> ## 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.

# Video Selection

> Filter and select which videos to download from playlists and channels

## Playlist Item Selection

<ParamField path="-I, --playlist-items" type="string">
  Comma-separated playlist\_index of the items to download

  You can specify a range using `[START]:[STOP][:STEP]`. For backward compatibility, `START-STOP` is also supported.

  Use negative indices to count from the right and negative STEP to download in reverse order.

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp -I 1:3,7,-5::2 URL
  # On a playlist of size 15, downloads items at index 1,2,3,7,11,13,15
  ```
</ParamField>

## File Size Filters

<ParamField path="--min-filesize" type="string">
  Abort download if filesize is smaller than SIZE

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --min-filesize 50k URL
  yt-dlp --min-filesize 44.6M URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--max-filesize" type="string">
  Abort download if filesize is larger than SIZE

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --max-filesize 100M URL
  ```
</ParamField>

## Date Filters

<ParamField path="--date" type="string">
  Download only videos uploaded on this date

  The date can be "YYYYMMDD" or in the format `[now|today|yesterday][-N[day|week|month|year]]`

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --date 20230101 URL
  yt-dlp --date today-2weeks URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--datebefore" type="string">
  Download only videos uploaded on or before this date

  The date formats accepted are the same as `--date`

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --datebefore 20230601 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--dateafter" type="string">
  Download only videos uploaded on or after this date

  The date formats accepted are the same as `--date`

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --dateafter 20230101 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

## Advanced Filters

<ParamField path="--match-filters" type="string">
  Generic video filter. Any "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" field can be compared with a number or a string using the operators defined in "Filtering Formats"

  You can:

  * Specify a field to match if the field is present
  * Use `!field` to check if the field is not present
  * Use `&` to check multiple conditions
  * Use `\` to escape `&` or quotes if needed

  If used multiple times, the filter matches if at least one of the conditions is met.

  Use `--match-filters -` to interactively ask whether to download each video.

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --match-filters !is_live URL
  yt-dlp --match-filters "like_count>?100 & description~='(?i)\\bcats \\& dogs\\b'" URL
  # Matches videos that are not live OR have like count > 100 and contain "cats & dogs"
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-match-filters" type="flag" default="true">
  Do not use any `--match-filters`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--break-match-filters" type="string">
  Same as `--match-filters` but stops the download process when a video is rejected
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-break-match-filters" type="flag" default="true">
  Do not use any `--break-match-filters`
</ParamField>

## Playlist Handling

<ParamField path="--no-playlist" type="flag">
  Download only the video, if the URL refers to a video and a playlist
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--yes-playlist" type="flag">
  Download the playlist, if the URL refers to a video and a playlist
</ParamField>

## Age Restriction

<ParamField path="--age-limit" type="number">
  Download only videos suitable for the given age

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --age-limit 18 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

## Archive

<ParamField path="--download-archive" type="string">
  Download only videos not listed in the archive file. Record the IDs of all downloaded videos in it

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --download-archive downloaded.txt URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-download-archive" type="flag" default="true">
  Do not use archive file
</ParamField>

## Download Limits

<ParamField path="--max-downloads" type="number">
  Abort after downloading NUMBER files

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --max-downloads 10 URL
  ```
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--break-on-existing" type="flag">
  Stop the download process when encountering a file that is in the archive supplied with the `--download-archive` option
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-break-on-existing" type="flag" default="true">
  Do not stop the download process when encountering a file that is in the archive
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--break-per-input" type="flag">
  Alters `--max-downloads`, `--break-on-existing`, `--break-match-filters`, and autonumber to reset per input URL
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--no-break-per-input" type="flag">
  `--break-on-existing` and similar options terminates the entire download queue
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="--skip-playlist-after-errors" type="number">
  Number of allowed failures until the rest of the playlist is skipped

  **Example:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  yt-dlp --skip-playlist-after-errors 3 URL
  ```
</ParamField>