YT Channel Downloader is an intuitive desktop application built to simplify the process of downloading YouTube media content. Leveraging the robustness of yt-dlp and enriched with a modern PyQt 6 GUI, this tool offers a seamless experience to download your favorite content.
- Added a download speed indicator column.
- Added a column showing the duration of videos or audios.
- Added a check for updates.
- Removed
pytube; playlists are now retrieved much faster viayt_dlp. - Published on PyPI for easy installation with
pip. - First release to include binaries for macOS and Linux (Debian-compatible only for now).
- Reorganized the source into a
src/layout for cleaner imports and packaging. - Bug fixes and stability improvements.
- More sites! You can now fetch single tracks or videos from other
yt-dlp-supported platforms — including Vimeo (requires login), Twitch, SoundCloud, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, Udemy*, and Reddit — directly from the main URL field. (Bulk channel / playlist fetches remain YouTube-only. *Udemy still requires the appropriate credentials/cookies for premium content.) - YouTube Login and Logout: Configure the browser profile whose cookies yt-dlp reuses for private, premium, or age-restricted downloads - no heavy-weight embedded browser anymore. Use
File -> YouTube loginto pick the browser and profile, and clear the configuration from the same menu when you no longer need it. - Download cancellation: Downloads in progress can now be cancelled with the "Cancel downloads" button.
- Only the Windows installer changed: updated
yt-dlpto the latest version to fix a problem with unretrievable URLs.
- Fixed URL fetching bug: short YouTube URLs are now fetched.
- Cleanup: a minor cleanup in some source files.
- Improved stability: Bug fixes and improved exception handling.
- Smoother UI: The interface also got a small facelift with more consistent layouts and widget styles.
(Contributed by djfm)
- FFmpeg installation verification: Implemented a check for FFmpeg’s presence on the system, as it is required for media downloads. While the Windows installer already handled this by installing FFmpeg if missing, the source code version lacked this verification. (Contributed by arvinnick).
- Thumbnail downloads: Added checkbox in Settings to enable thumbnail downloads for each video link. (Contributed by dsasmblr).
- Fetch progress dialog: Added an indefinite progress bar dialog window that displays the elapsed time in seconds and has a Cancel button.
- Some refactoring: Added numerous Python docstrings, introduced a new class, and reformatted the code for improved cleanliness and readability.
- Shorts support: Downloading YouTube shorts now works.
- Improved exception handling: Improved handling of network and download errors, timeouts.
- Bug Fixes: Due to some updates on YouTube, certain functionality didn't work. The "Any" format selection didn't work. These have been fixed.
- Improved exception handling: Some parts of the code needed exception handling.
- Improved interface: Better and bigger fonts and buttons.
- Added the "Donate" item to the Help menu: In the hope that some will support the author, which motivates faster improvement of the app.
- YouTube Login and Logout: Configure the browser profile whose cookies yt-dlp should reuse for private or age-restricted downloads. Use
File -> YouTube loginto select the browser/profile, and choose “Clear YouTube login” to forget the configuration. - Minor Improvements and Bug Fixes.
- Improved default audio track downloading: the program will now always attempt to download the best available quality audio track. Previously, the associated audio track was not always downloaded, for 4k quality videos in particular.
- Fixed the handling of video resolutions and formats specified in Settings: the program will correctly find the closest available video resolution and format based on user settings, for horizontal and vertical videos.
- Limiting of simultaneous download threads: this improves the responsiveness of the application and optimizes its handling of large download lists.
- Improved file name sanitation method: this prevents some completed downloads not being marked as such.
- Download playlists, in addition to channels or single videos
- Select All check box: allows to select all non-downloaded videos in a list at once
- Bug fixes: improved URL validation, partial download completion
- Interface improvements
- Other improvements: code cleanup, updated README
Download the latest binary releases here.
- Fetch Video Listings: Just input a YouTube video, playlist or channel URL and get a list of the videos.
- Selective Download: Choose exactly which videos you want to download, or select all at once.
- Quality Control: Specify video/audio quality or opt to download only the associated audio track.
- Download Marking: Keeps track of downloaded files for easier management.
- Playlist Downloads: Download all or some videos from a playlist URL.
- Channel Downloads: Download all or some videos from a channel URL.
- Single Video or Audio Downloads: Paste any supported link (YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, SoundCloud, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, Udemy*, Reddit, and more via yt-dlp) and download it.
- Thumbnail Downloads: Download thumbnails for each of your videos.
- Private and Age-Restricted Videos: Download media on behalf of your Youtube account.
*Some providers (for example, Udemy or other premium services) still require valid account cookies/credentials. Configure them via File -> YouTube login (cookies-from-browser) before attempting restricted downloads.
- Search field to search within a retrieved list of videos
- Download history tracking
- Pre-download summary
- Interface improvements
- Suggest a feature!
The easiest way to get the desktop app is straight from PyPI. Make sure FFmpeg is installed (see below), then run:
pip install yt-channel-downloaderIf you don't have pip, you can use python -m pip instead.
To update the app to the latest version from PyPI:
pip install --upgrade yt-channel-downloader
yt-channel-downloaderffmpeg is needed for the app to work correctly, so make sure you have it on your system. Check in your terminal emulator if ffmpeg is installed:
ffmpeg -version
You can download it from FFmpeg's official site or install it from a repository according to your OS distribution.
On MacOS with Homebew:
brew install ffmpeg
On Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg
On Fedora:
sudo dnf install ffmpeg
On Arch Linux:
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg
yt-dlp can use a JavaScript runtime to parse YouTube player code; having Node.js installed reduces missing formats and silences runtime warnings. Install Node.js with your package manager:
- Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install nodejs npm - Fedora:
sudo dnf install nodejs npm - Arch Linux:
sudo pacman -S nodejs npm - macOS (Homebrew):
brew install node
git clone https://github.com/hyperfield/yt-channel-downloader.git
cd yt-channel-downloader
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
yt-channel-downloader
To deactivate the virtual environment after usage, type
deactivate
ffmpeg is needed for the app to work correctly, so make sure you have it on your system. Open the command line (CMD) and type
ffmpeg -version
to check if it's on your system.
-
Download
ffmpeg:- Visit the official FFmpeg download page.
- Alternatively, you can use this direct link: Download FFmpeg for Windows.
-
Extract the files:
- Extract the downloaded archive to a directory, such as
C:\ffmpeg.
- Extract the downloaded archive to a directory, such as
-
Add
ffmpegto your system PATH:- Open the Start menu and search for "Environment Variables".
- Select "Edit the system environment variables".
- In the "System Properties" window, click on the "Environment Variables" button.
- Under "System variables", find the
Pathvariable and select it. Then click "Edit". - Click "New" and add
C:\ffmpeg\binto the list. Click "OK" to close all the windows.
-
Verify the installation:
-
Open Command Prompt (
CMD). -
Run the following command:
ffmpeg -version
-
You should see the version information for
ffmpegif it is correctly installed.
-
yt-dlp can use a JavaScript runtime to parse YouTube player code; having Node.js installed reduces missing formats and silences runtime warnings.
- Download and install the LTS version from nodejs.org
- Or with Chocolatey:
choco install nodejs-lts - Or with Scoop:
scoop install nodejs-lts
Install or upgrade the app with pip (PowerShell or Command Prompt):
python -m pip install --upgrade yt-channel-downloader
yt-channel-downloader-
Clone the repo and open PowerShell in the project root.
-
Create and activate a virtual environment:
python -m venv .venv .venv\Scripts\activate -
Install the project in editable mode:
pip install -e . -
Launch the app:
yt-channel-downloader
-
Deactivate the environment when finished with
deactivate.
- Open the application and input a YouTube channel URL.
- Go to "File" -> "Settings" and set your download preferences.
- Press the Get list button to list available videos.
- Select the videos you wish to download.
- Hit the Download button.
Feel free to open issues and pull requests. I appreciate your feedback and contributions.
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.
- hyperfield - Initial work and Documentation - hyperfield
See also the list of contributors who participated in this project.
If you like this application and want to support future development, I'll appreciate your donation via Ko-Fi or crypto. :)
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