A little help
getting started.

Install YouTubeJack

The current download is for Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later. yt-dlp and ffmpeg are included, so Homebrew is not required.

Open the latest DMG, drag YouTubeJack into Applications and launch it. The app includes yt-dlp and ffmpeg; a separate Homebrew installation is not required.

Preview a video or playlist

Paste a YouTube video or playlist URL into the link field. Check the fetched title, channel, duration and thumbnail before queueing a video.

For playlists, choose individual entries or use Select All and Clear Selection. Add your selected entries to the queue together.

Choose an available format

Select a quality, then Automatic, H.264 or AV1 and an available MP4 or WebM container. You can also choose the audio-only option for an M4A file.

Choices depend on the streams available for that video. Some resolution, codec and container combinations are disabled. H.264 uses MP4. Switching your codec or container can change which resolutions are available.

Manage your queue and files

Choose a destination folder before starting. Start or pause downloads, remove items, retry a failed item, or drag items into a different order.

The queue shows the selected resolution, video and audio codecs, and container. After a download finishes and its streams are merged, Finder opens the final file. Wait for that final stage before using the result.

Stay updated

YouTubeJack manages yt-dlp updates and checks GitHub for new app releases. If a video fails, check for updates and retry the item. You can also download the latest stable DMG from this page.

Need a hand?

Include your macOS version, YouTubeJack version, selected format and a short description of what happened.