README.md
September 18, 2026 ยท View on GitHub
Modern YouTube downloader with a clean PySide6 interface.
Download videos in any quality, extract audio, fetch subtitles, and more.
๐ README Languages
English: EN | Arabic: AR | German: DE | Spanish: ES | French: FR | Hindi: HI | Indonesian: ID | Italian: IT | Japanese: JA | Korean: KO | Polish: PL | Portuguese: PT | Russian: RU | Turkish: TR | Chinese: ZH | Persian: FA
Installation โข Features โข Usage โข Screenshots โข Troubleshooting โข Telegram โข Sponsor โข Contributing
โ Why YTSage?
YTSage is designed for users who want a simple yet powerful YouTube downloader. Unlike other tools, it offers:
- A modern and clean PySide6 interface
- One-click downloads for video, audio, and subtitles
- Advanced features like SponsorBlock, subtitle merging, and playlist selection
- Optional Generic Mode for sites supported by yt-dlp beyond YouTube
- Cross-platform support and easy installation
โจ Features
| Core Features | Advanced Features | Extra Features |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ฅ Format Table | ๐ซ SponsorBlock Integration | ๐๏ธ FPS/HDR Display |
| ๐ต Audio Extraction | ๐ Subtitle Selection & Merging | ๐ Auto Update yt-dlp |
| โจ Simple UI | ๐พ Save Description & Thumbnail | ๐ ๏ธ FFmpeg/yt-dlp/Deno Detection |
| ๐ Playlist Support & Selector | ๐ Speed Limiter | โ๏ธ Custom Commands |
| ๐ Chapter Integration | โ๏ธ Video Section Trimming | ๐ช Login with Cookies |
| ๐ Download History | ๐ Version Channel Selection | ๐ Proxy Support |
| ๐๏ธ Audio Format Conversion | ๐ฌ Video Format Settings | ๐ Built-in Updater Tab |
| ๐ Generic Mode | ๐ Audio Normalization (EBU R128) | ๐ Localized in 16 Languages |
| ๐พ Playlist Export | โ๏ธ Default Quality & Subtitles |
๐ Installation
๐ฆ Download the App (Easiest Method)
If you just want to use YTSage and don't know what Python is, start here
Simply download the pre-built installer for your operating system:
๐ช Windows
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard Installer (Recommended) - Just double-click to install. | |
| With FFmpeg Included (Use this if you don't already have FFmpeg). | |
| Portable version, no installation needed. | |
| Portable with FFmpeg, zipped. |
๐ ๏ธ Installation Steps
- EXE Installer (
.exe): Double-click the file and follow the setup wizard. - Portable Version (
.zip): Extract the archive to your desired location and launchytsage.exe. - FFmpeg Included: Choose versions with FFmpeg included if you don't have FFmpeg installed on your system.
๐ macOS
โ ๏ธ Note: These installers are natively built for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4). If you are using an older Intel Mac, please use the Python installation method below.
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| Disk Image Installer (Recommended) - Open and drag to Applications. | |
| Zipped Application for Apple Silicon. |
๐ ๏ธ Installation Steps
- DMG Installer (
.dmg): Double-click to mount, then dragYTSage.appto your Applications folder. - Application Archive (
.zip): Extract the zip and moveYTSage.appto your Applications folder.
Note: If you encounter an "Application is damaged" error, see the troubleshooting section below.
๐ง Linux
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| Portable AppImage (Recommended) | |
| Debian Package | |
| RPM Package | |
| Flatpak Bundle |
๐ ๏ธ Installation Steps
- AppImage (
.AppImage):chmod +x YTSage-*.AppImage ./YTSage-*.AppImage - DEB (
.deb):sudo dpkg -i ytsage_*.deb sudo apt-get install -f # Fix missing dependencies if needed - RPM (
.rpm):sudo rpm -i ytsage-*.rpm - Flatpak: Follow instructions on Flathub or run:
flatpak install flathub io.github.oop7.ytsage
๐ Install via Python / PyPI
You can also install YTSage via Python (Requires Python 3.11+)
๐ก Awesome Feature: If you install via pip on Windows, YTSage will automatically detect and help set up FFmpeg for you (macOS and Linux users can follow our easy FFmpeg Installation Guide)
pip install ytsage
๐ Update existing installation
pip install --upgrade ytsage
Then launch the application:
ytsage
You can also open YTSage with a video or playlist URL prefilled and analyzed immediately:
ytsage "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
๐ป Manual Source Installation (Developer)
Run YTSage directly from the source code.
View manual installation steps
1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/oop7/YTSage.git
cd YTSage
2. Install dependencies
โก Using uv
uv pip install .
๐ฆ Or using standard pip
pip install .
3. Run the application
python -m ytsage.main
๐ธ Screenshots
YTSage Demo
![]() |
![]() |
| Download Settings | Playlist Download |
![]() |
![]() |
| Audio Format | Custom Options |
๐ Usage
๐ฏ Basic Usage
- Launch YTSage
- Paste YouTube URL (or use "Paste URL" button)
- Click "Analyze"
- Select Format:
Videofor video downloadsAudiofor audio extraction
๐ก You can now select and merge multiple audio tracks from the Audio section into a single video. Whether you want to combine a video with multiple language tracks, or merge several audio streams together.
-
Choose Options:
- Enable Subtitles and select language
- Enable Subtitle Merging
- Save Thumbnail
- Remove Sponsored Segments
- Save Description
- Embed Chapters (Chapters, Metadata, Thumbnail)
-
Click "Download"
๐ก Default download directory is the user's "Downloads" folder.
๐ Playlist Download
- Paste Playlist URL
- Click "Analyze"
- Select videos from the playlist selector (optional, defaults to all)
- Choose desired format/quality
- Click "Download"
๐ก You can export playlist entries as (
.txt,.csv,.m3u, or.json) by clicking on "Save Playlist As" button.
๐ Generic Mode for Non-YouTube Sites
Use Generic Mode when you want YTSage to accept URLs from sites supported by yt-dlp, such as Dailymotion, CBC Gem, TikTok, and others.
How to use it:
- Open
Download Settings. - Toggle on
Generic Mode. - Paste a supported video or playlist URL that is not from YouTube.
- Click
Analyze. - Choose a format and download as usual.
Notes:
- Generic mode only changes the URL validation inside YTSage. The target site must still be supported by your installed version of yt-dlp.
- Some sites require cookies, login sessions, proxy, or extra yt-dlp arguments depending on the extractor.
- If a site fails, update yt-dlp from the built-in updater tab first before reporting an issue.
๐งฐ Media & Download Options
- Subtitle Options: Filter languages and embed subtitles into the video file.
- Subtitle Merging: Merge subtitles into the video file for hardcoded/burned-in subtitles.
- Save Description: Save the video description as a text file.
- Save Thumbnail: Save the video thumbnail as an image file.
- Embed: This button allows you to embed chapters, metadata, and thumbnail into the downloaded video file.
- Remove Sponsored Segments: Remove sponsored segments from the video using SponsorBlock.
- Trim Video: Download only specific parts of a video by specifying time ranges in
HH:MM:SSformat.
โ๏ธ Output & File Settings
- Speed Limiter: Limit download speed, e.g.,
500Kfor 500 KB/s. Available in Download Settings โ General โ Speed Limit. - Save Download Path: Saves default download directory across sessions. Available in Download Settings โ General โ Download Path.
- Concurrent Connections: Accelerate downloads using multiple connections/fragments (1 to 20 fragments). Available in Download Settings โ General โ Concurrent Connections.
- Download History Toggle: Enable or disable saving download history. Available in Download Settings โ General โ Download History.
- Notification Sounds: Enable or disable completion audio notification. Available in Download Settings โ General โ Notification Sound.
- Force Output Format: Force video container format (
mp4,webm,mkv). Available in Download Settings โ Format โ Output Format Settings. - Audio Format Conversion: Convert audio downloads to preferred formats (
AAC,MP3,FLAC,WAV,Opus,M4A,Vorbis, orBest). Available in Download Settings โ Format โ Audio Format Settings. - Audio Normalization: Normalize volume using EBU R128 standard for audio downloads. Available in Download Settings โ Format โ Audio Format Settings.
- Default Video Resolution & Subtitles: Auto-select default height (e.g.
1080,720) and preferred subtitle languages (en,es, etc.) plus subtitle container format (srt,vtt,ass,lrc). Available in Download Settings โ Format โ Default Selection Settings. - Output Filename Format: Customize output naming template using yt-dlp variables (e.g.
%(title)s_%(resolution)s_[%(id)s].%(ext)s). Reset button included. Available in Download Settings โ File โ Filename Format. - Reset All Settings: Restore every YTSage setting to its default value. Available in Download Settings โ Reset All Settings.
๐ Access & Network
- Login with Cookies: Access private or age-restricted content. Access via Custom Options โ Cookies:
- Browser Cookie Extraction (Recommended)
- Direct extraction from installed browsers: Firefox (preferred), Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, etc.
- Includes optional profile selection.
- Cookie File: Load a Netscape format
cookies.txtfile.
- Direct extraction from installed browsers: Firefox (preferred), Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, etc.
- Proxy & Geo-Verification Proxy Support: Configure main proxy server and optional geo-verification proxy (SOCKS4/5 or HTTP/HTTPS) to bypass location restrictions. Access via Custom Options โ Proxy.
- Generic Mode: Allow YTSage to process and download from non-YouTube URLs supported by yt-dlp. Toggle in Download Settings โ General โ Generic Mode.
๐ ๏ธ Tools & Maintenance
- Custom Commands: Execute custom
yt-dlparguments directly with live output logging and execution console. Access via Custom Options โ Custom Command. - Updater Tab: Comprehensive tool management inside Custom Options โ Updater:
- App Updates: Toggle automatic application update checks and enable/disable Beta Releases channel checks.
- yt-dlp Updates & Channel Selection: Check for yt-dlp updates and switch release channels between Stable and Nightly.
- FFmpeg Version Checker: Check local FFmpeg status/version against the latest release with step-by-step setup guides.
- Deno Updater: Check, install, and upgrade the Deno JavaScript runtime required for yt-dlp ETP plugins.
- FFmpeg/yt-dlp/Deno Detection: Automatic detection and status verification of system dependencies visible from the About dialog.
- Download History: Browse, search, filter, and open past download history with thumbnails, original URLs, and local files. Access via the History button on the main toolbar.
๐ Localization
YTSage supports 16 languages for global accessibility. Select your preferred language in Custom Options โ Language.
Supported Languages
| Language | Code | Language | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| ๐บ๐ธ English | en | ๐ช๐ธ Spanish | es |
| ๐ธ๐ฆ Arabic | ar | ๐ซ๐ท French | fr |
| ๐ฉ๐ช German | de | ๐ฎ๐ณ Hindi | hi |
| ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian | id | ๐ฎ๐น Italian | it |
| ๐ฏ๐ต Japanese | ja | ๐ฐ๐ท Korean | ko |
| ๐ต๐ฑ Polish | pl | ๐ง๐ท Portuguese | pt |
| ๐ท๐บ Russian | ru | ๐น๐ท Turkish | tr |
| ๐จ๐ณ Chinese | zh | ๐ฎ๐ท Persian | fa |
README Translations
| Language | File | Language | File |
|---|---|---|---|
| ๐บ๐ธ English | README.md | ๐ช๐ธ Spanish | readme-translations/README.es.md |
| ๐ธ๐ฆ Arabic | readme-translations/README.ar.md | ๐ซ๐ท French | readme-translations/README.fr.md |
| ๐ฉ๐ช German | readme-translations/README.de.md | ๐ฎ๐ณ Hindi | readme-translations/README.hi.md |
| ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesian | readme-translations/README.id.md | ๐ฎ๐น Italian | readme-translations/README.it.md |
| ๐ฏ๐ต Japanese | readme-translations/README.ja.md | ๐ฐ๐ท Korean | readme-translations/README.ko.md |
| ๐ต๐ฑ Polish | readme-translations/README.pl.md | ๐ง๐ท Portuguese | readme-translations/README.pt.md |
| ๐ท๐บ Russian | readme-translations/README.ru.md | ๐น๐ท Turkish | readme-translations/README.tr.md |
| ๐จ๐ณ Chinese | readme-translations/README.zh.md | ๐ฎ๐ท Persian | readme-translations/README.fa.md |
๐ก Want to contribute a translation? Check out the Contributing section to help us add more languages!
๐ ๏ธ Troubleshooting
Click to view common issues and solutions
- Format table not appearing: Update yt-dlp to the latest version and switch to nightly yt-dlp.
- Download failed: Check your internet connection and ensure the video is available.
- Specific Download Errors:
- Private Videos: Use cookie authentication to access private content.
- Age-Restricted Content: Log in to your YouTube account to view age-restricted videos.
- Geo-Blocked Videos: Consider using a VPN to bypass regional restrictions.
- Deleted Videos: Video is no longer available on YouTube.
- Live Streams: Live streams cannot be downloaded; wait for the broadcast to end.
- Network Errors: Check your internet connection and try again.
- Invalid URLs: Ensure the URL is correct and from a supported platform.
- Premium Content: Requires a YouTube Premium subscription.
- Copyright Blocks: Content is blocked due to copyright restrictions.
- Video and audio files remain separate after download: This happens when FFmpeg is missing or not detected. YTSage requires FFmpeg to merge high-quality video and audio streams.
- Solution: Ensure FFmpeg is installed and accessible in your system's PATH. For Windows users, the easiest option is to download the
YTSage-v<version>-ffmpeg.exefile, which comes bundled with FFmpeg.
- Solution: Ensure FFmpeg is installed and accessible in your system's PATH. For Windows users, the easiest option is to download the
๐ก๏ธ Windows Defender / Antivirus Warning
Some antivirus software may flag .exe files as false positives. This is a known limitation of packaged applications.
Why this happens:
- Antivirus heuristics can mistakenly identify packaged executables as suspicious.
Safe Alternatives:
- โ
Use pip install:
pip install ytsage(Recommended) - โ Build from Source: by following this guide
- โ Whitelist the app in your antivirus software.
๐ macOS: "Application is damaged and cannot be opened"
If you see this error on macOS Sonoma or newer, you need to remove the quarantine attribute.
- Open Terminal (you can find this using Spotlight).
- Type the following command but do not press Enter yet. Make sure to include the space at the end:
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine - Drag the
YTSage.appfile from your Finder window and drop it directly into the Terminal window. This will automatically paste the correct file path. - Press Enter to run the command.
- Try opening YTSage.app again. It should now launch correctly.
Config Locations (Advanced)
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\YTSage - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/YTSage - Linux:
~/.local/share/YTSage
๐ Sponsor
If YTSage saves you time, please consider sponsoring the project. Sponsoring helps cover development time, testing across all platforms, and future improvements.
- GitHub Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors/oop7
- Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oop7
- Direct bank transfer / SWIFT: Contact me via email at
oop7_support@proton.me
๐ฅ Contributing
Click to expand Contributing Guidelines
We welcome contributions! Hereโs how you can help:
- ๐ด Fork the Beta branch
- ๐ฟ Create your feature branch:
git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature
- ๐พ Commit your changes:
git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature'
- ๐ค Push to the branch:
git push origin feature/AmazingFeature
- ๐ Open a Pull Request
๐ Contributing Translations
- Update the relevant localized README file (e.g.,
readme-translations/README.fr.md) - Keep app strings synced by editing
ytsage/languages/<code>.json - If your language is missing, start from
README.mdand createreadme-translations/README.<code>.md
๐ Project Structure
YTSage - Project Structure
This document describes the organized folder structure of YTSage.
๐ Project Structure
YTSage/
โโโ ๐ .github/ # GitHub configuration
โ โโโ ๐ ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ # Issue templates
โ โ โโโ ๐-bug-report.md # Bug report template
โ โโโโ ๐ workflows/ # GitHub Actions workflows
โ โ โโโ build-linux.yml # Linux build workflow
โ โ โโโ build-macos.yml # macOS build workflow
โ โ โโโ build-windows.yml # Windows build workflow
| | โโโ release-all.yml # Release master workflow
| | โโโ star-history.yml # Star history workflow
โ โโโ ๐ CI_CD_README.md # CI/CD documentation
โโโ ๐ branding/ # Branding assets (Screenshots, SVGs)
โ โโโ ๐ icons/ # App icons
โ โโโ ๐ screenshots/ # Documentation screenshots
โ โโโ ๐ svg/ # SVG assets
โโโ ๐ LICENSE # License file
โโโ ๐ pyproject.toml # Project metadata and dependencies
โโโ ๐ README.md # Project documentation
โโโ ๐ requirements.txt # Python dependencies (dev)
โโโ ๐ ytsage/ # Source package
โโโ ๐ assets/ # Runtime assets
โ โโโ ๐ Icon/ # App icons
โ โโโ ๐ sound/ # Sound files
โโโ ๐ languages/ # Localization files
โ โโโ ๐ ar.json # Arabic translation
โ โโโ ๐ de.json # German translation
โ โโโ ๐ en.json # English translation
โ โโโ ... # Other languages
โโโ ๐ core/ # Core business logic
โ โโโ ๐ __init__.py # Core package init
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_deno.py # Deno integration
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_downloader.py # Download functionality
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_ffmpeg.py # FFmpeg integration
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_utils.py # Utility functions
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_yt_dlp.py # yt-dlp integration
โโโ ๐ gui/ # UI components
โ โโโ ๐ __init__.py # GUI package init
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_gui_main.py # Main app window
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_gui_dialogs/ # Dialog classes
โโโ ๐ utils/ # Utility modules
โ โโโ ๐ __init__.py # Utils package init
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_config_manager.py # Config management
โ โโโ ๐ ytsage_logger.py # Logging utilities
โโโ ๐ __init__.py # Package entry point
โโโ ๐ main.py # Main execution script
โญ๏ธ Star History
๐ License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
๐ Acknowledgments
A big thanks to everyone who contributed to this project by opening an issue to suggest an improvement or report a bug
Special thanks to @bastik-1001 and @dj23me for being the first and major donors supporting this project โค๏ธ
| Core Components | |
|---|---|
| yt-dlp | Download Engine |
| FFmpeg | Media Processing |
| Deno | Runtime for yt-dlp plugins |
| Libraries & Frameworks | |
| PySide6 | GUI Framework |
| Pillow | Image Processing |
| requests | HTTP Requests |
| packaging | Version/Package Management |
| markdown | Markdown Rendering |
| loguru | Logging |
| Assets & Contributors | |
| @bastik-1001 | First & Major Donor Support |
| New Notification 09 by Universfield | Notification Sound |
| viru185 | Code Contributor |
โ ๏ธ Disclaimer
This tool is for personal use only. Please respect YouTube's Terms of Service and content creator rights.
Made with โค๏ธ by oop7



