.TH YOUTUBE\-DL 1 "" .SH NAME .PP youtube\-dl \- download videos from youtube.com or other video platforms .SH SYNOPSIS .PP \f[B]youtube\-dl\f[] OPTIONS (#options) URL [URL...] .SH DESCRIPTION .PP \f[B]youtube\-dl\f[] is a small command\-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and a few more sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.3+, and it is not platform specific. It should work on your Unix box, on Windows or on Mac OS X. It is released to the public domain, which means you can modify it, redistribute it or use it however you like. .SH OPTIONS .IP .nf \f[C] \-h,\ \-\-help\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ print\ this\ help\ text\ and\ exit \-\-version\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ print\ program\ version\ and\ exit \-U,\ \-\-update\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ update\ this\ program\ to\ latest\ version.\ Make\ sure \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ that\ you\ have\ sufficient\ permissions\ (run\ with \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ sudo\ if\ needed) \-i,\ \-\-ignore\-errors\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ continue\ on\ download\ errors \-\-dump\-user\-agent\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ display\ the\ current\ browser\ identification \-\-user\-agent\ UA\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ specify\ a\ custom\ user\ agent \-\-referer\ REF\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ specify\ a\ custom\ referer,\ use\ if\ the\ video\ access \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ is\ restricted\ to\ one\ domain \-\-list\-extractors\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ List\ all\ supported\ extractors\ and\ the\ URLs\ they \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ would\ handle \-\-extractor\-descriptions\ \ \ Output\ descriptions\ of\ all\ supported\ extractors \-\-proxy\ URL\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Use\ the\ specified\ HTTP/HTTPS\ proxy \-\-no\-check\-certificate\ \ \ \ \ Suppress\ HTTPS\ certificate\ validation. \f[] .fi .SS Video Selection: .IP .nf \f[C] \-\-playlist\-start\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ playlist\ video\ to\ start\ at\ (default\ is\ 1) \-\-playlist\-end\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ \ \ playlist\ video\ to\ end\ at\ (default\ is\ last) \-\-match\-title\ REGEX\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ download\ only\ matching\ titles\ (regex\ or\ caseless \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ sub\-string) \-\-reject\-title\ REGEX\ \ \ \ \ \ \ skip\ download\ for\ matching\ titles\ (regex\ or \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ caseless\ sub\-string) \-\-max\-downloads\ NUMBER\ \ \ \ \ Abort\ after\ downloading\ NUMBER\ files \-\-min\-filesize\ SIZE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ any\ videos\ smaller\ than\ SIZE \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (e.g.\ 50k\ or\ 44.6m) \-\-max\-filesize\ SIZE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Do\ not\ download\ any\ videos\ larger\ than\ SIZE\ (e.g. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 50k\ or\ 44.6m) \-\-date\ DATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ download\ only\ videos\ uploaded\ in\ this\ date \-\-datebefore\ DATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ download\ only\ videos\ uploaded\ before\ this\ date \-\-dateafter\ DATE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ download\ only\ videos\ uploaded\ after\ this\ date \f[] .fi .SS Download Options: .IP .nf \f[C] \-r,\ \-\-rate\-limit\ LIMIT\ \ \ \ \ maximum\ download\ rate\ (e.g.\ 50k\ or\ 44.6m) \-R,\ \-\-retries\ RETRIES\ \ \ \ \ \ number\ of\ retries\ (default\ is\ 10) \-\-buffer\-size\ SIZE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ size\ of\ download\ buffer\ (e.g.\ 1024\ or\ 16k) \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (default\ is\ 1024) \-\-no\-resize\-buffer\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ automatically\ adjust\ the\ buffer\ size.\ By \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ default,\ the\ buffer\ size\ is\ automatically\ resized \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ from\ an\ initial\ value\ of\ SIZE. \f[] .fi .SS Filesystem Options: .IP .nf \f[C] \-t,\ \-\-title\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ use\ title\ in\ file\ name\ (default) \-\-id\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ use\ only\ video\ ID\ in\ file\ name \-l,\ \-\-literal\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ [deprecated]\ alias\ of\ \-\-title \-A,\ \-\-auto\-number\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ number\ downloaded\ files\ starting\ from\ 00000 \-o,\ \-\-output\ TEMPLATE\ \ \ \ \ \ output\ filename\ template.\ Use\ %(title)s\ to\ get \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ the\ title,\ %(uploader)s\ for\ the\ uploader\ name, \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(uploader_id)s\ for\ the\ uploader\ nickname\ if \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ different,\ %(autonumber)s\ to\ get\ an\ automatically \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ incremented\ number,\ %(ext)s\ for\ the\ filename \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ extension,\ %(upload_date)s\ for\ the\ upload\ date \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (YYYYMMDD),\ %(extractor)s\ for\ the\ provider \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (youtube,\ metacafe,\ etc),\ %(id)s\ for\ the\ video\ id \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ,\ %(playlist)s\ for\ the\ playlist\ the\ video\ is\ in, \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ %(playlist_index)s\ for\ the\ position\ in\ the \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ playlist\ and\ %%\ for\ a\ literal\ percent.\ Use\ \-\ to \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ output\ to\ stdout.\ Can\ also\ be\ used\ to\ download\ to \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ a\ different\ directory,\ for\ example\ with\ \-o\ \[aq]/my/d \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ownloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s\-%(id)s.%(ext)s\[aq]\ . \-\-autonumber\-size\ NUMBER\ \ \ Specifies\ the\ number\ of\ digits\ in\ %(autonumber)s \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ when\ it\ is\ present\ in\ output\ filename\ template\ or \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \-\-autonumber\ option\ is\ given \-\-restrict\-filenames\ \ \ \ \ \ \ Restrict\ filenames\ to\ only\ ASCII\ characters,\ and \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ avoid\ "&"\ and\ spaces\ in\ filenames \-a,\ \-\-batch\-file\ FILE\ \ \ \ \ \ file\ containing\ URLs\ to\ download\ (\[aq]\-\[aq]\ for\ stdin) \-w,\ \-\-no\-overwrites\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ overwrite\ files \-c,\ \-\-continue\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ resume\ partially\ downloaded\ files \-\-no\-continue\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ resume\ partially\ downloaded\ files\ (restart \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ from\ beginning) \-\-cookies\ FILE\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ file\ to\ read\ cookies\ from\ and\ dump\ cookie\ jar\ in \-\-no\-part\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ use\ .part\ files \-\-no\-mtime\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ use\ the\ Last\-modified\ header\ to\ set\ the \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ file\ modification\ time \-\-write\-description\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ write\ video\ description\ to\ a\ .description\ file \-\-write\-info\-json\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ write\ video\ metadata\ to\ a\ .info.json\ file \-\-write\-thumbnail\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ write\ thumbnail\ image\ to\ disk \f[] .fi .SS Verbosity / Simulation Options: .IP .nf \f[C] \-q,\ \-\-quiet\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ activates\ quiet\ mode \-s,\ \-\-simulate\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ download\ the\ video\ and\ do\ not\ write \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ anything\ to\ disk \-\-skip\-download\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ download\ the\ video \-g,\ \-\-get\-url\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ URL \-e,\ \-\-get\-title\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ title \-\-get\-id\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ id \-\-get\-thumbnail\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ thumbnail\ URL \-\-get\-description\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ video\ description \-\-get\-filename\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ output\ filename \-\-get\-format\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ simulate,\ quiet\ but\ print\ output\ format \-\-newline\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ output\ progress\ bar\ as\ new\ lines \-\-no\-progress\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ print\ progress\ bar \-\-console\-title\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ display\ progress\ in\ console\ titlebar \-v,\ \-\-verbose\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ print\ various\ debugging\ information \-\-dump\-intermediate\-pages\ \ print\ downloaded\ pages\ to\ debug\ problems(very \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ verbose) \f[] .fi .SS Video Format Options: .IP .nf \f[C] \-f,\ \-\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ video\ format\ code,\ specifiy\ the\ order\ of \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ preference\ using\ slashes:\ "\-f\ 22/17/18" \-\-all\-formats\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ download\ all\ available\ video\ formats \-\-prefer\-free\-formats\ \ \ \ \ \ prefer\ free\ video\ formats\ unless\ a\ specific\ one \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ is\ requested \-\-max\-quality\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ highest\ quality\ format\ to\ download \-F,\ \-\-list\-formats\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ list\ all\ available\ formats\ (currently\ youtube \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ only) \-\-write\-sub\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ write\ subtitle\ file\ (currently\ youtube\ only) \-\-write\-auto\-sub\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ write\ automatic\ subtitle\ file\ (currently\ youtube \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ only) \-\-only\-sub\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ [deprecated]\ alias\ of\ \-\-skip\-download \-\-all\-subs\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ downloads\ all\ the\ available\ subtitles\ of\ the \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ video\ (currently\ youtube\ only) \-\-list\-subs\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ lists\ all\ available\ subtitles\ for\ the\ video \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (currently\ youtube\ only) \-\-sub\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ subtitle\ format\ [srt/sbv/vtt]\ (default=srt) \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (currently\ youtube\ only) \-\-sub\-lang\ LANG\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ language\ of\ the\ subtitles\ to\ download\ (optional) \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ use\ IETF\ language\ tags\ like\ \[aq]en\[aq] \f[] .fi .SS Authentication Options: .IP .nf \f[C] \-u,\ \-\-username\ USERNAME\ \ \ \ account\ username \-p,\ \-\-password\ PASSWORD\ \ \ \ account\ password \-n,\ \-\-netrc\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ use\ .netrc\ authentication\ data \-\-video\-password\ PASSWORD\ \ video\ password\ (vimeo\ only) \f[] .fi .SS Post\-processing Options: .IP .nf \f[C] \-x,\ \-\-extract\-audio\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ convert\ video\ files\ to\ audio\-only\ files\ (requires \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ffmpeg\ or\ avconv\ and\ ffprobe\ or\ avprobe) \-\-audio\-format\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ "best",\ "aac",\ "vorbis",\ "mp3",\ "m4a",\ "opus",\ or \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ "wav";\ best\ by\ default \-\-audio\-quality\ QUALITY\ \ \ \ ffmpeg/avconv\ audio\ quality\ specification,\ insert \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ a\ value\ between\ 0\ (better)\ and\ 9\ (worse)\ for\ VBR \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ or\ a\ specific\ bitrate\ like\ 128K\ (default\ 5) \-\-recode\-video\ FORMAT\ \ \ \ \ \ Encode\ the\ video\ to\ another\ format\ if\ necessary \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ (currently\ supported:\ mp4|flv|ogg|webm) \-k,\ \-\-keep\-video\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ keeps\ the\ video\ file\ on\ disk\ after\ the\ post\- \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ processing;\ the\ video\ is\ erased\ by\ default \-\-no\-post\-overwrites\ \ \ \ \ \ \ do\ not\ overwrite\ post\-processed\ files;\ the\ post\- \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ processed\ files\ are\ overwritten\ by\ default \f[] .fi .SH CONFIGURATION .PP You can configure youtube\-dl by placing default arguments (such as \f[C]\-\-extract\-audio\ \-\-no\-mtime\f[] to always extract the audio and not copy the mtime) into \f[C]/etc/youtube\-dl.conf\f[] and/or \f[C]~/.config/youtube\-dl.conf\f[]. .SH OUTPUT TEMPLATE .PP The \f[C]\-o\f[] option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names. The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in \f[C]youtube\-dl\ \-o\ funny_video.flv\ "http://some/video"\f[]. However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences have the format \f[C]%(NAME)s\f[]. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parenthesis, followed by a lowercase S. Allowed names are: .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]id\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the video identifier. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]url\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the video URL. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]uploader\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the nickname of the person who uploaded the video. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]upload_date\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the upload date in YYYYMMDD format. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]title\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the video title. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]ext\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the appropriate extension (like flv or mp4). .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]epoch\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by the Unix epoch when creating the file. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]autonumber\f[]: The sequence will be replaced by a five\-digit number that will be increased with each download, starting at zero. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]playlist\f[]: The name or the id of the playlist that contains the video. .IP \[bu] 2 \f[C]playlist_index\f[]: The index of the video in the playlist, a five\-digit number. .PP The current default template is \f[C]%(title)s\-%(id)s.%(ext)s\f[]. .PP In some cases, you don\[aq]t want special characters such as 中, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit\-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the \f[C]\-\-restrict\-filenames\f[] flag to get a shorter title: .IP .nf \f[C] $\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-get\-filename\ \-o\ "%(title)s.%(ext)s"\ BaW_jenozKc youtube\-dl\ test\ video\ \[aq]\[aq]_ä↭𝕐.mp4\ \ \ \ #\ All\ kinds\ of\ weird\ characters $\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-get\-filename\ \-o\ "%(title)s.%(ext)s"\ BaW_jenozKc\ \-\-restrict\-filenames youtube\-dl_test_video_.mp4\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ #\ A\ simple\ file\ name \f[] .fi .SH VIDEO SELECTION .PP Videos can be filtered by their upload date using the options \f[C]\-\-date\f[], \f[C]\-\-datebefore\f[] or \f[C]\-\-dateafter\f[], they accept dates in two formats: .IP \[bu] 2 Absolute dates: Dates in the format \f[C]YYYYMMDD\f[]. .IP \[bu] 2 Relative dates: Dates in the format \f[C](now|today)[+\-][0\-9](day|week|month|year)(s)?\f[] .PP Examples: .IP .nf \f[C] $\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-dateafter\ now\-6months\ #will\ only\ download\ the\ videos\ uploaded\ in\ the\ last\ 6\ months $\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-date\ 19700101\ #will\ only\ download\ the\ videos\ uploaded\ in\ January\ 1,\ 1970 $\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-dateafter\ 20000101\ \-\-datebefore\ 20100101\ #will\ only\ download\ the\ videos\ uploaded\ between\ 2000\ and\ 2010 \f[] .fi .SH FAQ .SS Can you please put the \-b option back? .PP Most people asking this question are not aware that youtube\-dl now defaults to downloading the highest available quality as reported by YouTube, which will be 1080p or 720p in some cases, so you no longer need the \f[C]\-b\f[] option. For some specific videos, maybe YouTube does not report them to be available in a specific high quality format you\[aq]re interested in. In that case, simply request it with the \f[C]\-f\f[] option and youtube\-dl will try to download it. .SS I get HTTP error 402 when trying to download a video. What\[aq]s this? .PP Apparently YouTube requires you to pass a CAPTCHA test if you download too much. We\[aq]re considering to provide a way to let you solve the CAPTCHA (https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/issues/154), but at the moment, your best course of action is pointing a webbrowser to the youtube URL, solving the CAPTCHA, and restart youtube\-dl. .SS I have downloaded a video but how can I play it? .PP Once the video is fully downloaded, use any video player, such as vlc (http://www.videolan.org) or mplayer (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/). .SS The links provided by youtube\-dl \-g are not working anymore .PP The URLs youtube\-dl outputs require the downloader to have the correct cookies. Use the \f[C]\-\-cookies\f[] option to write the required cookies into a file, and advise your downloader to read cookies from that file. Some sites also require a common user agent to be used, use \f[C]\-\-dump\-user\-agent\f[] to see the one in use by youtube\-dl. .SS ERROR: no fmt_url_map or conn information found in video info .PP youtube has switched to a new video info format in July 2011 which is not supported by old versions of youtube\-dl. You can update youtube\-dl with \f[C]sudo\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-update\f[]. .SS ERROR: unable to download video .PP youtube requires an additional signature since September 2012 which is not supported by old versions of youtube\-dl. You can update youtube\-dl with \f[C]sudo\ youtube\-dl\ \-\-update\f[]. .SS SyntaxError: Non\-ASCII character .PP The error .IP .nf \f[C] File\ "youtube\-dl",\ line\ 2 SyntaxError:\ Non\-ASCII\ character\ \[aq]\\x93\[aq]\ ... \f[] .fi .PP means you\[aq]re using an outdated version of Python. Please update to Python 2.6 or 2.7. .SS What is this binary file? Where has the code gone? .PP Since June 2012 (#342) youtube\-dl is packed as an executable zipfile, simply unzip it (might need renaming to \f[C]youtube\-dl.zip\f[] first on some systems) or clone the git repository, as laid out above. If you modify the code, you can run it by executing the \f[C]__main__.py\f[] file. To recompile the executable, run \f[C]make\ youtube\-dl\f[]. .SS The exe throws a \f[I]Runtime error from Visual C++\f[] .PP To run the exe you need to install first the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29). .SH COPYRIGHT .PP youtube\-dl is released into the public domain by the copyright holders. .PP This README file was originally written by Daniel Bolton () and is likewise released into the public domain. .SH BUGS .PP Bugs and suggestions should be reported at: .PP Please include: .IP \[bu] 2 Your exact command line, like \f[C]youtube\-dl\ \-t\ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHlDtZ6Oc3s&feature=channel_video_title"\f[]. A common mistake is not to escape the \f[C]&\f[]. Putting URLs in quotes should solve this problem. .IP \[bu] 2 If possible re\-run the command with \f[C]\-\-verbose\f[], and include the full output, it is really helpful to us. .IP \[bu] 2 The output of \f[C]youtube\-dl\ \-\-version\f[] .IP \[bu] 2 The output of \f[C]python\ \-\-version\f[] .IP \[bu] 2 The name and version of your Operating System ("Ubuntu 11.04 x64" or "Windows 7 x64" is usually enough). .PP For discussions, join us in the irc channel #youtube\-dl on freenode.