Downloading YouTube, Vimeo etc Videos using youtube-dl - 2020
What is youtube-dl
Written in Python, the youtube-dl is one of the most popular tools for downloading videos not only from YouTube but from other sources such as Vimeo.
The list of sites that we can download is available from Supported sites.
- How to download youtube-dl?
$ sudo curl https://yt-dl.org/downloads/2016.01.09/youtube-dl -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
Or$ sudo wget https://yt-dl.org/downloads/2016.01.14/youtube-dl -O /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
- Set a executable execute permission
$ sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl
- How to use it to download YouTube video?
To download a video file, simply run the following command. All we need is the url of the video that we want to download.$ youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading webpage [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Extracting video information [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading DASH manifest [download] Destination: Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.f137.mp4 [download] 100% of 13.25MiB in 00:06 [download] Destination: Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.f141.m4a [download] 100% of 1.78MiB in 00:01 [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.mp4" Deleting original file Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.f137.mp4 (pass -k to keep) Deleting original file Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.f141.m4a (pass -k to keep) $ ls Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.mp4
- Downloading done!
$ ls Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.mp4
- List of available formats
$ youtube-dl --list-formats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading webpage [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Extracting video information [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading DASH manifest [info] Available formats for dP15zlyra3c: format code extension resolution note 171 webm audio only DASH audio 118k , vorbis@128k (44100Hz), 761.87KiB 140 m4a audio only DASH audio 129k , m4a_dash container, aac @128k (44100Hz), 916.53KiB 141 m4a audio only DASH audio 255k , m4a_dash container, aac @256k (44100Hz), 1.78MiB 160 mp4 256x144 DASH video 111k , avc1.4d400c, 13fps, video only, 785.14KiB 242 webm 426x240 DASH video 114k , vp9, 1fps, video only, 570.74KiB 243 webm 640x360 DASH video 203k , vp9, 1fps, video only, 1009.74KiB 133 mp4 426x240 DASH video 247k , avc1.4d4015, 25fps, video only, 1.69MiB 134 mp4 640x360 DASH video 251k , avc1.4d401e, 25fps, video only, 1.23MiB 244 webm 854x480 DASH video 368k , vp9, 1fps, video only, 1.81MiB 135 mp4 854x480 DASH video 542k , avc1.4d401e, 25fps, video only, 2.78MiB 247 webm 1280x720 DASH video 622k , vp9, 1fps, video only, 3.35MiB 136 mp4 1280x720 DASH video 1163k , avc1.4d401f, 25fps, video only, 6.50MiB 248 webm 1920x1080 DASH video 1171k , vp9, 1fps, video only, 6.80MiB 137 mp4 1920x1080 DASH video 2087k , avc1.640028, 25fps, video only, 13.25MiB 17 3gp 176x144 small , mp4a.40.2, mp4v.20.3 36 3gp 320x240 small , mp4a.40.2, mp4v.20.3 5 flv 400x240 small 43 webm 640x360 medium , vorbis, vp8.0 18 mp4 640x360 medium , mp4a.40.2, avc1.42001E 22 mp4 1280x720 hd720 , mp4a.40.2, avc1.64001F (best)
- To download a preferred file format, use the option -f (video format code). For example, if we want to download webm format, we use 43 as shown below:
$ youtube-dl -f 43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading webpage [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Extracting video information [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] dP15zlyra3c: Downloading DASH manifest [download] Destination: Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.webm [download] 100% of 3.47MiB in 00:02
Now we have two videos in different formats in our folder - mp4 and webm:
$ ls Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.mp4 Fox Snow Dive - Yellowstone - BBC Two-dP15zlyra3c.webm
- To download a list of videos, we can use a playlist. Just add the playlist URL:
$ youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZI6KTHH6719oHLU-Sk3ViuIWJ-G7awXP [youtube:playlist] PLZI6KTHH6719oHLU-Sk3ViuIWJ-G7awXP: Downloading webpage [download] Downloading playlist: quantum-testing-shorts [youtube:playlist] playlist quantum-testing-shorts: Downloading 2 videos [download] Downloading video 1 of 2 [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading webpage [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Extracting video information [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading DASH manifest [download] Destination: Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f136.mp4 [download] 100% of 42.40MiB in 00:25 [download] Destination: Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f141.m4a [download] 100% of 6.33MiB in 00:03 [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.mp4" Deleting original file Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f136.mp4 (pass -k to keep) Deleting original file Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f141.m4a (pass -k to keep) [download] Downloading video 2 of 2 [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading webpage [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Extracting video information [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading DASH manifest [download] Destination: Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f248.webm [download] 100% of 17.37MiB in 00:14 [download] Destination: Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f251.webm [download] 100% of 2.22MiB in 00:01 [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.webm" Deleting original file Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f248.webm (pass -k to keep) Deleting original file Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f251.webm (pass -k to keep) [download] Finished downloading playlist: quantum-testing-shorts $ ls Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.webm Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.mp4
- When we downloaded the playlist, the default option is to delete original files. So, if we want to keep them, we can just provide -k as shown below:
$ youtube-dl -k https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZI6KTHH6719oHLU-Sk3ViuIWJ-G7awXP [youtube:playlist] PLZI6KTHH6719oHLU-Sk3ViuIWJ-G7awXP: Downloading webpage [download] Downloading playlist: quantum-testing-shorts [youtube:playlist] playlist quantum-testing-shorts: Downloading 2 videos [download] Downloading video 1 of 2 [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading webpage [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Extracting video information [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] DZGINaRUEkU: Downloading DASH manifest [download] Destination: Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f136.mp4 [download] 100% of 42.40MiB in 00:22 [download] Destination: Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f141.m4a [download] 100% of 6.33MiB in 00:03 [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.mp4" [download] Downloading video 2 of 2 [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading webpage [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Extracting video information [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading DASH manifest [youtube] JQobzUqaR4U: Downloading DASH manifest [download] Destination: Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f248.webm [download] 100% of 17.37MiB in 00:09 [download] Destination: Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f251.webm [download] 100% of 2.22MiB in 00:01 [ffmpeg] Merging formats into "Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.webm" [download] Finished downloading playlist: quantum-testing-shorts k@laptop:~/YouTube/1$ ls Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f248.webm Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f251.webm Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.webm Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f136.mp4 Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f141.m4a Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.mp4 $ ls $ ls Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f248.webm Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.f251.webm Quantum computer coding in silicon now possible-JQobzUqaR4U.webm Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f136.mp4 Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.f141.m4a Symphony of Science - the Quantum World!-DZGINaRUEkU.mp4
- We can download a video from Vimeo as well:
$ youtube-dl https://vimeo.com/22439234 [vimeo] 22439234: Downloading webpage [vimeo] 22439234: Extracting information [vimeo] 22439234: Downloading webpage [vimeo] 22439234: Downloading JSON metadata [vimeo] 22439234: Downloading m3u8 information [download] Destination: The Mountain-22439234.mp4 [download] 100% of 59.93MiB in 01:23