How to Download YouTube Videos, Playlists and Audio in Bulk (2025 Step by Step Guide for Non Techies) | Unlimited Free

tired of clicking "download" on every single video like some sort of unpaid intern?

this guide shows you how to:

• download a whole youtube playlist at once

• bulk download youtube videos from links

• save everything as mp3 or full video

• do it on windows 10 or windows 11, even if you are "not good with computers"

no fancy stuff, just copy, paste, enter, done.

what you will actually get at the end

after following this:

• a folder full of normal mp3 songs

• or mp4 video files that work on phone, tv, laptop

• you can download full playlists at once later with one command

• all offline, no buffering, no ads, no "this video is not available in your country" nonsense

tools we use (both free, no weird ads)

we will use 2 programs:

1. yt-dlp
   this is the main youtube downloader. it can

   • download single videos

   • download full playlists at once

   • grab only audio as mp3

   • handle broken downloads better than most "online converters"

2. ffmpeg
   small helper program used in the background to convert stuff to mp3 and attach thumbnails.
   if you install yt-dlp with the command below, you usually dont need to care about ffmpeg, it gets handled.

both are open source, used by millions of nerds already.

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step 1 - install windows terminal (if you do not already have it)

we will use windows terminal or powershell to run commands.
this is just a text window, not a hacker movie.

1. press the windows key

2. type microsoft store and open it

3. in search, type: windows terminal

4. click get or install

after install, you should see an app called windows terminal.

step 2 - install yt dlp with one command

1. open windows terminal

2. copy this line completely:

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

3. right click inside the terminal window to paste

4. press enter

5. wait a bit until you see something like "successfully installed"

if it asks for any yes or accept, just accept.

yt dlp is now installed system wide.

step 3 - create a simple text file with your youtube links

this is where we store the list of stuff to download in bulk.

1. press windows key

2. type notepad and open it

3. paste your youtube links, one per line

example:

https://youtu.be/ZTmF2v59CtI
https://youtu.be/A04WawrDblo
https://youtu.be/Ly0BU3ZdI0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVhUAaVCVQ

you can put here:

• single youtube videos

• full playlist links

• multiple playlists

• channel "uploads" playlist links

4. in notepad, click file → save as

5. choose desktop

6. file name: my-links.txt (type the .txt part yourself, do not skip)

7. click save

small mistake many people do: they save it as my-links.txt.txt by accident.
if windows is hiding file extensions, dont overthink it, just name it my-links.

step 4 - open terminal in the right folder

we saved my-links.txt on the desktop, so the terminal must work from there.

option 1 - easiest way

1. go to your desktop

2. right click on empty space

3. if you see open in terminal or open powershell window here, click it

done. terminal is now sitting in the desktop folder.

option 2 - if that menu is missing

1. open windows terminal normally

2. type this and press enter:

cd Desktop

cd means "change directory". so now it is working inside your desktop folder.

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step 5 - bulk download everything in one shot

here is the fun part.

option a - download as mp3 (most people want this)

good for music, podcasts, interviews, playlists.

in the terminal (already in desktop), paste:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail -a my-links.txt

what each part means, in plain english:

• -x extract audio only

• --audio-format mp3 convert to mp3

• --audio-quality 0 best quality

• --embed-thumbnail tries to put the video thumbnail inside the mp3

• -a my-links.txt read all links from that file

press enter.

now it will process all the links, one after another. you will see progress bars and file names.

option b - download full videos

if you want video plus audio, use:

yt-dlp -a my-links.txt

that tells yt dlp to use default best video with sound, for everything listed.

when it finishes, files appear right on your desktop, unless you change the folder.

what the downloaded files look like

you will see stuff like:

• Sheila Ki Jawani Full Song - Tees Maar Khan.mp3

• Chammak Challo - Ra One.mp3

• Kombdi Palali - Jatra.mp3

they behave like normal media files. you can:

• double click to open in vlc, windows media player etc

• copy to phone via usb

• put them on sd card for car

• back them up to external drive

no magic, just files.

put downloads in a music folder instead of desktop

desktop gets messy, so you may want a dedicated folder.

1. create a folder, for example:

C:\Users\YourName\Music\My YouTube Songs

2. open windows terminal

3. go into that folder, replace YourName with your real username:

cd "C:\Users\YourName\Music\My YouTube Songs"

4. move or copy my-links.txt into this folder

5. run the same command as before, for example:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail -a my-links.txt

now everything goes into that music folder.

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how to download a full youtube playlist at once

this is what many people search for: download youtube playlist at once or bulk download youtube playlist to mp3.

steps:

1. open the playlist on youtube

2. copy the playlist url, looks like:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxxxxxxxxxx

3. paste that playlist link into my-links.txt on a new line

4. save the file

5. run the command you want:

for mp3:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail -a my-links.txt

for full video:

yt-dlp -a my-links.txt

yt dlp sees that it is a playlist, then:

• grabs all videos from that playlist

• downloads them one by one

• names them with proper titles

you can mix:

• single videos

• playlists

• multiple playlists

all inside the same my-links.txt.

download only part of a big playlist

playlist has 300 videos but you only need the first 40 or 80, no problem.

option 1 - manual selection

just copy only the videos you want into my-links.txt and ignore the rest.
basic but works.

option 2 - playlist start and end

if you want a range, use extra options.

example, download videos 1 to 50 from a playlist into mp3:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail --playlist-start 1 --playlist-end 50 "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxxxxxxxxxxxx"

here we are giving the playlist url directly instead of via my-links.txt. both ways are fine.

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some extra tricks if you feel like leveling up

you can totally skip this section first time.

best video quality for all playlists

yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b" -a my-links.txt

that tries best video plus best audio, falls back to best single file if needed.

auto organize by playlist name into folders

nice for downloading many playlists at once.

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail -o "%(playlist_title)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s" -a my-links.txt

this creates folders named after each playlist and puts its songs inside.

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common problems and quick fixes

error: 'yt-dlp' is not recognized

terminal says something like that, usually means the path did not refresh.

• close all terminal windows

• open a new windows terminal

• try yt-dlp --version

if that still fails, reinstall:

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

watch for any error lines.

some videos fail, others work

happens when:

• video is private

• geo blocked

• removed

• age restricted in a weird way

usually yt dlp skips that one and continues, you can ignore it or find another source.

cannot open my-links.txt

if it says file not found, you are in the wrong folder.

in terminal, run:

cd Desktop

then run your command again.
or move the text file into the folder where you download stuff and cd there.

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is it legal to download youtube videos like this

short boring answer: it depends.

a few basics:

• youtube terms say downloads should be via official features like app or premium

• different countries have different rules about personal copies

• safest options are:

  • your own uploads

  • content where the creator clearly allows downloading

  • stuff under a license that permits it

this guide is for technical education. it is not legal advice. check your local laws and use some common sense.
creators spend time making content, so do not just mass rip and reupload.

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quick faq for google people and skimmers

how do i bulk download youtube videos on windows 10 or 11

• install yt dlp with winget

• create my-links.txt with one youtube link per line

• go to the folder in terminal and run:

yt-dlp -a my-links.txt

how do i download a youtube playlist at once to mp3

• put the playlist link into my-links.txt

• run:

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --embed-thumbnail -a my-links.txt

can i download multiple playlists at the same time

yes. you can:

• put several playlist links in my-links.txt

• or run separate commands in different folders if you want each playlist in its own folder.

closing thought

once yt dlp is installed and you know the basic command, downloading a full youtube playlist at once turns into a 5 second job.

you just update your my-links.txt, run one command, and your music or videos are yours, offline, not at the mercy of random deletions or bad internet.