Downloading videos or audio from websites on Linux with the highest quality available

Downloading videos or audio from websites on Linux with the highest quality available can be done using several powerful command-line tools. Here are the best methods:

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1. yt-dlp (Best for YouTube & 1000+ Sites)

yt-dlp is a fork of youtube-dl with more features and better support for high-quality downloads.

Installation:

bash

sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

(Alternatively, use pip install yt-dlp or your distro's package manager.)

Download Highest Quality Video + Audio:

bash

yt-dlp -f "bestvideo+bestaudio" --merge-output-format mkv "URL"

• bestvideo+bestaudio ensures the highest quality.

• --merge-output-format mkv merges streams into a single file (supports mp4, mkv, etc.).

Download Best Audio Only (e.g., for MP3):

bash

yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "URL"

• -x extracts audio.

• --audio-format mp3 (or flac, opus, etc.).

• --audio-quality 0 selects the best bitrate.

List Available Formats:

bash

yt-dlp -F "URL"

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2. aria2 (Faster Downloads)

Combine yt-dlp with aria2 for faster downloads:

bash

yt-dlp --external-downloader aria2c --external-downloader-args "-x 16 -s 16 -k 1M" "URL"

• -x 16: Uses 16 connections.

• -s 16: Splits downloads into 16 segments.

• -k 1M: Sets chunk size to 1MB.

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3. ffmpeg (Manual Stream Merging)

If automatic merging fails, manually download and merge:

bash

yt-dlp -f "bestvideo" --output "video.mp4" "URL"
yt-dlp -f "bestaudio" --output "audio.m4a" "URL"
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.m4a -c:v copy -c:a copy "output.mkv"

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4. For Non-YouTube Sites (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

yt-dlp supports many sites. Example:

bash

yt-dlp "https://twitter.com/.../status/..."

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5. GUI Alternatives (If Preferred)

• JDownloader – Supports many sites with a GUI.

• Tartube – GUI for youtube-dl/yt-dlp.

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Notes:

• Always respect copyright and website terms of service.

• Some sites may require cookies (use --cookies-from-browser BROWSER in yt-dlp).

• For private videos, use --username USER --password PASS (if allowed).