youtube-dl: The Best Tool for Downloading YouTube Playlists
How to Use youtube-dl to Download a Playlist from YouTube
YouTube is one of the most popular video-sharing platforms in the world, with billions of hours of content available for streaming and watching. However, sometimes you may want to download a video or a playlist from YouTube for offline viewing, backup, or editing purposes. How can you do that easily and efficiently?
In this article, we will show you how to use youtube-dl, a powerful command-line tool that can download videos from YouTube and other sites, to download a playlist from YouTube. We will also explain how to install youtube-dl and ffmpeg, a software that can convert video formats, on Windows, Mac, and Linux. By the end of this article, you will be able to download any playlist from YouTube with just a few commands.
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What is youtube-dl and why use it?
youtube-dl is a command-line tool that can download videos from YouTube and other sites
youtube-dl is a free and open-source program that can download videos from YouTube.com and hundreds of other video sites. It is written in Python and runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, and other Unix-like systems. It requires the Python interpreter (version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+) to run.
youtube-dl works by taking a video URL as an input and downloading the video file to your computer. You can also use it to download audio files, subtitles, playlists, channels, live streams, and more. You can specify the quality, format, filename, location, and other parameters of the downloaded file.
youtube-dl has many features and options that make it versatile and powerful
youtube-dl is not just a simple downloader. It has many features and options that make it versatile and powerful. Some of them are:
It supports downloading videos from hundreds of sites besides YouTube, such as Vimeo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
It can download multiple videos at once using a batch file or a playlist URL.
It can resume interrupted downloads and skip already downloaded files.
It can extract audio from video files and convert them to MP3 or other formats using ffmpeg.
It can download subtitles, annotations, thumbnails, metadata, descriptions, comments, etc. along with the video files.
It can embed subtitles or metadata into the video files using ffmpeg.
It can automatically update itself to the latest version.
It has many advanced options for filtering, sorting, formatting, post-processing, logging, authentication, proxying, How to install youtube-dl and ffmpeg on Windows, Mac, and Linux
Download the youtube-dl executable file and the ffmpeg binary file from their official sites
To use youtube-dl, you need to download the youtube-dl executable file from its official site: . You can choose the version that matches your operating system: Windows, Mac, or Linux. The file is a single executable that does not require installation. You just need to save it to your computer and run it from the command line.
To use ffmpeg, you need to download the ffmpeg binary file from its official site: . You can choose the version that matches your operating system: Windows, Mac, or Linux. The file is a compressed archive that contains the ffmpeg executable and some libraries. You need to extract it to your computer and run it from the command line.
Add the youtube-dl and ffmpeg files to your system path or move them to a convenient location
To make it easier to use youtube-dl and ffmpeg, you need to add them to your system path or move them to a convenient location. The system path is a list of folders that your computer searches when you run a command. By adding youtube-dl and ffmpeg to your system path, you can run them from any folder without typing the full path.
To add youtube-dl and ffmpeg to your system path on Windows, you need to follow these steps:
Open the Control Panel and click on System and Security.
Click on System and then on Advanced system settings.
Click on Environment Variables and then on Path under System variables.
Click on Edit and then on New.
Type the full path of the folder where you saved youtube-dl and ffmpeg, such as C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\youtube-dl or C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\ffmpeg.
Click on OK and then on OK again.
Close the Control Panel and restart your computer.
To add youtube-dl and ffmpeg to your system path on Mac or Linux, you need to follow these steps:
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Open a terminal window and type the following command: echo $PATH. This will show you the current value of your system path.
Type the following command: export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/youtube-dl:/path/to/ffmpeg. Replace /path/to/youtube-dl and /path/to/ffmpeg with the full paths of the folders where you saved youtube-dl and ffmpeg, such as /Users/YourName/Downloads/youtube-dl or /Users/YourName/Downloads/ffmpeg.
Type the following command: echo $PATH again. This will show you the updated value of your system path.
Close the terminal window.
If you do not want to add youtube-dl and ffmpeg to your system path, you can move them to a convenient location, such as your desktop or your home folder. This way, you can run them by typing their names followed by a space and the video URL.
Test if youtube-dl and ffmpeg are working by running some commands in the terminal or command prompt
To test if youtube-dl and ffmpeg are working properly, you can run some commands in the terminal or command prompt window. To open a terminal window on Mac or Linux, you can press Ctrl+Alt+T or search for Terminal in the applications menu. To open a command prompt window on Windows, you can press Windows+R or search for Command Prompt in the Start menu.
To test if youtube-dl is working, you can run the following command: youtube-dl --version. This will show you the current version of youtube-dl that you have installed. If you see an error message, it means that youtube-dl is not installed correctly or not added to your system path.
To test if ffmpeg is working, you can run the following command: ffmpeg -version. This will show you the current version of ffmpeg that you have installed. If you see an error message, it means that ffmpeg is not installed correctly or not added to your system path. How to download a playlist from YouTube using youtube-dl
Find the playlist URL on YouTube and copy it to your clipboard
To download a playlist from YouTube using youtube-dl, you need to find the playlist URL and copy it to your clipboard. The playlist URL is the web address that appears in your browser when you open a playlist on YouTube. It usually starts with followed by a long string of letters and numbers.
To find the playlist URL, you can do one of the following:
Go to the YouTube homepage and click on the Library tab on the left sidebar. Then, click on the playlist that you want to download and copy the URL from the browser.
Go to the YouTube channel that created the playlist and click on the Playlists tab. Then, click on the playlist that you want to download and copy the URL from the browser.
Search for the playlist on YouTube using keywords or filters. Then, click on the playlist that you want to download and copy the URL from the browser.
Paste the playlist URL that someone else shared with you or that you found online.
Once you have copied the playlist URL, you can proceed to the next step.
Open a terminal or command prompt window and navigate to the folder where you want to save the videos
To download a playlist from YouTube using youtube-dl, you need