( -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlsudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlorsudo wget [7]( -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlsudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
Use pip to install or update youtube-dl:sudo -H pip install --upgrade youtube-dl
Use Homebrew (for macOS) or MacPorts (for macOS and Linux) to install youtube-dl:brew install youtube-dlorsudo port install youtube-dl
For Windows users, download the .exe file and place it on your PATH
To install youtube-dl on your Windows system, you can download the latest version of youtube-dl.exe from [6]( and place it in a directory on your PATH (such as C:\Windows). You can also use the Windows installer from [5]( to install youtube-dl and its dependencies.
How to use youtube-dl to download videos?
Use the -F option to list the available formats and quality levels
To download videos with youtube-dl, you need to provide the URL of the video or playlist that you want to download. You can also use the -F option to list the available formats and quality levels for the video. For example, if you want to download this video: [4]( you can run this command:youtube-dl -F [4]( will show you something like this:
[youtube] QH2-TGUlwu4: Downloading webpage [info] Available formats for QH2-TGUlwu4: format code extension resolution note 249 webm audio only tiny 57k , opus @ 50k (48000Hz), 1.69MiB 250 webm audio only tiny 76k , opus @ 70k (48000Hz), 2.24MiB 140 m4a audio only tiny 130k , m4a_dash container, mp4a.40.2@128k (44100Hz), 3.83MiB 251 webm audio only tiny 150k , opus @160k (48000Hz), 4.38MiB 394 mp4 256x144 144p 83k , av01.0.05M.08, 25fps, video only, 2.40MiB 278 webm 256x144 144p 95k , webm container, vp9, 25fps, video only, 2.77MiB 160 mp4 256x144 144p 99k , avc1.4d400c, 25fps, video only, 2.90MiB 395 mp4 426x240 240p 184k , av01.0.05M.08, 25fps, video only, 5.32MiB 242 webm 426x240 240p 220k , vp9, 25fps, video only, 6.42MiB 133 mp4 426x240 240p 242k , avc1.4d4015, 25fps, video only, 7.06MiB 396 mp4 640x360 medium?360p?302k , av01.0.05M.08,?25fps?, video only?,?8.?75MiB? 243 webm ?640x360? ?medium?360p?402k , vp9?,?25fps?, video only?,?11.?67MiB? 134 mp4 ?640x360? ?medium?360p?432k , avc1.?4d401e?,?25fps?, video only?,?12.?55MiB? 397 mp4 ?854x480? ?medium?480p?546k , av01.?0.?05M.?08?,?25fps?, video only?,?15.?82MiB? 244 webm ?854x480? ?medium?480p?750k , vp9?,?25fps?, video only?,?21.?74MiB? 135 mp4 ?854x480? ?medium?480p?761k , avc1.?4d401f?,?25fps?, video only?,?22.?13MiB? 398 mp4 ?1280x720 ?hd720720p1007k , av01.?0.?05M.?08?,?25fps?, video only?,?29.?16MiB? 247 webm ?1280x720 ?hd720720p1508k , vp9?,?25fps?, video only?,?43.?74MiB? 136 mp4 ?1280x720 ?hd720720p1541k , avc1.?4d 4019?,?25fps?, video only?,?44.?72MiB? 399 mp4 ?1920x1080 ?hd10801080p1803k , av01.?0.?05M.?08?,?25fps?, video only?,?52.?22MiB? 248 webm ?1920x1080 ?hd10801080p2643k , vp9?,?25fps?, video only?,?76.?63MiB? 137 mp4 ?1920x1080 ?hd10801080p2716k , avc1.?640028?,?25fps?, video only?,?78.?86MiB? 18 mp4 ?640x360 ?medium?360p 696k , avc1.?42001E, mp4a.?40.2@ 96k (44100Hz),?25.?41MiB? 22 mp4 ?1280x720 ?hd720720p 1136k , avc1.?64001F, mp4a.?40.2@192k (44100Hz) (best)
As you can see, each format has a code, an extension, a resolution, a quality note, and a file size. You can also see that some formats are video only or audio only, which means they do not contain both video and audio tracks. You can also see that the best option is the format code 22, which has the highest quality and resolution as a single file.
Use the -f option to select the desired format and quality level
To download the video in the format and quality level that you want, you can use the -f option followed by the format code. For example, if you want to download the video in format code 22, which is the best option, you can run this command:youtube-dl -f 22 [4]( will download the video in MP4 format with 1280x720 resolution and 1136k quality. You can also use a combination of format codes to download separate video and audio tracks and merge them into a single file. For example, if you want to download the best video track (format code 137) and the best audio track (format code 251) and merge them into a single MKV file, you can run this command:youtube-dl -f 137+251 [4]( will download the video in MP4 format with 1920x1080 resolution and 2716k quality, and the audio in WEBM format with 160k quality, and then merge them into a single MKV file using FFmpeg.
How to download high quality videos with youtube-dl
Best youtube-dl settings for 4K video download
Youtube-dl tutorial: download entire playlists in HD
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Youtube-dl vs other video downloaders: which one is better?
How to install and update youtube-dl on Windows, Mac, and Linux
Youtube-dl alternatives: what are the pros and cons?
How to download audio only with youtube-dl
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How to backup and restore your youtube-dl settings and history
How to schedule and automate your youtube-dl downloads
How to use youtube-dl with command line and GUI
How to use youtube-dl with Python and other programming languages
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How to use youtube-dl with cloud storage and streaming platforms
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Use the best or bestvideo+bestaudio options for the highest quality
If you do not want to bother with listing and selecting the formats and quality levels manually, you can use the best or bestvideo+bestaudio options to automatically download the highest quality video and audio tracks that are available as a single file. For example, if you want to download the best qual