Youtube-dl Stop Download ((new)) May 2026

The most common way to stop a running download is to send an interrupt signal to the process.

You can configure youtube-dl to stop automatically based on specific criteria using command-line flags: youtube-dl stop download

Use --break-on-existing to stop the queue if it encounters a video you've already downloaded (useful for syncing channels). The most common way to stop a running

If it doesn't resume automatically, add the -c (or --continue ) flag to your command. Example: youtube-dl -c -f best [URL] . Troubleshooting "Unstoppable" Processes Example: youtube-dl -c -f best [URL]

If a script is running youtube-dl in the background and you can't see the terminal, you must kill the process manually:

Use --break-match-filters FILTER to stop the process as soon as a video in a playlist is rejected by your criteria. Resuming After Stopping

Use --max-downloads NUMBER to stop after a certain number of successful downloads.