YouTube-dl is a small command-line program you need to use to obtain movies from YouTube in addition to different video websites. It isn’t platform particular and will work in your Linux, Windows, and macOS system. It is launched to the general public area, which implies you possibly can modify it, redistribute it, or use it nonetheless you want. This wikiHow article teaches you the way to set up and use YouTube-dl.

Things You Should Know

  1. YouTube-dl is an open-source command-line program that enables you to obtain movies from YouTube and different video websites.
  2.  YouTube-dl is secure and permits you to obtain movies and not using a Premium subscription or having to use sketchy obtain websites.
  3.  YouTube-dl is on the market for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Using Youtube-dl

  1. Open the Terminal or Command-Line. If you’re utilizing Windows, go forward and open the Command Prompt. If you’re utilizing a Mac open the Terminal within the utility folder or utilize the Spotlight search bar. On Linux, press Ctrl + Alt + T to open the Terminal.
  2.  Change to the listing you need to obtain movies too. YouTube-dl will obtain the movies to whichever folder you’re in within the Terminal or Command Prompt. To change directories in the Terminal kind cd <listing location> and press Enter to change directories.
  3.  Copy the URL to a YouTube video. Go to YouTube in an internet browser and play the video you need to copy. Either spotlight the URL within the deal with the bar, right-click it, and click on Copy or open the Share menu and click on Copy after the URL.
  4.  Download a video: Enter the next command within the Terminal or Command Line and press Enter to obtain the video:
  5.  Download a playlist: You will want to copy the URL to the playlist. Then use one of many following instructions to obtain a playlist:
  6.  Download details about a video. This is helpful when you solely need to get some info, such as an inventory of the subtitles, or the thumbnail image, but not the video itself. Type youtube-dl –skip-download <url_to_video> and press Enter to obtain details about the video.
  7.  Download the subtitles. Use the next instructions to obtain subtitles for a video.
  8.  Update Youtube-dl if it instantly stops working. YouTube commonly adjusts its manner of storing movies, and the previous youtube-dl scripts can cease working. If this occurs, chances are you’ll want to replace YouTube-dl To achieve this, kind youtube-dl -U and press Enter.

How to Use YouTube-dl to Download YouTube Videos

Installing YouTube-dl on Windows

  1. Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package. It is required for the Windows binary to work. You can obtain it from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist.
  2.  Download the Windows binary of Youtube-dl. Use the next steps to achieve this.
  3.  Create a brand new folder for the YouTube-dl.exe file. If you need YouTube-dl to be obtainable to all customers, you must create a brand new folder in your “C:/Program Files/” folder.
  4.  Copy the Youtube-dl.exe file to the brand-new folder. By default, your downloaded information could be present in your Downloads folder. Navigate to your Downloads folder inside File Explorer and right-click the youtube-dl.exe file. Click Copy. Then navigate to the folder you created for YouTube-dl. Right-click the contained in the folder and click on Paste.
  5.  Add Youtube-dl to your PATH. This will allow you to name it from the command line in any listing. Use the next steps to add YouTube-dl to your PATH environment variables:
    •  Right-click the YouTube-dl.exe file.
    •  Click Copy as the path
    •  Click the Windows Start menu.
    •  Type path.
    •  Click Edit the system atmosphere variables.
    •  Click Environment variables.
    •  Select Path within the “System variables” window.
    •  Click Edit on the backside.
    •  Click New within the menu to the left.
    •  Paste the trail to the “YouTube-dl” file. DO NOT embrace the “.exe” at the finish of the file. you
    •  Click Ok.
  6.  Restart your pc. After including YouTube-dl to your PATH, go forward and restart your computer to be certain that YouTube-dl is added to your PATH.
  7.  Install a media participant if you have not. Youtube movies are often saved within the FLV or MP4 codecs and you need to use a media participant akin to a VLC participant to view your movies.

Installing YouTube-dl on Mac

  1. Open the Terminal. The Terminal has an icon that resembles a black display screen with a white cursor. You can discover it within the utility folder. Alternatively, you need to use the next steps to open the Terminal on Mac:
    •  Click the magnifying glass icon within the upper-right nook.
    •  Type Terminal in the search bar.
    •  Click Terminal. app.
  2.  Install Homebrew. Homebrew is an open-source bundle administration system for Mac that enables you to set up functions utilizing the Terminal. Use the next Terminal command to obtain and set up Homebrew:
    •  Type ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)” within the Terminal and press Enter. Homebrew might take some time to set up. You might have to enter your password on several occasions throughout the.
    •  If you’re having to bother putting in or utilizing Homebrew, you possibly can strive to put in MacPorts as a substitute. You can obtain and set up MacPorts from https://www.macports.org/install.php. Make certain you obtain the fitting model to your model of macOS.
  3.  Install YouTube-dl. To set up YouTube-dl, kind sudo brew set up youtube-dl within the Terminal and press Enter. Again, it could take some time to obtain and set up YouTube-dl.
    •  If you’d moderately set up YouTube-dl utilizing MacPorts, kind sudo port set up youtube-dl within the Terminal and press Enter.
  4.  Install a media participant utility should you want to. Youtube movies are often saved within the FLV or MP4 codecs and you need to use a media participant akin to a VLC participant to view your movies. You can download the VLC multimedia participant from the next hyperlink: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/#download.

Installing on Linux

  1. Press +Ctrl+Alt+T to open the Terminal. This is the keyboard shortcut to open the Terminal. Alternatively, you possibly can open the Terminal within the Applications menu.
  2.  Consider putting in out of your bundle supervisor. This is the simplest manner, however, usually, the Youtube-dl bundle is outdated and does not work. But it could be value attempting earlier than continuing with the opposite steps. Use one of many following instructions to set up YouTube-dl out of your bundle supervisor:
  3.  Download the Linux binary. Enter one of many following instructions within the Terminal and press Enter to obtain the Linux binary.
  4.  Set file permissions for the binary. This makes the YouTube-dl binary executable. If no different person on your machine wants it, you possibly can kind chmod +x youtube-dl and press Enter to permit yourself to execute the file. If you need to let all customers of your pc use Youtube-dl, kind chmod a+x youtube-dl and press Enter as a substitute.
  5.  Move the file to an acceptable location. Enter the command, sudo mv youtube-dl <listing location> and press Enter to transfer the YouTube-dl file to your required location.
  6.  Check if the listing you moved YouTude-dl to is in your PATH. Your PATH is the place your atmosphere variables are saved. The listing with YouTube-dl wants to be in your path for you to have the opportunity to name upon it at any time within the Terminal.
  7.  Re-run the “.profile” script. If the listing you put in Youtube-dl to is not in PATH, operating the “.profile” script will add it to your PATH Type: supply ~/.profile and press Enter to run the script.
  8.  Install a media participant if you have not. YouTube movies are saved by completely different codecs, a number of the commonest are MP4, MKV, and WEBM.

FAQs

Q: Can youtube-dl obtain any videos?

A: By default, Youtube-dl will obtain one of the best obtainable high-quality videos. However, it is usually potential to obtain a video or playlist of a particularly high quality or format.

Q: Where do youtube-dl Downloads go?

A: On Windows, the person’s vast configuration file places are %APPDATA%\youtube-dl\config. txt or C:\Users\\youtube-dl. conf. Note that by default configuration file might not exist so chances are you’ll want to create it yourself.

Q: What codecs can youtube-dl obtain?

A: You also can use a file extension (at present 3gp, aac, flv, m4a, mp3, mp4, ogg, wav, and webm are supported) to obtain the highest quality format of a selected file extension served as a single file, e.g. -f webm will obtain the highest quality format with the webm extension served as a single file.

Q: How do I obtain HD movies from youtube-dl?

A: Downloading a video may be very easy. All you want to do is give youtube-dl a URL, and it will do the remainder. The file names aren’t one of the best, however, you possibly can simply rename them. You can specify a file format, and youtube-dl will use FFMPEG to convert the video robotically.

Q: How secure is youtube-dl?

A: Is youtube-dl-gui secure to use? The python bundle youtube-dl-gui was scanned for recognized vulnerabilities and lacking a license, and no points had been discovered. Thus the bundle was deemed secure to use.

Q: Can I obtain a YouTube video on my pc?

A: If YouTube Premium is on the market in your location, you possibly can obtain movies on your pc or cell machine by changing into a YouTube Premium member. If you are a YouTube Premium member, learn the way to handle your obtain settings.