You can install yt-dlp either using one of the official releases, or with your favorite package manager
If you are unfamiliar with the command line, you may use one of the many third-party GUIs available
Installing the release binary
You can simply download the correct binary file for your OS
In UNIX-like OSes (MacOS, Linux, BSD), you can also install the application into a location in your $PATH, such as ~/.local/bin, in one of the following ways:
curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
chmod a+rx ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp # Make executable
wget https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -O ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
chmod a+rx ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp # Make executable
aria2c https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp --dir ~/.local/bin -o yt-dlp
chmod a+rx ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp # Make executable
To update, run:
yt-dlp -U
To use shell completion (autocomplete), look for the completion files in the source tarball. It comes with bash, fish & zsh support.
With pip
You can install the PyPI package with:
python3 -m pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]"
You can install without any of the optional dependencies using:
python3 -m pip install --no-deps -U yt-dlp
You can also install the nightly version of yt-dlp with:
python3 -m pip install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default]"
If you want to be on the bleeding edge, you can also install the master branch with:
python3 -m pip install -U pip hatchling wheel
python3 -m pip install --force-reinstall "yt-dlp[default] @ https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/archive/master.tar.gz"
On some systems, you may need to use py or python instead of python3
To update, run:
python3 -m pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]"
Third-party package managers
Note: These packages are maintained by third-parties and may not be up-to-date. Please report any issues to the respective package maintainers
Linux/MacOS
Homebrew
macOS or Linux users that are using Homebrew can also install it by:
brew install yt-dlp
To update, run:
brew upgrade yt-dlp
pacman
Arch Linux users can install it from the official community repository:
sudo pacman -Syu yt-dlp
pacman will now automatically download the correct dependencies and keep the package up-to-date whenever you update your system with:
sudo pacman -Syu
APT
You can download and install yt-dlp for recent Ubuntu and other related Debian-based distributions by adding this PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tomtomtom/yt-dlp # Add ppa repo to apt
sudo apt update # Update package list
sudo apt install yt-dlp # Install yt-dlp
Your system's package manager will now automatically download the correct dependencies and keep the package updated with the rest of your system whenever you run:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install yt-dlp
Snap
You can install yt-dlp on Linux using Snap:
sudo snap install --edge yt-dlp
To manually update, run:
sudo snap refresh --edge yt-dlp
MacPorts
You can install yt-dlp on macOS using MacPorts:
sudo port install yt-dlp
To update, run:
sudo port selfupdate
sudo port upgrade yt-dlp
Alpine Linux
Make sure you're on the latest version (or edge) - older versions don't receive updates for community repo.
To install yt-dlp on Alpine Linux:
doas apk -U add yt-dlp
Or alternatively, without any optional dependencies:
doas apk -U add yt-dlp-core
yt-dlp should upgrade with your system. If you want to do that explicitly:
doas apk -U upgrade yt-dlp
To uninstall:
doas apk del yt-dlp
On postmarketOS you might have to use sudo instead of doas.
Windows
Scoop
scoop install yt-dlp
To update, run:
scoop update yt-dlp
Chocolatey
choco install yt-dlp
To update, run:
choco upgrade yt-dlp
winget
winget install yt-dlp
To update, run:
winget upgrade yt-dlp
Android
You can use yt-dlp on Android using Termux. Once Termux is installed, open it and run the following commands:
termux-setup-storage # Allow termux to download files into your phone's storage
pkg update && pkg upgrade # Update all packages
pkg install libexpat openssl python # Install python
pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]" # Install yt-dlp with default dependencies
pkg install ffmpeg # OPTIONAL: Install ffmpeg
To update, run:
pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]"