Video Downloader

Download videos from YouTube, 𝕏, Twitch, Instagram, Bilibili and more using yt-dlp CLI

Features

• Download from anywhere yt-dlp supports — paste a URL, pick a format, and download. Audio-only (MP3) is included.
• Auto-fill the URL — optionally load the link from your clipboard, selected text, or the active browser tab (see preferences).
• Use your browser's cookies — work around auth-protected media, age restrictions, and "Bad guest token" rate-limit errors on X/Twitter by passing your logged-in browser's cookies (see the Use Cookies from Browser preference).
• Playlists, opt-in — for a playlist URL, a Download entire playlist checkbox appears; leave it unchecked to grab just the linked video.
• Recover from hiccups — transient failures show a Try Again action (⌘R) and a Copy Logs action, plus a one-key jump to update yt-dlp and ffmpeg.
• Extract transcripts — pull a video's subtitles as Markdown, with language selection.
• AI tools — @video-downloader can download a video or extract a transcript from a chat command.

Installation

To use this extension, you must have yt-dlp and ffmpeg installed on your machine.

The easiest way to install this is using Homebrew. After you have Homebrew installed, run the following command in your terminal:

brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg

Depending on your macOS version, the package might be located in a different path than the one set by the extension. To check where ffmpeg was installed, run:

which ffmpeg

Then, update the path in the extension preferences to match the output of the above command.

You'll also need ffprobe, which is usually installed with ffmpeg. Just run which ffprobe and update the path accordingly.

Windows Beta

Install yt-dlp

Use the built-in Windows package manager, winget, or alternatives like Scoop or Chocolatey. yt-dlp includes ffmpeg and ffprobe binaries.

winget install --id=yt-dlp.yt-dlp -e

Update Extension Preferences (Optional)

Extension will detect the paths automatically. But you can Copy the paths from the below commands and set them in the extension's preferences.

After installation, open a new terminal and run the following commands to find the paths for yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and ffprobe:

(Get-Command yt-dlp).Source
(Get-Command ffmpeg).Source
(Get-Command ffprobe).Source

Supported Sites

See https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/supportedsites.md.

FAQs

Is there a YouTube downloader that actually works?

Yes, Raycast's Video Downloader is consistently updated to ensure reliable functionality.

How do I download a YouTube video with a manipulated URL?

Our downloader handles various URL formats. Just paste the link, and we'll take care of the rest.

Why does an X/Twitter link fail with "Bad guest token"?

X rate-limits anonymous access, which can intermittently fail. Set the Use Cookies from Browser preference to the browser you're signed in to X with, and the download will use your logged-in session. The Try Again action also clears most transient failures, and Update Libraries keeps yt-dlp current.

Can I download a whole playlist?

Yes. When you paste a playlist URL, a Download entire playlist checkbox appears below the format. Leave it unchecked to download only the linked video; check it to download the full playlist.