A simple GUI based YouTube video and audio downloader
YT Download is a GUI-based tool designed to simplify the process of downloading YouTube videos and audio. It leverages yt-dlp for reliable downloads and offers a portable solution for users who need flexibility.
Key Features:
Intuitive graphical interface for easy navigation.
Support for downloading individual videos or entire playlists.
Customizable settings, including output directory and file formats.
Cross-platform compatibility with options to install via winget on Windows.
Command-line integration for advanced users.
Audience & Benefit:
Ideal for content creators, educators, researchers, and anyone needing offline access to YouTube content. YT Download enables efficient downloading of high-quality videos or audio files while preserving flexibility and ease of use.
➕ Added the ability to automatically clean the si= tracker from YouTube share links.
➕ Added the ability to revert to default settings.
➖ Removed prepacked FFmpeg from .msi installer. Now FFmpeg must be installed by the user.
🐛 Fixed a bug that caused the config file updater to only check for new setting categories instead of new settings in each category.
🐛 Updated yt-dlp packaged with YT Download.
NOTE: Starting with this version, YT Download will no longer include FFmpeg in the .msi installer. Windows users must install FFmpeg manually alongside YT Download. You can install FFmpeg from their official website at: https://ffmpeg.org/.
Special thanks to @withered_emerald on Discord for finally giving me the motivation to finish this version.
Version 1.4.2
🐛 Updated yt-dlp library packaged with YT Download. This will fix the [download] Got error: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden that users where experiencing.
Version 1.4.1
🐛 Fixed a bug where the custom default directory would always be overwritten every time the user clicks the Apply button in the settings menu.
🐛 Fixed inaccessible config file bug by rewriting the config() class
*The config file is now handled by the reworked config() class in main.py. The new class handles updating, reading, and writing the config file.
Version 1.3.0
➕ Added the ability to change settings through the config file.
➕ Added Linux support and documentation.
➕ Revamped the documentation
➕ Added terminal messages that display program progress in the terminal.
🐛 Simplified the code base in order to make the source more readable.
Version 1.2.1
🐛 Fixed critical bug in .msi installer that deleted all other PATH variables when installing.
➕ Added detection system for YouTube Playlists.*
➕ Added a version number link that links to this repo.
➕ Added an error message when FFmpeg is not installed to the PATH
*The Playlist detection system will warn the user if it finds a playlist url. It will then ask if the user wants to proceed with the download of the entire playlist.
[QUICK PATCH 3/19/2023] Added LICENSE to the installation process. No functionality was changed, thus no new version number. Note, there may be another patch to the .msi if winget wants a truly admin perms free installation.
Version 1.2.0
Changed the default file download path to C:\Users\%userprofile%\Documents\YT Download when the user does not specify a file location.
Cleaned the up YT Download.py while True loop and sent most of the logic to GUI_checks().
CRITICAL BUG!!!!! All previous .msi installers are removing ALL OTHER PATH VARIABLES. Please DO NOT USE old .msi installers (1.2.0 and below). Working on a patch ASAP.
Version 1.0.1
In the previous version, the included .msi installer was not adding FFmpeg (a required dependency) to the windows PATH, causing the program to crash when downloading. This has been fixed. None of the underline source code has been changed. Once again, thank you for using YT Download.
CRITICAL BUG: SEE VERSION 1.2.0
Version 1.0.0
Welcome to YT Download! To start, simply install the program with the .msi installer. You can also download the source code.
NOTE: Removed the original .msi installer. Currently working on a new one. The old installer was not installing FFmpeg to the path. Once I fix that, I'll release a new installer. For now, please uninstall YT Download with the original .msi installer. You can still run YT Download from source if you meet all of the prerequisites. For a full list of prerequisites, check Credits.txt - Joey [3/5/2023]
Installation
Windows
You can install YT Download with winget by typing winget install yt-download in a powershell window. Alternatively, you can download the latest installer from the Release tab.
PS C:\> winget install yt-download
Linux
Since YT Download does not yet have a linux binary, you'll need to clone this github repo, install the dependencies, and start up YT Download by running the python file with the same name. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to do just that.
First, install git:
$ sudo apt install git
Next, install pip.
$ sudo apt install python3-pip
Make sure to navigate to the folder where you want YT Download to install to.
Then, clone this repo:
To save the file press Ctrl+X then press y and enter
Then, source the ~/.bashrc file.
$ source ~/.bashrc
Finally, install FFmpeg:
$ sudo apt install ffmpeg
YT Download is now ready to use. To launch YT Download, use this command in the directory where this repo was cloned:
$ python3 'YT Download.py'
The rest of the documentation still applies to linux. In rare instances where there are differences, there will be ample explanation.
Suggested Changes for Linux Users
Even though YT Download is fully functional (given you have followed the tutorial above), users might wish to make some quality of life changes.
First would be to rename YT Download.py to YT-Download.py in order to not have to type quotation marks when launching the program. This can be done using a GUI, but to do it in the terminal first navigate to where YT Download is installed and then run this command.
$ mv 'YT Download.py' YT-Download.py
Finally, it is very inconvenient to have to navigate to where YT Download was installed in order to launch it. To fix this, we need to make some modifications.
First, open main.py with nano.
$ nano main.py
Navigate to the config_path variable, it's at the top of the script right underneath the license and imports. Change config_file = 'config.yml to config_path = '/home/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE/bin/config.yml'.
If you have followed suggested changes for linux users, clone the repo then replace YT Download.py and main.py in ~/bin/ with the updated files. Now start following the suggested changes for linux users instructions. Stop after you chmod the YT-Download.py script.
>Note:
>If you get the error: KeyError: 'version' when running the script, you'll need to remove the config file in ~/bin (only 1.3.0 and earlier).
User Manual
After installing the program with the .msi or winget, open YT Download.
> ### Launching on Linux
> Navigate to the directory where YT Download is installed and run:
> >$ python3 'YT Download.py' >
>Or, if you have followed Suggested Changes for Linux Users you can run this command from any directory
> >$ YT-Download.py >
The program will open a terminal window and the GUI. Do not close the terminal, it is required for the program to run.
Now, simply copy the url of the YouTube video you want to download and paste it in the YouTube URL feild.
Make sure to check the Download as an audio file (mp3)? checkbox if you want to download as an audio file. For example, this video is an official audio video, so I will be checking this box.
>
> NOTE: This program automatically downloads your videos/audio in the highest quality possible.
>
Now choose a file path for your file to be saved. You can leave this option blank and the program will automatically download to Documents\YT Download folder. The Documents folder is a defualt folder in the Windows OS.
Next, just click Download.
>
> ### Downloading Playlists
> To download a playlist follow all of the above and bellow steps. Just make sure to click Yes on the popup. This popup is to warn the user that they are about to download a playlist. When downloading a playlist, YT Download will download all videos in the playlist to your chosen file path and as your chosen file type.
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>
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Once your file is done downloading, a popup will appear showing the title of the youtube video you downloaded and where on your computer you saved it. (When downloading a playlist, this popup will only appear once the whole playlist is done downloading so please be patient.)
The Settings Menu
1.4.0 Introduced the Settings Menu which allows users to change YT Download's settings through a GUI. To open the settings menu, click the Settings button.
By default, the settings menu should look like this:
> NOTE:
> - After clicking the Apply button, YT Download will automatically shutdown in order to apply user changes. You will need to restart the program manually.
> - Clicking the Exit button will close the Settings Menu without restarting or saving any changes.
You can find a description of each setting starting here.
The Config File
1.3.0 Introduced the ability to change YT Download's settings by modifying the config.yml file. Here is a breakdown on what each option does.
The config file is broken up into three sub-sections: Directory Settings, Popup Settings, and Miscellaneous Settings. Directory Settings controls how YT Download handles directories, Popup Settings handles how YT Download uses popups, and Miscellaneous Settings controls... well.. miscellaneous settings such as YT Download's color theme.
>Note: The version variable is used to display the version number on the main window and update the config file. Please do not change this variable.
Directory Settings
As stated previously, Directory Settings controls how YT Download handles directories.
use_default_directory | Input: boolean
If true YT Download will use the default directory. For windows users the default directory is: C:\users\%USERPROFILE%\Documents\YT Download (or OneDrive equivalent). For linux users the default directory is: ~/Documents/YT-Download. If false, then YT Download will use whatever directory is specified in custom_default_directory as the default directory.
custom_default_directory | Input: PATH str
Whatever directory path that is inputted here will be used as the default directory if
use_default_directory is false.
> Note: One common mistake when using this feature is not typing the directory in properly. The author strongly recommends pasting a directory path into this field. However, if one is unable to do such, remember to use backslashes ( \ ) for windows and forward slashes ( / ) for linux. If the directory is inputted incorrectly, YT Download will make a new directory in the program's root directory.
playlist_confirmation | Input: boolean
If true, the playlist confirmation popup will be shown. If false, the popup will not be shown. This will result in the playlist being downloaded without any extra user input.
file_downloaded | Input: boolean
If true the file downloaded popup will be shown. If false, the popup will not be shown.
Miscellaneous Settings
Miscellaneous Settings handles a mix of different settings.
default_as_audio | Input: boolean
If true, the Download as audio file (mp3)? box will already be selected when opening YT Download. If false the checkbox will not be selected by default.
color_theme | Input: str
Controls which FreeSimpleGUI color theme will be used. To change the color theme, simple pick a theme and copy its' name into the field. Make sure to mind the casing (e.g., DarkAmber is a valid theme but darkamber is not).
use_defaults | Input: boolean
If true, the config.yml will be overwritten with the default settings. If false, settings are preserved.
> Note: This field is normally only true in the time between the user has selected use_defaults in the settings menu and the time at which YT Download is relaunched by the user.
For an interactive version of this image follow the steps bellow.
Make sure Python is installed then run: pip install FreeSimpleGUI in a terminal window.
Start up Python by typing the command python (or python3 for linux users).
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