YouTube downloads with yt-dlp

Download in max resolution

yt-dlp CHANNEL_URL|PLAYLIST_URL|VIDEO_URL

Change default resolution to 1080

yt-dlp CHANNEL_URL|PLAYLIST_URL|VIDEO_URL -S res:1080

Download to location by source meta mask

yt-dlp CHANNEL_URL/playlists -o '%(uploader)s/%(playlist)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s'

Download video with multiple audio streams

tested on yt-dlp v2025.12.08

Download best video, best audio (original + uk) and subs

yt-dlp -f "bv+ba+ba[language=uk]" \
        --audio-multistreams \
        --embed-metadata \
        --embed-subs \
        --all-subs \
        --merge-output-format mkv \
        URL

it's important to provide the `--embed-metadata` flag to prevent all audio options from being marked as 'English'
the `--merge-output-format mkv` argument is recommended, as the MKV container provides the necessary features for built-in audio and subtitle options

Fix audio stream names using post-processing

If the `--embed-metadata` argument is missing, you can fix the names for audio options after by using ffmpeg:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv \
       -map 0 -metadata:s:a:0 language=en -metadata:s:a:1 language=uk \
       -c copy output.mkv

it's important to keep the previous `-f` order

or just inline:

yt-dlp ... \
       --exec "ffmpeg -i {} -map 0 -metadata:s:a:0 language=en -metadata:s:a:1 language=uk -c copy output.mkv" URL

Download with age confirmation

yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chromium --js-runtimes node URL

Extract audio

yt-dlp CHANNEL_URL|PLAYLIST_URL|VIDEO_URL --extract-audio --audio-format vorbis

Get help

yt-dlp --help

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