Troubleshooting guide
How to fix common yt-dlp errors
Most yt-dlp failures are not mysterious. They usually come down to one of a few buckets: outdated yt-dlp, missing ffmpeg, bad format assumptions, or a site requiring cookies or sign-in state.
Always try this first
yt-dlp -U
yt-dlp --versionA surprising amount of yt-dlp troubleshooting starts and ends with updating to the latest release.
HTTP Error 403: Forbidden
Update yt-dlp first. If that does not fix it, try cookies or site-specific auth. Old extractor logic breaks often.
Requested format is not available
Run `yt-dlp -F URL` and pick a format that actually exists now. Do not assume old format IDs still work.
ffmpeg not found
Install ffmpeg and verify it is available on PATH. yt-dlp relies on it for merges and audio conversion.
Sign in to confirm your age / cookies required
Use cookies from a signed-in browser session when the platform requires auth or age verification.
ExtractorError / unsupported site changes
Update yt-dlp first. A lot of breakages are upstream site changes that get patched in newer releases.
How to troubleshoot faster
Do not randomly rotate flags. Identify which bucket the failure belongs to first: update problem, auth problem, ffmpeg problem, or format problem. That alone removes a lot of wasted trial and error.
Later
Need a cleaner workflow after the fix?
Solve the issue first. If yt-dlp becomes part of a repeated process afterward, Importly is worth a look when you want the workflow to be more organized and less manual.