pytube-gui

A simple and lightweight graphical application for interacting with pytube.

Features

Download video

Simply select the "Video" option, copy-paste the URL, and click "Start".

Download playlist

Select the "Playlist" option and copy-paste the URL. You can choose to download the entire playlist or a range of videos in the playlist. Note that videos that are private, not available, etc. are ignored.

Download audio only

Check the "Audio only" checkbox to download the video or playlist as .mp3 files.

Download captions

Same instructions as downloading a video, but select the "Captions" options instead.

Installation

Windows Executable

Check out the Releases page for executable files for Windows. It contains a .exe and a .zip file to download.

Should I download the EXE or the ZIP?

A single .exe file is more convenient to use than a folder containing multiple files. However, Python is not designed to be used as an executable binary file. The Onefile executable can get very large as projects add more features. The result is unacceptable waiting times as the program loads. This project, however, is lightweight with minimal dependencies. Although you may notice a small period of time while the program loads, the waiting time is likely acceptable. The .exe is ideal if you don't plan to use this app very often. If you use this app frequently or simply find yourself annoyed at the initial loading time, consider downloading the .zip file instead.

Running with Python (recommended)

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+
• Git

Via pipx

It is generally recommended to isolate Python applications from each other. Pipx is recommended for easily creating Python virtual environments and creating executables to run.

If you already have pipx installed and working, you can install pytube-gui with this command:

pipx install git+https://github.com/WillChamness/pytube-gui

If you're using Windows, pipx does not create a link to the the desktop by default. To create a link to the desktop in Windows 10, follow these steps:

1. Open file explorer
2. Enter the following and click %userprofile%\.local\bin:
3. Right click pytube-gui.exe
4. Hover over Send to and click Desktop (create shortcut)
5. Rename the desktop link to Pytube GUI

After adding a link to the desktop, the application should appear when searching for it. You don't have to add a new link when upgrading to a new version.

If you're using Linux, the application should appear in your application launcher if the launcher's PATH includes $HOME/.local/bin/.

Via Python venv

If you want to run the application in an isolated environment but don't want to use pipx, you can install it using python-venv. Clone this repo with git or download the code directly from Github and run these commands in your preferred terminal/shell:

python -m venv env || python3 -m venv env
source env/bin/activate || env\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

To run the application from a fresh terminal instance, use these commands:

source env/bin/activate || env\Scripts\activate
python run.py || python3 run.py

Via pip globally (not recommended)

It is not recommended to install applications globally via pip as updates to dependencies may break various applications. Furthermore, some package managers install Python modules to the same location as pip, causing breakage between the two. However, you can still install globally if you want. Simply type this command in a terminal:

pip install git+https://github.com/WillChamness/pytube-gui

Note that some Linux distributions may require more work to globally install Python applications with pip.