yt-dlp Cheatsheet 2026

Quick reference guide for the most common yt-dlp commands and options.

yt-dlp is an open-source command-line tool and an actively maintained fork of youtube-dl (offering faster bug fixes and 1700+ site support) for downloading videos, audio, and playlists.

This cheatsheet covers common commands for downloading 1080p/4K video, extracting MP3 audio, bypassing bot detection, and embedding subtitles.

New to the tool? Visit our comprehensive yt-dlp Download & Install Guide, or simply run the examples below directly in our online console without any setup.

📥
Download Best Quality
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0"
🎵
Extract MP3 Audio
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://soundcloud.com/..."
📋
List All Formats
yt-dlp -F "https://vimeo.com/..."
🎬
Download 1080p Video
yt-dlp -f "best[height<=1080]" "https://www..."
📂
Download Playlist
yt-dlp --yes-playlist "https://www.youtube/..."
📝
Embed Subtitles
yt-dlp --embed-subs "https://www..."

yt-dlp Basic Download Commands

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Download the best quality video (default behavior).
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yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://vimeo.com/906834164" Save video with custom output path and filename template.
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yt-dlp --limit-rate 50K "https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8j5y9z" Limit download speed to bypass bandwidth throttling (e.g. 50K, 10M).
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yt-dlp -o "%(upload_date)s - %(title)s (%(id)s).%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Avoid file conflicts by embedding upload date and unique video ID in the output filename.
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yt-dlp Format Selection & Quality Options

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp -F "https://vimeo.com/906834164" List all available resolutions, sizes, codecs and formats.
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yt-dlp -f 137 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Select and download a specific format code (use -F to find codes first).
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yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Download best video quality at or below 1080p. Same height filter works for 1440p (2K) and 2160p (4K).
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yt-dlp -f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]" --merge-output-format mp4 "https://vimeo.com/906834164" Force download the best quality as a merged MP4 format.
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yt-dlp --recode-video mp4 "https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8j5y9z" Download video and recode it to standard MP4 (useful if platform uses non-standard containers like WebM).
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💡
Pro Tip: Use -f bestvideo+bestaudio combined with --merge-output-format mp4 for the best quality with maximum device compatibility. On ytdlp.online, ffmpeg merging is handled automatically on our server.

yt-dlp Audio Extraction & MP3 Download

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp -x "https://soundcloud.com/monstercat/aero-chord-surface" Extract audio track only (auto-detects the best default format).
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yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://soundcloud.com/monstercat/aero-chord-surface" Download audio and convert it specifically to MP3 format.
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yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "https://soundcloud.com/monstercat/aero-chord-surface" Download audio and extract it as best quality MP3 (VBR 0 / 320kbps equivalent).
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yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --embed-thumbnail --embed-metadata "https://soundcloud.com/monstercat/aero-chord-surface" Download MP3 and embed original video description, tags, and thumbnail cover art.
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Pro Tip: Adding --embed-thumbnail --embed-metadata to your MP3 extraction gives you album art and song tags automatically — perfect for music library apps like iTunes or Spotify Local Files.

yt-dlp Playlist Download Commands

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp --yes-playlist "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRBp0Fe2GpgnIh0AiYKh7o7HnYAej-5ph" Force download all videos inside a playlist link.
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yt-dlp --no-playlist "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Only download the single video in the URL, ignoring the playlist it belongs to.
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yt-dlp --playlist-items 1-5 "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRBp0Fe2GpgnIh0AiYKh7o7HnYAej-5ph" Download a specific index range of a playlist (e.g. 1-5, 1,3,5).
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🔗
Need a visual interface for playlists? Try our dedicated پلے لسٹ ڈاؤن لوڈر — select individual videos, choose quality, and batch download with one click.

yt-dlp Subtitle & Metadata Options

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp --list-subs "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" List all manually uploaded and auto-generated subtitles.
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yt-dlp --write-auto-subs --skip-download "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Extract and write auto-generated subtitle files only, skipping the video download.
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yt-dlp --embed-subs --merge-output-format mp4 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Download video and automatically embed subtitles as soft-subs into the merged MP4 file.
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yt-dlp --write-subs --sub-langs en "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Download manually uploaded subtitles in a specific language (e.g. en, zh-Hans, ja). Use --list-subs to see available languages first.
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Pro Tip: Use --sub-langs all to download subtitles in every available language, or --sub-langs "en,zh-Hans" to grab multiple languages at once. For the full subtitle reference, see our yt-dlp Help Page.

yt-dlp Proxy & Bot Bypass Settings

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Load cookies from a browser (e.g. chrome, firefox) to bypass sign-in checks or bot block verification.
yt-dlp --impersonate chrome "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Impersonate browser TLS client characteristics (requires curl-cffi) to bypass Cloudflare and YouTube bot detection blocks.
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yt-dlp --extractor-args youtube:player_client=default,-android_sdkless "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Bypass "Sign in to confirm you are not a bot" errors by forcing a specific combination of YouTube player clients.
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yt-dlp --proxy "http://proxy-ip:port" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Route yt-dlp traffic through an HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS proxy — useful for geo-blocked content.
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yt-dlp --geo-bypass-country US "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Spoof geolocation country code (e.g. US, GB, JP) to bypass regional content restrictions.
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🔗
Getting blocked by YouTube bot detection? Our online console automatically rotates residential proxy IPs for premium members — no local proxy setup needed.

yt-dlp Advanced & Automation Tips

Command Description Actions
yt-dlp -a urls.txt Batch download all video URLs listed line-by-line in a text file.
yt-dlp --split-chapters "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ7Xl79OqNY" Split a video automatically into separate tracks/files based on its internal chapters.
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yt-dlp --external-downloader aria2c "https://vimeo.com/906834164" Use external multi-threaded downloader (Aria2) to significantly speed up your downloads.
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yt-dlp --sleep-interval 5 --max-sleep-interval 15 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Enforce random delays (5 to 15s) between downloads to prevent IP address bans.
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yt-dlp --download-sections "*00:01:00-00:02:30" "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Download a specific video clip or time range (e.g., 1m0s to 2m30s) instead of the entire video.
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yt-dlp --download-archive archive.txt "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0" Track download history in archive.txt and automatically skip previously downloaded videos.

yt-dlp Common Errors & Solutions

This error is triggered when YouTube blocks the IP address of the downloader. To fix this, you can pass browser cookies using:

yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0"

Or run the command again on our online console. Our backend servers automatically rotate residential proxy IPs for premium members to bypass blocks.

This typically happens when YouTube updates its video streaming algorithms, causing older versions of yt-dlp to break. Fix this by updating your local binary to the latest version:

yt-dlp -U

On ytdlp.online, we scan for upstream updates hourly and keep the system core automatically updated to the latest stable release.

yt-dlp requires ffmpeg to merge high-quality separate audio and video streams or extract MP3 audio. To fix this, you need to install FFmpeg and add it to your system PATH environment variable.

For step-by-step instructions, see our FFmpeg Installation Guide. Alternatively, you can run all ffmpeg-related merges and extractions on our server online without installing any tools locally.

yt-dlp is a feature-rich, actively maintained fork of youtube-dl. While youtube-dl development has slowed significantly, yt-dlp receives frequent updates with bug fixes, new site support (1700+ sites), and advanced features like SponsorBlock integration, aria2c multi-threaded downloads, and improved format selection. If you are still using youtube-dl, we recommend switching to yt-dlp for better compatibility and faster bug fixes.

For detailed step-by-step instructions on setting up Python, packages managers (winget, Homebrew, pip), and FFmpeg on Windows, macOS, and Linux, check out our comprehensive yt-dlp Download & Install Guide.

Alternatively, skip local installation entirely and run all your yt-dlp commands directly in our browser-based online console — no configuration or setup required.
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Need to test these commands?

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