Installation Guide

This chapter will introduce how to install yt-dlp on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

System Requirements

  • Python: 3.7 or higher (required for some installation methods)
  • FFmpeg: Used for video/audio merging and format conversion (optional but recommended)
  • Network: Stable internet connection

Windows Installation

Windows 11 and Windows 10 (1809 and later) come with the winget package manager.

winget install yt-dlp

Method 2: Using Chocolatey

If you have Chocolatey installed:

choco install yt-dlp

Method 3: Using Scoop

If you use Scoop:

scoop install yt-dlp

Method 4: Downloading the Executable

  1. Visit the yt-dlp releases page
  2. Download the latest yt-dlp.exe
  3. Place the file in any directory (it is recommended to add it to your PATH)

Method 5: Using pip

pip install yt-dlp

# Using winget
winget install ffmpeg

# Or using Chocolatey
choco install ffmpeg

# Or using Scoop
scoop install ffmpeg

Linux Installation

pip install yt-dlp

Or using pip3:

pip3 install yt-dlp

Method 2: Using Package Manager

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tomtomtom/yt-dlp
sudo apt update
sudo apt install yt-dlp

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S yt-dlp

Fedora

sudo dnf install yt-dlp

openSUSE

sudo zypper install yt-dlp

Method 3: Downloading the Binary

sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

Fedora

sudo dnf install ffmpeg

macOS Installation

brew install yt-dlp

Method 2: Using MacPorts

sudo port install yt-dlp

Method 3: Using pip

pip3 install yt-dlp

Method 4: Downloading the Binary

sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

brew install ffmpeg

Verifying Installation

Once installed, open a terminal or command prompt and run:

yt-dlp --version

If you see a version number, the installation was successful.

Updating yt-dlp

yt-dlp is updated frequently. It is recommended to update regularly for the latest features and fixes.

Using Built-in Update Function

yt-dlp -U

Updating via Package Manager

Windows

# winget
winget upgrade yt-dlp

# Chocolatey
choco upgrade yt-dlp

# Scoop
scoop update yt-dlp

Linux

# pip
pip install -U yt-dlp

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade yt-dlp

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu yt-dlp

macOS

# Homebrew
brew upgrade yt-dlp

# pip
pip3 install -U yt-dlp

Dependencies

FFmpeg

FFmpeg is used for merging video and audio streams, format conversion, and more. While yt-dlp can work without FFmpeg, some features require it.

Windows

# winget
winget install ffmpeg

# Chocolatey
choco install ffmpeg

Linux

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ffmpeg

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ffmpeg

macOS

brew install ffmpeg

Other Optional Dependencies

rtmpdump

Used for downloading RTMP streams:

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install rtmpdump

# macOS
brew install rtmpdump

phantomjs

Required by some sites:

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install phantomjs

# macOS
brew install phantomjs

Configuration File

yt-dlp supports configuration files to store commonly used parameters.

Configuration File Locations

Windows

  • %APPDATA%\yt-dlp\config
  • %APPDATA%\yt-dlp\config.txt
  • C:\Users\<username>\yt-dlp.conf

Linux/macOS

  • /etc/yt-dlp/config
  • /etc/yt-dlp.conf
  • ~/.config/yt-dlp/config
  • ~/.config/yt-dlp.conf
  • ~/.yt-dlp/config
  • ~/.yt-dlp.conf

Example Configuration

Create a configuration file and add common parameters:

# Default download path
-o ~/Downloads/%(title)s.%(ext)s

# Download best quality
-f bestvideo+bestaudio/best

# Embed thumbnail
--embed-thumbnail

# Embed subtitles
--embed-subs

# Write subtitles
--write-subs

# Proxy settings
# --proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080

# Limit rate (e.g., 1MB/s)
# --limit-rate 1M

Troubleshooting

Permission Errors (Linux/macOS)

If you encounter permission errors, try:

sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

Python Version Issues

Ensure Python 3.7 or higher is installed:

python3 --version

Network Issues

If you cannot download, you may need to configure a proxy:

yt-dlp --proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 <URL>

Command Not Found on Windows

If yt-dlp.exe is placed in a non-PATH directory:

  1. Add the directory to your PATH
  2. Or run it using the full path

macOS Security Restrictions

If you see "Developer cannot be verified" error:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

Next Steps

Once installed, you can:

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