> ## 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 Playlists

> Download entire playlists, channels, and manage large collections

## Overview

yt-dlp can download entire playlists, channels, user uploads, and other collections from supported sites. This guide covers best practices for handling playlists efficiently.

## Basic Playlist Download

Download all videos from a playlist:

```bash theme={null}
# Download entire playlist
yt-dlp PLAYLIST_URL

# YouTube playlist example
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf"
```

<Tip>
  By default, yt-dlp downloads all videos in a playlist sequentially.
</Tip>

## YouTube Channels

Download from YouTube channels:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash All Uploads theme={null}
  # Channel URL downloads all uploads
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName"
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/c/ChannelName"
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC..."
  ```

  ```bash Specific Tabs theme={null}
  # Videos tab
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/videos"

  # Shorts tab
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/shorts"

  # Live tab
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/streams"

  # Playlists
  yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/playlists"
  ```

  ```bash Community Features theme={null}
  # Watch later
  yt-dlp ":ytwatchlater:"

  # Liked videos  
  yt-dlp ":ytfav:"

  # Subscriptions feed
  yt-dlp ":ytsubs:"

  # History
  yt-dlp ":ythistory:"

  # Recommendations
  yt-dlp ":ytrec:"
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Warning>
  Accessing private playlists (liked videos, watch later, etc.) requires authentication with `--cookies-from-browser` or `--username/--password`.
</Warning>

## Selective Download

### Download specific videos from playlist

<Steps>
  <Step title="By index">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Download first 5 videos
    yt-dlp -I 1:5 PLAYLIST_URL

    # Download videos 3, 5, and 7
    yt-dlp -I 3,5,7 PLAYLIST_URL

    # Download from 10 to end
    yt-dlp -I 10: PLAYLIST_URL
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="By range with step">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Every other video
    yt-dlp -I ::2 PLAYLIST_URL

    # Every 3rd video from 1 to 30
    yt-dlp -I 1:30:3 PLAYLIST_URL
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reverse order">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Download last 10 videos
    yt-dlp -I -10: PLAYLIST_URL

    # Download in reverse order
    yt-dlp -I ::-1 PLAYLIST_URL
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Filter by date

```bash theme={null}
# Videos from last week
yt-dlp --dateafter today-1week PLAYLIST_URL

# Videos from 2024
yt-dlp --dateafter 20240101 --datebefore 20241231 PLAYLIST_URL

# Videos older than 1 year
yt-dlp --datebefore today-1year PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Filter by criteria

```bash theme={null}
# Videos longer than 10 minutes
yt-dlp --match-filters "duration > 600" PLAYLIST_URL

# Videos with more than 10k views
yt-dlp --match-filters "view_count > 10000" PLAYLIST_URL

# Not live streams
yt-dlp --match-filters "!is_live" PLAYLIST_URL

# Multiple conditions
yt-dlp --match-filters "duration > 600 & view_count > 1000" PLAYLIST_URL
```

## Organizing Playlist Downloads

### Create folder structure

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash By Playlist theme={null}
  # Each playlist in its own folder
  yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" PLAYLIST_URL
  ```

  ```bash By Uploader theme={null}
  # Organize by channel/uploader
  yt-dlp -o "%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" PLAYLIST_URL
  ```

  ```bash By Date theme={null}
  # Organize by upload date
  yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(upload_date>%Y-%m)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" PLAYLIST_URL
  ```

  ```bash Numbered theme={null}
  # Keep playlist order with zero-padded numbers
  yt-dlp -o "%(playlist)s/%(playlist_index)03d - %(title)s.%(ext)s" PLAYLIST_URL
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Download Archive

Avoid re-downloading videos you already have:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create download archive">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Track downloaded videos
    yt-dlp --download-archive archive.txt PLAYLIST_URL
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Update playlist">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Only download new videos
    yt-dlp --download-archive archive.txt PLAYLIST_URL
    ```

    Videos in `archive.txt` will be skipped.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Multiple playlists">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Share archive across playlists
    yt-dlp --download-archive ~/youtube-archive.txt PLAYLIST_URL_1
    yt-dlp --download-archive ~/youtube-archive.txt PLAYLIST_URL_2
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  The download archive is a simple text file containing video IDs. You can manually edit it if needed.
</Tip>

## Handling Large Playlists

### Rate limiting and delays

```bash theme={null}
# Be respectful to servers
yt-dlp \
  --sleep-interval 5 \
  --max-sleep-interval 15 \
  --sleep-requests 1 \
  PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Ignore errors

```bash theme={null}
# Continue on errors (deleted/private videos)
yt-dlp --ignore-errors PLAYLIST_URL

# Skip after N errors
yt-dlp --abort-on-error --skip-playlist-after-errors 10 PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Limit downloads

```bash theme={null}
# Download only first 50 videos
yt-dlp --max-downloads 50 PLAYLIST_URL

# Stop when encountering existing video
yt-dlp --break-on-existing --download-archive archive.txt PLAYLIST_URL
```

## Playlist Processing Options

### Reverse order

```bash theme={null}
# Download newest first
yt-dlp --playlist-reverse PLAYLIST_URL

# Or using -I
yt-dlp -I ::-1 PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Random order

```bash theme={null}
# Download in random order
yt-dlp --playlist-random PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Lazy playlist

```bash theme={null}
# Process entries as they arrive (for large playlists)
yt-dlp --lazy-playlist PLAYLIST_URL
```

<Tip>
  `--lazy-playlist` is useful for very large playlists as it doesn't wait to load all entries before starting downloads.
</Tip>

## Playlist Metadata

### Save playlist info

```bash theme={null}
# Write playlist metadata files
yt-dlp --write-playlist-metafiles PLAYLIST_URL

# This creates:
# - playlist.info.json
# - playlist.description
# - Individual video .info.json files
```

### Skip playlist metadata

```bash theme={null}
# Only write video metadata
yt-dlp --no-write-playlist-metafiles PLAYLIST_URL
```

## Common Playlist Scenarios

### Subscribe to a channel

```bash theme={null}
# Daily cron job to download new videos
yt-dlp \
  --download-archive ~/Videos/channel-archive.txt \
  --dateafter today-1week \
  -o "~/Videos/%(uploader)s/%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/videos"
```

### Music playlist

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  --download-archive music-archive.txt \
  --embed-metadata \
  --embed-thumbnail \
  --parse-metadata "%(playlist_title|)s:%(meta_album)s" \
  --parse-metadata "%(uploader|)s:%(meta_artist)s" \
  --parse-metadata "%(playlist_index|)s:%(meta_track)s" \
  -o "%(artist,uploader)s/%(album,playlist)s/%(track)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Educational course

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp \
  -o "%(playlist)s/%(chapter_number|)s%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  --write-subs \
  --embed-subs \
  --embed-metadata \
  PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Podcast archive

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 \
  --download-archive podcast-archive.txt \
  --embed-metadata \
  --embed-thumbnail \
  -o "Podcasts/%(uploader)s/%(upload_date)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" \
  CHANNEL_URL
```

## Flat Playlist Mode

Extract playlist information without downloading:

```bash theme={null}
# List all video URLs without downloading
yt-dlp --flat-playlist --print url PLAYLIST_URL

# Get video IDs
yt-dlp --flat-playlist --print id PLAYLIST_URL

# Get full metadata without downloading
yt-dlp --flat-playlist --dump-json PLAYLIST_URL
```

<Tip>
  Use `--flat-playlist` to quickly check playlist contents or create custom processing workflows.
</Tip>

## Concatenating Playlists

Merge playlist videos into single file:

```bash theme={null}
# Concatenate multi-part videos (default)
yt-dlp --concat-playlist multi_video PLAYLIST_URL

# Always concatenate all videos
yt-dlp --concat-playlist always \
  -o "pl_video:%(playlist)s.%(ext)s" \
  PLAYLIST_URL

# Never concatenate
yt-dlp --concat-playlist never PLAYLIST_URL
```

<Warning>
  All videos must have the same codecs and number of streams to be concatenated.
</Warning>

## Batch Downloading Multiple Playlists

Create a file with multiple playlist URLs:

```txt playlists.txt theme={null}
# Music playlists
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxxxxx
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyyyyyyy

# Educational
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzzzzzzz
```

Download all:

```bash theme={null}
yt-dlp -a playlists.txt \
  --download-archive archive.txt \
  -o "%(playlist)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s"
```

## Performance Optimization

### Parallel fragment downloads

```bash theme={null}
# Download fragments in parallel (faster for HLS/DASH)
yt-dlp -N 4 PLAYLIST_URL
```

### External downloader

```bash theme={null}
# Use aria2c for faster downloads
yt-dlp --downloader aria2c \
  --downloader-args "aria2c:-x 16 -s 16 -k 1M" \
  PLAYLIST_URL
```

## Monitoring Progress

Track download progress:

```bash theme={null}
# Show progress bar
yt-dlp --progress PLAYLIST_URL

# Console title (terminal window title)
yt-dlp --console-title PLAYLIST_URL

# Custom progress template
yt-dlp --progress-template "download:%(info.title)s %(progress.percent)s" PLAYLIST_URL
```

## Troubleshooting

### Playlist not loading completely

```bash theme={null}
# Use lazy playlist for large playlists
yt-dlp --lazy-playlist PLAYLIST_URL

# Increase timeout
yt-dlp --socket-timeout 30 PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Private or deleted videos

```bash theme={null}
# Skip unavailable videos
yt-dlp --ignore-errors PLAYLIST_URL

# See which videos are unavailable (YouTube)
yt-dlp --flat-playlist --print "%(title)s [%(id)s] %(availability)s" PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Geo-restricted content

```bash theme={null}
# Use proxy for restricted videos
yt-dlp --proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 PLAYLIST_URL

# Fake location
yt-dlp --xff "US" PLAYLIST_URL
```

### Authentication required

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

# Or login credentials
yt-dlp --username USERNAME --password PASSWORD PLAYLIST_URL
```

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Downloading Videos" icon="download" href="/guides/downloading-videos">
    Basic video download workflows
  </Card>

  <Card title="Audio Extraction" icon="music" href="/guides/audio-extraction">
    Extract audio from playlist videos
  </Card>

  <Card title="Post-Processing" icon="gears" href="/guides/post-processing">
    Process downloaded videos
  </Card>

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