How to Download YouTube Videos on Ubuntu Using youtube-dl

Downloading videos from YouTube on Ubuntu can be easily done using a command-line tool called youtube-dl. This guide will walk you through the steps to install and use youtube-dl on your Ubuntu system.

Step 1: Update Your System

Before installing new software, ensure that your system’s package list is up to date. Open a terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

This will refresh your package list and upgrade any existing packages to their latest versions.

Step 2: Install youtube-dl

You can install youtube-dl directly from Ubuntu’s repositories using the apt-get package manager. Enter the following command in your terminal:

sudo apt-get install youtube-dl

Step 3: Confirm the Installation

To verify that youtube-dl has been installed correctly, check its version by running:

youtube-dl --version

If the command returns a version number, it means youtube-dl is ready to use.

Step 4: Download a YouTube Video

To download a YouTube video, you need to provide the video URL to youtube-dl. For example:

youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example_video_id

Replace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example_video_id with the actual URL of the video you wish to download. By default, youtube-dl will download the highest quality version of the video.

Step 5: Customize Your Download

youtube-dl offers several options to customize your downloads:

• Select Video Quality: If you want to download a video in a specific quality, use the -f option. For instance, to download the video in 720p:

  youtube-dl -f 'best[height=720]' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example_video_id
  

• Download Audio Only: To extract only the audio from a video, use the following command:

  youtube-dl -x --audio-format mp3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example_video_id
  

• Download Playlists: If you want to download an entire playlist, provide the playlist URL:

  youtube-dl -i https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=example_playlist_id
  

Step 6: Keep youtube-dl Updated

To ensure youtube-dl continues to work correctly with the latest changes from YouTube, it’s important to keep it updated. Run the following commands periodically to update youtube-dl:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install youtube-dl

Conclusion

youtube-dl is a powerful and flexible tool for downloading YouTube videos on Ubuntu. Whether you need to download individual videos, entire playlists, or just the audio, youtube-dl makes it easy to customize your downloads to meet your needs.

For more advanced features and options, you can refer to the official youtube-dl documentation. Enjoy your video downloads on Ubuntu!