Downloading Media with Yt-dlp

yt-dlp is an advanced command-line tool for downloading videos and audio from YouTube, Zoom, Teams, Google Drive, and hundreds of other sites — a feature-rich fork of youtube-dl with frequent updates and better performance. This guide covers installing it on Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora, and Windows, along with essential usage examples.

Install on Ubuntu / Debian

Method 1: via apt (official repo)

The simplest method for most users:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install yt-dlp -y

Method 2: via pip (latest features)

Requires Python 3. Best for getting the absolute latest features:

python3 -m pip install -U yt-dlp

Method 3: standalone binary (recommended)

Downloads the binary directly — ideal if you don't want dependency management:

sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

Verify installation:

yt-dlp --version

Install on Fedora

Method 1: via dnf

sudo dnf install yt-dlp -y

Method 2: standalone binary (latest version)

sudo wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

Verify installation:

yt-dlp --version

Install on Windows

Method 1: standalone EXE (easiest way)

1. Download the latest yt-dlp.exe from the official releases page.
2. Move yt-dlp.exe to a permanent folder, e.g. C:\yt-dlp\.
3. Add it to PATH: search "Edit the system environment variables" in Windows Search → Environment Variables → select Path → Edit → New → paste the folder path.
4. Test in CMD or PowerShell:

yt-dlp --version

Method 2: Chocolatey (optional)

choco install yt-dlp -y

Quick Usage Examples

Download best quality video:

yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Download audio only (convert to MP3):

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Download a full playlist:

yt-dlp -f best "PLAYLIST_URL"

Keeping it Updated

If you installed via the standalone binary or pip, update easily:

yt-dlp -U

Note

• Stay updated — site support changes constantly as platforms tweak their players.
• Some sites throttle or block excessive automated downloads; use it responsibly.
• Respect copyright and each platform's terms of service.

🔗 Official Repository: 👉 https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp