How To Install youtube-dl on Ubuntu 22.04

One-liner install command

For those in a hurry, here's a one-line installation command:

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

But if you are interested in the detailed steps with descriptions, the following information is for you.

What is youtube-dl and what are the ways to install it?

Before beginning this tutorial, you will need access to a server or computer running Ubuntu 22.04. This guide was written specifically with a server running Ubuntu 22.04 in mind, although it should also work on older, supported versions of the operating system.

Also, make sure you are running a regular, non-root user with sudo privileges configured on your server. When you have an account available, log in as your non-root user to begin.

There are several ways to install youtube-dl on Ubuntu 22.04. You can use (links are clickable):

In the following sections, we will describe each method in detail. You can choose one of them or refer to the recommended one.

Install youtube-dl using apt-get

First, update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt-get database, You can install youtube-dl using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install youtube-dl

Install youtube-dl using apt

Because youtube-dl is available in Ubuntu 22.04’s default repositories, it is possible to install it from these repositories using the apt packaging system.

To begin, update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, You can install youtube-dl using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install youtube-dl

Install youtube-dl using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu 22.04. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating aptitude database, You can install youtube-dl by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install youtube-dl

How to upgrade (update) a single package youtube-dl using apt-get?

First, you will need to update packages index. Run update command as usual:

sudo apt-get update

Next, to upgrade only the youtube-dl, e.g. single package, you should use the following format with the apt-get command/apt command:

sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install youtube-dl

Note that this command will not install any new packages! If you wish to install the package if it doesn't exist you may leave out --only-upgrade part.

sudo apt-get install youtube-dl

How To Uninstall youtube-dl from Ubuntu 22.04

To uninstall only the youtube-dl package you can execute the following command:

sudo apt-get remove youtube-dl

Uninstall youtube-dl and all its dependencies

To uninstall youtube-dl and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 22.04, you can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove youtube-dl

Remove youtube-dl with all configurations and data

To remove youtube-dl configuration and data from your system you can run the following purge command:

sudo apt-get -y purge youtube-dl

Remove youtube-dl completely (configurations, data and all of its dependencies)

And lastly, you can run the next command to remove absolutely everything related to youtube-dl package, e.g.: configurations, data and all of its dependencies. Just use this command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge youtube-dl

Extra info and code examples

• Download a video or playlist:
  youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
• Download the audio from a video and convert it to an MP3:
  youtube-dl -x --audio-format mp3 url
• Download video(s) as MP4 files with custom filenames:
  youtube-dl --format mp4 -o "%(title)s by %(uploader)s on %(upload_date)s in %(playlist)s.%(ext)s" url
• Download a video and save its description, metadata, annotations, subtitles, and thumbnail:
  youtube-dl --write-description --write-info-json --write-annotations --write-sub --write-thumbnail url
• From a playlist, download all "Let's Play" videos that aren't marked "NSFW" or age-restricted for 7 year-olds:
  youtube-dl --match-title "let's play" --age-limit 7 --reject-title "nsfw" playlist_url

Conclusion

You now have a full guide on how to install youtube-dl using apt, apt-get and aptitude tools. Also, we showed how to update as a single package and different ways to uninstall the youtube-dl from Ubuntu 22.04.

See also: