> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Network Options

> Configure network settings, proxies, IP binding, and impersonation for yt-dlp

## Proxy Configuration

<ParamField path="--proxy" type="string">
  Use the specified HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy

  To enable SOCKS proxy, specify a proper scheme, e.g. `socks5://user:pass@127.0.0.1:1080/`

  Pass in an empty string (`--proxy ""`) for direct connection

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --proxy "socks5://127.0.0.1:1080" URL
  yt-dlp --proxy "http://proxy.example.com:8080" URL
  ```
</ParamField>

## Connection Settings

<ParamField path="--socket-timeout" type="number">
  Time to wait before giving up, in seconds

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --socket-timeout 30 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--source-address" type="string">
  Client-side IP address to bind to

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --source-address 192.168.1.100 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

## Impersonation

<ParamField path="--impersonate" type="string">
  Client to impersonate for requests

  Format: `CLIENT[:OS]`

  Pass `--impersonate=""` to impersonate any client.

  **Note:** Forcing impersonation for all requests may have a detrimental impact on download speed and stability

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --impersonate chrome URL
  yt-dlp --impersonate chrome-110 URL
  yt-dlp --impersonate chrome:windows-10 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--list-impersonate-targets" type="flag">
  List available clients to impersonate
</ParamField>

## IP Version

<ParamField path="-4, --force-ipv4" type="flag">
  Make all connections via IPv4
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="-6, --force-ipv6" type="flag">
  Make all connections via IPv6
</ParamField>

## File URLs

<ParamField path="--enable-file-urls" type="flag">
  Enable file:// URLs

  This is disabled by default for security reasons
</ParamField>

## Geo-restriction

<ParamField path="--geo-verification-proxy" type="string">
  Use this proxy to verify the IP address for some geo-restricted sites

  The default proxy specified by `--proxy` (or none, if the option is not present) is used for the actual downloading

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --geo-verification-proxy "socks5://127.0.0.1:1080" URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--xff" type="string">
  How to fake X-Forwarded-For HTTP header to try bypassing geographic restriction

  Values:

  * `default` - Only when known to be useful
  * `never` - Never fake the header
  * IP block in CIDR notation (e.g., `1.2.3.4/24`)
  * Two-letter ISO 3166-2 country code (e.g., `US`)

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --xff "US" URL
  yt-dlp --xff "1.2.3.4/24" URL
  ```
</ParamField>