Yt Dlp Download Playlist

7 min read Oct 12, 2024

How to Download YouTube Playlists with yt-dlp?

Have you ever found a playlist on YouTube that you absolutely love and wished you could download it for offline listening? Maybe you're traveling and want to have your favorite tunes without using your data, or perhaps you just want a backup of your favorite music. Whatever the reason, downloading YouTube playlists can be a great way to enjoy your favorite content on your own terms.

But how do you go about downloading a playlist? You might be tempted to search for "download YouTube playlist" and find a myriad of websites offering free downloads. However, be cautious! Many of these websites are unreliable, can contain malware, and may not even work.

A much safer and more efficient way to download YouTube playlists is using a command-line tool called yt-dlp. yt-dlp is a powerful and versatile tool that can download videos, audio, and entire playlists from various video platforms, including YouTube.

What is yt-dlp?

yt-dlp is a command-line program that allows you to download videos and playlists from websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and many others. It's a fork of the popular youtube-dl project, with added features and improvements.

yt-dlp is considered to be one of the best and most reliable options for downloading YouTube videos and playlists due to its:

Versatility: Download various video and audio formats, including MP4, MP3, and more.
Speed: Download videos and playlists quickly.
Customization: Use options to adjust download quality, file format, and more.
Open-Source: Free to use and open for contribution.

Downloading a YouTube Playlist with yt-dlp

Follow these simple steps to download a YouTube playlist with yt-dlp:

Install yt-dlp: Download the latest version of yt-dlp from its official website. Once downloaded, extract the archive and copy the executable file to your system's PATH.
Open a Command Prompt: Open the command prompt on your computer.
Obtain the Playlist URL: Go to the YouTube playlist you want to download and copy the playlist URL from your web browser's address bar.
Use the yt-dlp command: In your command prompt, type the following command, replacing "[Playlist URL]" with the actual playlist URL you copied:
```
yt-dlp -i -f "bestvideo+bestaudio" --merge-output-format mp4 "[Playlist URL]"
```

This command tells yt-dlp to:

-i: Download the playlist in the interactive mode. This allows you to see the progress of the download and make changes if necessary.
-f "bestvideo+bestaudio": Download the best available video and audio formats. You can adjust this option based on your preferred quality.
--merge-output-format mp4: Merge the video and audio streams into a single MP4 file.
"[Playlist URL]": The URL of the YouTube playlist you want to download.

Download Progress: yt-dlp will start downloading the playlist. You will see the progress in your command prompt.

Downloading Only Audio

If you only need the audio from the playlist, you can use the following command:

yt-dlp -i -x --audio-format mp3 "[Playlist URL]"

This command uses the following options:

-i: Download in interactive mode.
-x: Extract audio from the playlist.
--audio-format mp3: Download the audio in MP3 format.

Tips and Tricks

Check for updates: Regularly check for new versions of yt-dlp to benefit from the latest features and bug fixes.
Customize formats: Use the -f option to choose specific formats, such as MP3, MP4, or webm. You can also use the --recode-video and --recode-audio options to convert the downloaded files to different formats.
Download subtitles: Use the --write-sub option to download subtitles along with the video.
Download specific videos: You can also download individual videos from a playlist by specifying the video ID. For example:
```
yt-dlp -i -f "bestvideo+bestaudio" --merge-output-format mp4 "[Playlist URL]&list=PL...&index=1" 
```
This command downloads the first video from the playlist. Replace "1" with the desired video index number.

Conclusion

yt-dlp is a powerful tool for downloading YouTube playlists. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily and safely download your favorite playlists for offline listening. Remember to be mindful of copyright laws and only download content you are legally allowed to possess.