youtube-dl syntax

Technically, youtube-dl performs an illegal action which is to download or potentially download copyrighted videos. However, if you own the video, and want to take a backup copy, it is useful to do this. I did not write the below, when I find the source I will credit it.

The general syntax is:

youtube-dl -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 320K

youtube-dl will output in the current directory

To list available formats

youtube-dl --list-formats URL

To download an entire user/channel

youtube-dl -citw ytuser:<USER> or youtube-dl -citw URL

To download all videos on a playlist

youtube-dl -citw <PLAYLIST URL>

To download a YouTube video as an MP3

youtube-dl -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 320K <VIDEO_URL>

To download best available video (mp4) and best available audio (m4a) and then merge them together

youtube-dl -citw -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]' <VIDEO_URL>

To set the output file title

youtube-dl SOURCEURL --restrict-filenames --output "%(uploader)s.%(ext)s"

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