this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2025
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How can I download an entire playlist or channel from YouTube without signing in to get cookies for yt-dlp? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 month ago by barnaclebill@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/privacy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
11 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I am looking to download entire playlists and/or channels from YouTube. I know I can do this with yt-dlp, but for the content I'm attempting to download, it requires me to pass some cookie settings to yt-dlp, which I believe involves first signing into YouTube, which I don't want to do.

My next thought was to see if I can accomplish the same task through Invidious. I can download individual videos through Invidious, but I don't see a way to download an entire playlist.

Is there any way of downloading an entire playlist (or channel) without signing in, through Invidious or some other tool?

Or if I'm misunderstanding the mechanic of passing a cookie to yt-dlp (like if there's a way of doing this without signing in), please let me know. Thank you!

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[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

for the content I’m attempting to download, it requires me to pass some cookie settings to yt-dlp, which I believe involves first signing into YouTube, which I don’t want to do.

What is the error that you're getting? You may not have the the javascript runtime that yt-dlp requires so you're not passing javascript challenges that youtube requires before you get access to the video stream. More info here: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/EJS

Even with the solver, you won't be able to download any age protected videos without signing in.

[–] barnaclebill@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children) 
ERROR: [youtube] DxFMJMIjtC4: Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot. Use --cookies-from-browser or --cookies for the authentication. See  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp  for how to manually pass cookies. Also see  https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/Extractors#exporting-youtube-cookies  for tips on effectively exporting YouTube cookies

I don't believe the content I'm trying to download is age restricted, but I have not set up the JS challenge solver, so I'll look into that. Thanks!

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 4 points 1 month ago

You need to change your IP address.

[–] ttyybb@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I use GrayJay its primary on mobile, not sure how far into development the desktop app is, but you can give it a try. It downloads videos and playlists just fine for me

[–] aminokapre@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

is it safe to use on android? edit: how to download videos from grayjay app?

[–] ttyybb@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Setup is easiest if you download if from their github I've been using it for a while, fair warning it can be a bit slow at times. To download a YouTube video, just click on the VOD then click download. For a playlist, click on the copy icon in the top right for it to "convert" it (not really sure what that entails) then the download button.

[–] aminokapre@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

thank you i did install it from their website but i found when i installed the youtube plugin in home it shows some politican videos like trump .... and these trend politicians topics is there anyway to change that ?

[–] ttyybb@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Pretty sure that's on YouTube's end. You can disable the homepage with "manage tabs" in settings.

[–] aminokapre@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

is there anyway to change that in the plugin like changing the language or the location and that will cause the change of videos that appear in home or something like this, you know when you use vpn in a location you'll see videos in that location with the language ...

[–] ttyybb@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago

Not that I know of. I never really use the home page, even before using grayjay, so I haven't looked into it before.

[–] Sophocles 3 points 1 month ago

Seal on FDroid has a download playlist option. It works on everything I've thrown at it