YouTube Cookies

Exporting and importing cookies.txt

Some websites require a signed-in session before they allow a video or audio file to be downloaded. On YouTube, this can appear as HTTP Error 403: Forbidden, an age or region restriction, or a request to sign in.

Importing fresh account cookies often resolves this. It does not bypass DRM, subscriptions, account permissions, or regional restrictions: your account must already be allowed to play the media in a normal browser.

Caution

A cookies file can provide access to your signed-in account. Never upload it to GitHub, paste its contents into an issue, or send it to another person. Import it only into DBase Downloader on a device you control.

1. Install the browser extension

On your computer, install Get cookies.txt LOCALLY from the official store for your browser:

• Chrome Web Store
• Firefox Add-ons

The extension must export in Netscape cookies.txt format. JSON exports are not accepted by the app.

2. Create a fresh signed-in session

1. Open a new private/incognito browser window.
2. Sign in to the website you want to use, such as YouTube.
3. Open the exact media page and confirm that it plays in that window.
4. Stay on that website while exporting the cookies.

A private window keeps this export session separate from ordinary browsing, which helps prevent the website from rotating or invalidating the exported cookies during later browser use.

3. Export cookies.txt

1. Select the Get cookies.txt LOCALLY extension in the browser toolbar.
2. Choose the option that exports cookies for the current site.
3. Select Netscape format if the extension offers more than one format.
4. Save the exported file as cookies.txt.
5. Close the private/incognito window without signing out. Signing out invalidates the exported session.

Keep this file private. Delete old copies when they are no longer needed.

4. Import the file into DBase Downloader

1. If DBase Downloader is on another device, transfer cookies.txt privately to that device.
2. Open DBase Downloader > Settings.
3. Find Account cookies and choose Import cookies.txt.
4. Select the exported file.
5. Confirm that Settings reports the cookies as configured, then retry the download.

Cookies are imported separately on every device. Importing them on Windows does not configure the Android app, and importing them on Android does not configure Windows.

DBase Downloader passes cookies only to yt-dlp requests. It never uploads or logs them. They are encrypted with Android Keystore on Android and stored in the current user's application-data directory on desktop. You can delete them from Settings at any time.

If the download still fails

• If the diagnostic report says Cookies configured: false, import the file on the device where the error occurred.
• If it says Cookies configured: true but you still receive HTTP 403, repeat the export steps to create a fresh file. Signing out, changing the account password, or a website security check can invalidate old cookies.
• In Settings, check for a yt-dlp engine update and retry.
• Confirm once more that the media plays in the same signed-in browser session.
• Some media remains unavailable because of DRM, subscription, account, or regional restrictions.

If the problem continues, copy the privacy-safe diagnostic report from the app and paste only that report into the relevant GitHub issue. The report omits private URLs, cookies, tokens, headers, and file paths. Do not attach or paste cookies.txt.