> ## 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.

# Downloading Videos

> Learn the basics of downloading videos with yt-dlp

## Overview

yt-dlp makes it easy to download videos from thousands of supported sites. This guide covers the fundamental workflows for downloading videos effectively.

## Basic Download

The simplest way to download a video is to provide the URL:

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc"
```

By default, yt-dlp downloads the best available quality, equivalent to using `-f bestvideo*+bestaudio/best`.

<Tip>
  yt-dlp will automatically merge video and audio streams when ffmpeg is available, giving you the best quality output.
</Tip>

## Selecting Video Quality

<Steps>
  <Step title="List available formats">
    View all available quality options before downloading:

    ```bash theme={null}
    yt-dlp -F "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc"
    ```

    This displays a table showing format codes, resolutions, codecs, and file sizes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a specific format">
    Download using a format code from the list:

    ```bash theme={null}
    yt-dlp -f 22 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc"
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use format selectors">
    Select formats using criteria instead of specific codes:

    ```bash theme={null}
    # Best video + audio, or best combined format
    yt-dlp -f "bv+ba/b" URL

    # Best MP4 format
    yt-dlp -f "bv*[ext=mp4]+ba[ext=m4a]/b[ext=mp4]" URL

    # Best video up to 720p
    yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=720]+ba/b" URL
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Quality Preferences

### Download best quality up to a limit

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash Resolution Limit theme={null}
  # No better than 480p
  yt-dlp -S "res:480" URL

  # No better than 720p
  yt-dlp -S "height:720" URL
  ```

  ```bash File Size Limit theme={null}
  # No bigger than 50 MB
  yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize:50M" URL

  # Closest to 50 MB
  yt-dlp -f "b" -S "filesize~50M" URL
  ```

  ```bash Codec Preference theme={null}
  # Best video with h264 codec or better
  yt-dlp -S "codec:h264" URL

  # Prefer VP9 or AV1
  yt-dlp -S "vcodec:vp9" URL
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Download Multiple Videos

### From a file

Create a text file with URLs (one per line):

```txt urls.txt theme={null}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaW_jenozKc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
# Lines starting with # are comments
```

Then download all:

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp -a urls.txt
```

### Multiple URLs directly

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp URL1 URL2 URL3
```

## Output Location

Customize where files are saved:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash Custom Directory theme={null}
  # Save to specific folder
  yt-dlp -P ~/Downloads/Videos URL
  ```

  ```bash Custom Filename theme={null}
  # Custom output template
  yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" URL

  # With uploader name
  yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" URL

  # Organized by date
  yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date>%Y-%m-%d)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" URL
  ```

  ```bash Separate Paths theme={null}
  # Different paths for different file types
  yt-dlp -P "~/Videos" -P "temp:~/Downloads/temp" URL
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Common Download Scenarios

### Download for offline viewing

```bash theme={null}
# Best quality MP4 (most compatible)
yt-dlp --merge-output-format mp4 --remux-video mp4 \
  -S "vcodec:h264,acodec:aac" URL
```

### Quick download (smallest file)

```bash theme={null}
# Smallest file size
yt-dlp -S "+size,+br" URL
```

### High quality archival

```bash theme={null}
# Best possible quality with metadata
yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba" --embed-metadata --embed-thumbnail \
  --embed-subs --write-description URL
```

## Download with Retries

<Warning>
  Network issues can interrupt downloads. Configure retry behavior for reliability.
</Warning>

```bash theme={null}
# Retry up to 10 times (default)
yt-dlp --retries 10 URL

# Infinite retries
yt-dlp --retries infinite URL

# With exponential backoff
yt-dlp --retry-sleep exp=1:60 URL
```

## Resume Interrupted Downloads

yt-dlp automatically resumes partially downloaded files:

```bash theme={null}
# Continue partial downloads (default)
yt-dlp -c URL

# Force restart from beginning
yt-dlp --no-continue URL
```

## Speed Limiting

Control download speed to avoid network congestion:

```bash theme={null}
# Limit to 1 MB/s
yt-dlp -r 1M URL

# Limit to 500 KB/s
yt-dlp --limit-rate 500K URL
```

## Batch Download Best Practices

<Tip>
  When downloading many videos, use these options to be respectful to servers:
</Tip>

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp \
  --sleep-interval 5 \
  --max-sleep-interval 15 \
  --sleep-requests 1 \
  --download-archive archive.txt \
  -a urls.txt
```

This configuration:

* Waits 5-15 seconds between downloads
* Waits 1 second between requests
* Tracks downloaded videos to avoid duplicates

## Troubleshooting

### Video unavailable or private

```bash theme={null}
# Ignore errors and continue
yt-dlp --ignore-errors -a urls.txt
```

### Age-restricted content

```bash theme={null}
# Use cookies from browser
yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser firefox URL
```

### Geo-restricted content

```bash theme={null}
# Use proxy
yt-dlp --proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 URL

# Fake X-Forwarded-For header
yt-dlp --xff "US" URL
```

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Audio Extraction" icon="music" href="/guides/audio-extraction">
    Extract audio from videos in various formats
  </Card>

  <Card title="Playlists" icon="list" href="/guides/playlists">
    Download entire playlists and channels
  </Card>

  <Card title="Format Selection" icon="sliders" href="/core-concepts/format-selection">
    Advanced format selection options
  </Card>

  <Card title="Output Templates" icon="file" href="/core-concepts/output-templates">
    Customize file naming and organization
  </Card>
</CardGroup>