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3. Downloader Tab

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ShrineFox edited this page Sep 25, 2026 · 1 revision

The Downloader tab is the default tab you first see when the program is launched. It has the following features.

"Download by URL" tab

This tab allows you to manually specify a URL for a video or playlist and initiate the download.

"Video or playlist URL" textbox

Enter a playlist or video URL.
Video URL example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRD_fGFhdA
Playlist URL example: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU6By7bu-RSs6FRsdyYotRzhFm2l7CEYv

"Start Download" button

Click this to begin downloading the video or playlist specified in the URL textbox.
It should appear in the location specified in Settings > Output Directory. The folder is created if it doesn't already exist.

"Download by Channel" tab

Similar to the previous tab, this tab uses a list of channels specified in ./settings.json to download videos from (by name instead of URL).
You can select a specific video by finding it in the dropdown, or enter part of the video title in the "video search" textbox and press Enter to attempt to select the video in the list, if found.

"Download Selected Video" button

You can use the "Download Selected Video" button to download the video currently selected in the "Selected Video" dropdown.

"Download All Videos" buton

You can use the "Download All Videos" button to attempt to download every video for the selected channel, beginning with the currently selected video.

  • When a video is successfully downloaded, the program attempts to keep track of this by adding a checkmark to the .tsv file associated with the channel that stores the list of video titles, urls, and views.
  • When the video list is manually updated via the Updater tab, this information may be lost. You can use the Tools > Check Missing Videos option to compare the .tsv to a directory containing downloaded videos, thus marking videos that exist locally as downloaded.
  • The program will skip downloading videos that have already been marked as "downloaded" for the selected channel.

Notes

  • Videos are listed in order of date and time uploaded.
  • If videos are missing, try using the Updater tab to generate a new list of videos for the selected channel (this can take awhile).

"Timestamp Range" textboxes

You can specify the "start" and "end" timestamps of where you want a downloaded video to begin and end, in case you only need a specific clip from the downloaded video. Use the hh:mm:ss format.

  • This will only apply if the "Use Range" checkbox is checked.
  • It is not recommended to check the "Use Range" checkbox when downloading multiple videos from a playlist.

"Launch Cmd" checkbox

Check this box to show the output of YT-DLP as a separate window, instead of in the built-in log textbox at the bottom of the "Downloader" tab.
This may be useful if logged info isn't showing up properly, or at all. Additionally, this allows you to use the "Cmd Options > Keep Cmd Open" option if needed for troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting

If nothing happens when downloading a video, try to troubleshoot with the following steps.

  • In the Updater tab, click the "Download Latest YT-DLP" button.
  • If that doesn't help, also try the "Install Deno" button and the "Install ffmpeg" button.
  • Click "Cmd Options > Keep Cmd Open" at the top of the window to review possible error messages preventing YT-DLP from succeeding.

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