What's the command to download the least quality video with youtube-dl?
youtube-dl -F shows
format code extension resolution note mp4-56 mp4 audio only 56k , isom container, 0fps, ~7.15MiB hls-58 mp4 audio only 58k , mp4a.40.2 mp4-385 mp4 640x360 385k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~48.80MiB hls-425 mp4 640x360 425k mp4-526 mp4 640x360 526k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~66.70MiB hls-572 mp4 640x360 572k mp4-724 mp4 640x360 724k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~91.70MiB hls-780 mp4 640x360 780k mp4-1257 mp4 1280x720 1257k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~159.00MiB hls-1337 mp4 1280x720 1337k mp4-1971 mp4 1280x720 1971k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~250.00MiB mp4-3103 mp4 1920x1080 3103k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~394.00MiB mp4-4147 mp4 1920x1080 4147k , mp42 container, avc1, 29fps, ~526.00MiB (best) The problem where I can't set -f mp4-385 here is the other videos in the list/playlist have different format code, e.g. the other video shows:
mp4-56 mp4 audio only 56k , isom container, 0fps, ~14.10MiB hls-58 mp4 audio only 58k , mp4a.40.2 mp4-365 mp4 640x360 365k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~91.20MiB hls-404 mp4 640x360 404k mp4-493 mp4 640x360 493k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~123.00MiB hls-538 mp4 640x360 538k mp4-680 mp4 640x360 680k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~170.00MiB hls-733 mp4 640x360 733k mp4-1174 mp4 1280x720 1174k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~293.00MiB hls-1250 mp4 1280x720 1250k mp4-1833 mp4 1280x720 1833k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~458.00MiB mp4-2882 mp4 1920x1080 2882k , isom container, avc1, 29fps, ~720.00MiB mp4-4050 mp4 1920x1080 4050k , mp42 container, avc1, 29fps, ~1012.00MiB (best) The only similar format code in these two video is the audio-only
2 Answers
youtube-dl -f worst URL From the manual under Format Selection:
worst: Select the worst quality format represented by a single file with video and audio
Usually when we want the worst quality it's to save data, so you actually want the smallest filesize. These aren't always the same as in example:
youtube-dl -f worst [youtube] 5sIWb9GTbbE: Downloading webpage [download] Destination: Dr Charles Hoffe-5sIWb9GTbbE.mp4 [download] 100% of 20.90MiB in 00:12 youtube-dl [youtube] 5sIWb9GTbbE: Downloading webpage [download] Destination: Dr Charles Hoffe-5sIWb9GTbbE.f397.mp4 [download] 100% of 9.38MiB in 00:05 worst: 20 MB, default: 9 MB
youtube-dl doesn't have more sophisticated sorting options, but with the fork youtube-dlp you can. This one gives you the file with the smallest filesize
yt-dlp -S '+size,+br' 
