Remove video id from default output name

[J316]

When downloading videos the default output name should be TITLE.EXT, without all that alphanumeric string of the video id.

[naglis]

You can achieve that by using the -o, --output option (more info), for example:

youtube-dl -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' <URL>

To use the same template all the time and save some typing, put it in your configuration file.

As for becoming the default template for youtube-dl - you did not specify a reason, why it should become the default, where as the current default template serves at least two purposes:

• identify a video if there are two or more videos with the same title;
• let's you find (to some extent) the video later, should you want to do that.

[phihag]

Note that not all extractors generate good titles (in particular, facebook videos often come without any or any useful titles at all). Therefore, I am hesitant to make the proposed change. I'll leave this issue open for a week to collect opinions from other users and developers. Additionally, I personally enjoy being able to quickly find where a video I downloaded (and e.g. removed by accident) is from.

[J316]

I know I can do that, but since the video ID is something 99% of users doesn't need it should be disabled by default and the default output should be TITLE.EXT

[phihag]

Can you provide a statistic for the 99% number? So far, we have three people uttering their preferences in this issue report, and 1/3 = 33% does not want the id ;)

[J316]

Just tried to put my two cents in, the tool is good. Do whatever you like.

[p0wnage]

I too would like to see youtube-dl remove the ID from the name after download as well. This has been the only annoyance if you can even call it that about youtube-dl. I like to have a clean file name when I browse directory it makes finding the correct video that much easier. I know this can be achieved with the command youtube-dl -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' <URL> but thats hard to remember in a pinch unless you add it to your .bashrc. Anyways thank's for all the hard work and giving us such a great tool it's much appreciated.