The yt-dlp extension for PotPlayer includes an AngelScript file that enables PotPlayer to play streaming videos or audio tracks from a variety of websites.
With this yt-dlp extension, when opening a URL, PotPlayer temporarily runs yt-dlp.exe to obtain a playable link.
The supported websites and services are largely the same as those supported by yt-dlp.exe, with some exceptions.
As a general rule, yt-dlp does not support sites that are obviously pirated.
It is also not expected to handle paid content (usually protected with DRM).
However, if it is DRM-free, yt-dlp can sometimes access it by logging in with a paid account.
For YouTube, PotPlayer can generally play YouTube videos without this extension,
but it can be useful when YouTube restricts access from external applications.
Although YouTube sometimes requires users to log in, PotPlayer has no built-in login feature for standard playback.
This extension uses yt-dlp to handle web cookies and login authentication, allowing PotPlayer to bypass certain restrictions.
PotPlayer is a Windows-only media player, so this extension is intended for use on Windows.
The following applications are not included in this repository. Please obtain them separately.
-
PotPlayer
This yt-dlp extension currently supports PotPlayer 260114 or later.
Older versions of this extension (before 260213) support PotPlayer 250226 or later.Development builds of PotPlayer are available from the developer community (Korean).
Using Google Translate on this community site may cause page reload errors. -
yt-dlp.exe
Using the latest version is always recommended for proper website support.yt-dlp.exe also provides nightly builds.
See Updating yt-dlp.
In addition, you may need the following commands:
-
deno.exe -- Required for full YouTube support
At present, yt-dlp cannot fully support YouTube without an external JavaScript runtime such as deno.
See: yt-dlp/yt-dlp#15012
When using deno, download deno-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip from the release page.
Then place the extracted deno.exe in the same folder as yt-dlp.exe. -
curl.exe -- Used to retrieve server data
Some features of this extension do not work without curl.
On windows versions earlier than 10, manual setup is required (Windows 10 and later include curl by default).
Place curl.exe in the system32 folder or in any folder included in the system PATH.
Follow the steps below to install this extension.
Make sure that PotPlayer is installed in advance.
-
Download Source code (zip) from the Assets section of the release page.
-
Extract the downloaded files to the script folder.
(PotPlayer installation folder)\Extension\Media\PlayParse\
MediaPlayParse - yt-dlp.as and yt-dlp_default.ini are required.
You must always update yt-dlp_default.ini at the same time as MediaPlayParse - yt-dlp.as.
You can customize the icon of MediaPlayParse - yt-dlp.as by renaming *.ico files.
yt-dlp_radio1.jpg and yt-dlp_radio2.jpg are thumbnails for online radio, displayed in PotPlayer's album view.
yt-dlp_playlist.jpg might be used as a thumbnail for website playlists.
Other files in this repository are not required in this folder. -
Place yt-dlp.exe in PotPlayer's module folder:
(PotPlayer installation folder)\Module\
You can change this folder using the ytdlp_location setting in the [MAINTENANCE] section of the configuration file.
Also place deno.exe in the same folder as yt-dlp.exe to ensure proper YouTube support.
If yt-dlp.exe is not found, this script will return an error. -
Confirm that yt-dlp appears in PotPlayer's extension list:
Preferences (F5) > Extensions > Media Playlist/Playitem
If not visible, click [Reload files] or restart PotPlayer.
Also verify the extension detects the version of yt-dlp.exe in the info panel.
-
Try opening URLs from various online video/audio services using PotPlayer.
When multiple extensions are enabled, the higher one in the list takes priority.
For YouTube, if you prefer PotPlayer’s built-in YouTube extension over this one,
move yt-dlp below YouTube using the Up/Down buttons in the Media Playlist/Playitem setting.
PotPlayer’s built-in YouTube extension generally starts playback faster.
If the preferred extension fails to process a URL, the task is passed to the next extension.
You can customize the behavior by editing the yt-dlp.ini configuration file.
Open it in a popup panel via the [Config file] button that appears when you select yt-dlp in the extension settings list.
Some features, including account login and automatic yt-dlp.exe updates, are controlled here.
Each setting has a description inside the file.
Available keys are predefined and always visible in the yt-dlp.ini panel.
To reset keys or sections, delete them from the file — they will be restored with default values automatically.
You can comment out lines by adding "//" at the beginning of the line.
(This differs from standard INI syntax, but is designed for better visibility.)
A line can be toggled between disabled and enabled by adding or removing "//".
If the extension considers a line to be a comment, it automatically prefixes it with "//".
Hidden keys
There are also “hidden keys” that are not normally listed in yt-dlp.ini but appear in yt-dlp_default.ini with a “#” prefix.
To use these keys, add them to yt-dlp.ini without the “#” and set their values there.
(Do not edit yt-dlp_default.ini directly.)
You can reorder sections in yt-dlp.ini as you like.
For example, move the frequently used [MAINTENANCE] section near the top by cutting and pasting.
However, the order of keys within each section cannot be changed.
Regularly updating yt-dlp.exe is recommended to maintain compatibility with more websites.
If a website changes its specifications, yt-dlp may stop working with that site until it is updated.
You can use a nightly build for the latest fixes:
See: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/README.md#update
| Release Channel | URL |
|---|---|
| Stable (default) | https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases |
| Nightly | https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases |
This extension supports automatic updates of yt-dlp.exe.
When using a nightly build, the updater will track and install the latest nightly build automatically.
If the auto-update fails due to write permissions, you can change the location folder to place yt-dlp.exe in.
Please use the ytdlp_location setting in the [MAINTENANCE] section of the configuration file.
After PotPlayer invokes yt-dlp.exe through the yt-dlp extension, it takes some time to obtain the available links.
When extracting a large playlist, the import may take several minutes to complete.
If necessary, adjust the timeout settings in the [TARGET] section of the configuration file, especially playlist_metadata_timeout.
Aside from this, yt-dlp.exe may occasionally hang due to failed connections to the target server or errors in interpreting the URL content.
In these situations, PotPlayer will remain stuck with the “Opening...” message.
If the playback does not start even after waiting, press PotPlayer's Stop button to halt the loading process.
Next, check whether any yt-dlp.exe processes are still running in the background.
If any are found, terminate them forcibly to prevent unnecessary resource usage.
However, if yt-dlp.exe is not actually hanging and is only taking a long time to process, its process will eventually terminate automatically.
Note that PotPlayer or yt-dlp cannot forcibly terminate these processes on their own.
You will need to use your system’s Task Manager or, preferably, a more user-friendly external tool such as Process Explorer or System Explorer.
It’s a basic shortcoming that you have to monitor processes with an external tool.
This comes from server restrictions, faulty processing of yt-dlp.exe and limitations in the design of the PotPlayer extension.
PotPlayer generally plays only direct links to media content, with some exceptions.
For websites other than YouTube and KakaoTV, yt-dlp must basically support them.
Even when using the yt-dlp extension, PotPlayer cannot play media content from sites or pages that yt-dlp does not support.
| YouTube | non-YouTube sites | |
|---|---|---|
| Default PotPlayer (built-in) | normal viewing | not available |
| yt-dlp extension | when default is restricted | regular content |
| yt-dlp extension +login | login-only content / when restricted | login-only content |
| yt-dlp extension +login +poToken | when strongly restricted | (ignore poToken) |
| Internet Browser (Chrome etc.) | most reliable for viewing | most reliable for viewing |
Although it is not shown in this table, PotPlayer can also play KakaoTV by default.
For login, see Get Cookies and Login.
For poToken, see PO Token Guide and specify it in the extension's configuration file.
In its default method of accessing YouTube, PotPlayer does not require cookies or login.
However, PotPlayer includes built-in workarounds that can bypass some YouTube restrictions more effectively than using the yt-dlp extension without cookies.
It may seem that the lower options in this table are always superior for viewing capability, but sometimes you may not be able to play YouTube with login even though playback works without login.
This depends on which connections YouTube is restricting at that time.
If you cannot play videos in a certain site after logging in, try logging out of the site, clearing cookies for that site in your browser, and then logging in again.
If you use a cookie file, recreate it from the same browser after logging in again.
If you cannot watch, try the available options in order.
To monitor the extension behavior in real time:
-
Monitor the yt-dlp.exe process as a child process of PotPlayerMini(64).exe using an external process monitoring tool.
See: Process not responding -
Open the console window for PotPlayer extensions
See: Enabling console log output
You can also compare the behavior by toggling the stop setting in the configuration file.
When text is selected in the console window, the extension pauses.
See: https://github.com/hgcat-360/PotPlayer-Extension_yt-dlp/wiki/Console-Log-Output-Notes#text-selection-pauses-the-extension
The easiest way is to log in to the service website in advance using Firefox.
Alternatively, you can create a cookie file manually.
See: https://github.com/hgcat-360/PotPlayer-Extension_yt-dlp/wiki/Get-Cookies-and-Login
Using poToken for YouTube is recommended by yt-dlp.
However, poToken is user-unfriendly and is usually not required.
For YouTube playback, first prioritise enabling login and using deno.exe together with yt-dlp.exe.
Configure the reduce_formats setting in the [FORMAT] section of the configuration file according to your network bandwidth.
If the issue is caused by write permission restrictions, change the folder location of yt-dlp.exe using the ytdlp_location setting in the [MAINTENANCE] section of the configuration file.
You can also run PotPlayer with administrator privileges, but this may restrict access to media files due to permission differences.
Check whether the URL includes a playlist ID.
See: https://github.com/hgcat-360/PotPlayer-Extension_yt-dlp/wiki/Extracting-Playlists#playlist-or-single-video
For SponsorBlock, configure the chapter categories using the sponsor_block setting in the [YOUTUBE] section of the configuration file.
Then enable PotPlayer's auto-skip feature for the corresponding chapter titles.
See: https://github.com/hgcat-360/PotPlayer-Extension_yt-dlp/wiki/SponsorBlock-on-YouTube
