If you are trying to download a YouTube playlist using yt-dlp but are getting an error saying “unable to recognize playlist”, there are a few things you can try to resolve the issue.
Verify the playlist URL
The most common reason yt-dlp may not recognize a playlist is because the URL provided is not actually a valid YouTube playlist URL. Double check that the URL you are trying to download matches the format of a standard YouTube playlist link. It should look something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABC123XYZ
The important part is that it contains “/playlist” in the path and has a “list=” parameter with a series of letters/numbers after it. This is what identifies it as a proper playlist URL to yt-dlp. If your URL is missing these components, try locating the actual playlist URL and using that instead.
Update yt-dlp
Since YouTube updates their site frequently, an outdated version of yt-dlp may no longer properly recognize the format of new playlists. Try updating yt-dlp to the latest version to see if that resolves the problem:
pip install –upgrade yt-dlp
Run this command to fetch the newest yt-dlp code. Then try your playlist download again and see if the latest version can now parse it correctly.
Use –no-check-certificate
In some cases, an HTTPS certificate issue prevents yt-dlp from being able to recognize the playlist properly. You can tell yt-dlp to ignore certificate errors by adding the –no-check-certificate flag:
yt-dlp –no-check-certificate https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABC123XYZ
This makes yt-dlp skip HTTPS certificate validation and may allow it to correctly parse the playlist URL.
Extract playlist ID manually
If none of the above fixes work, you may need to extract just the raw playlist ID yourself and provide that to yt-dlp instead of the full URL. To do this:
- Open the playlist URL in a browser
- The playlist ID will be the series of letters/numbers after “list=” in the URL query string
- Provide just the ID to yt-dlp like: yt-dlp PLABC123XYZ
This bypasses any issues yt-dlp has trying to extract the ID from the full URL and may allow the download to work.
Download videos individually
As a last resort, you can download each video in the playlist one-by-one by providing just the video IDs to yt-dlp:
yt-dlp BaW_jenozKc
yt-dlp 0KSOMA3QBU0
This is more tedious but should reliably download each video in the playlist if all else fails. You can extract the video IDs from the playlist web page source for automation.
Check for problems with the playlist itself
In some cases, the playlist URL itself may be valid but there is an issue with the underlying playlist data that prevents yt-dlp from parsing it correctly. This can happen if the playlist was deleted, set to private, or contains age-restricted videos.
Try viewing the playlist in a web browser while logged out of your YouTube account. If you get an error indicating the playlist is unavailable, that is likely the reason yt-dlp cannot recognize it either. The playlist must be public and contain accessible videos for yt-dlp to reliably download it.
You may need to contact the playlist creator to fix restrictions or access issues before yt-dlp will be able to recognize and download it.
Use a different downloader
While yt-dlp is a popular choice, there are other downloaders available as well. As a last resort, try using an alternative like youtube-dlc, Tartube, or 4K Video Downloader to download the playlist instead. Different programs parse playlists differently, so another tool may have better success.
Just be aware of whether the downloader is actively maintained, as abandoned projects are more likely to break over time as YouTube makes website changes.
Report a bug
If you’ve verified the URL is valid, updated yt-dlp, and tried all applicable troubleshooting steps but are still getting an “unable to recognize playlist” error, this may indicate a bug with the current version of yt-dlp.
In this case, you can report the issue on the yt-dlp GitHub page so the developers can investigate:
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues
Make sure to include the exact playlist URL, yt-dlp version, and complete error output so they can reproduce the problem.
The yt-dlp developers are very responsive to bug reports, so submitting one is a great way to help improve the tool and get your playlist downloading properly.
Use a browser extension or web service
If you are unable to get yt-dlp working on your own machine, another option is leveraging a browser extension or web-based tool that performs the downloading for you. Services like savefrom.net and youtubeconverter.io can often recognize playlists and convert the videos even when local apps fail.
The disadvantage is slower speeds and less control compared to self-hosting yt-dlp, but they require no installation and may work as a quick fix when yt-dlp itself has issues.
Summary
Troubleshooting yt-dlp playlist errors involves verifying the URL is valid, updating yt-dlp to the latest version, using workarounds like –no-check-certificate, extracting video IDs manually, checking for access restrictions on the playlist itself, trying alternate downloaders, reporting bugs to the developers, or using a web service. With one of these approaches, you should be able to successfully download even playlists that yt-dlp struggles to recognize.
