yt-dlp not downloading youtube but others are ok

[sofasurfer]

Problem solved. I downloaded and installed yt-dlp using the wget method described on this website... https://ostechnix.com/yt-dlp-tutorial/
Completely easy and successful. Works like a... a... a good thing.

 

[rado84]

Problem solved. I downloaded and installed yt-dlp using the wget method described on this website... https://ostechnix.com/yt-dlp-tutorial/
Completely easy and successful. Works like a... a... a good thing.

Unforuntately even that doesn't work anymore. YT is now signing all content with some kind of security certificate + it requires a login through the tool (which is not possible). Even on adult sites (18+) yt-dlp stopped working. For the latter, the only thing that actually works is the binary file yt-dlp_linux (downloaded from yt-dlp's github). But either way, YT is a bust now. And it doesn't work for ALL adult sites either, only for some.
Unless someone finds a way to read, identify and extract content from the browser's cache, like we used to do many years ago with Internet Explorer, YT download is officially dead.

 

[sofasurfer]

Unforuntately even that doesn't work anymore. YT is now signing all content with some kind of security certificate + it requires a login through the tool (which is not possible). Even on adult sites (18+) yt-dlp stopped working. For the latter, the only thing that actually works is the binary file yt-dlp_linux (downloaded from yt-dlp's github). But either way, YT is a bust now. And it doesn't work for ALL adult sites either, only for some.
Unless someone finds a way to read, identify and extract content from the browser's cache, like we used to do many years ago with Internet Explorer, YT download is officially dead.

I agree. It died again on my end too. I have given up on it.
I am having good luck with "youtube downloader" from the apps center. Its the one with a big "V" on a black background. It too quit working a couple of times but returned to action after a couple of days. Its been pretty reliable.

 

[Condobloke]

I can confirm the V downloader (Youtubedl-gui) shown immediately above does work. (October 29, 2025)
I downloaded it via the Linux Mint Software Manager
Also available at : https://github.com/JaGoLi/ytdl-gui

 

[KGIII]

I can confirm the V downloader (Youtubedl-gui) shown immediately above does work. (October 29, 2025)

I'd quantify that by adding, 'in my region'.

Google has been pretty selective about these changes. They don't roll them out everywhere at the same time. Different markets will see changes at different times. A good example of this is their fight against ad blockers. Some regions had no issues using an ad blocker while other areas were given the block message and were unable to access the videos.

What I'm suggesting is that it may have not rolled out in your market at this time.

Google isn't alone in this. Other companies do the same thing, both online and in the physical world.

 

[rado84]

There's another way to block ads - even without an adblocker. But first I'll have to find the right brand and model router + a few software tools.