Tartube - The Easy Way To Watch And Download Videos

5.1 Installation - MS Windows

MS Windows users should use the installer available at the Tartube website. The installer contains everything you need to run Tartube.

There is also a portable edition; use this if you want to install Tartube onto removable media, such as a USB drive. Download the ZIP file, extract it, and run the file tartube_portable_64bit.bat.

Both the installer and the portable edition include a copy of AtomicParsley, so there is no need to install it yourself.

Tartube is no longer supported on older versions of MS Windows - see 7.24 Doesn't work on 32-bit Windows / Windows 7 / Windows 8.

5.2 Installation - MacOS

Tartube can be installed on MacOS, but it's not a one-click operation.

Here are installation guides for new computers with Apple silicon, all other MacOS computers, and a troubleshooting section.

5.3 Installation - Linux/BSD

Linux/BSD users can use any of the following installation methods.

5.4 Packaging Tartube

Tartube packages are usually created using one of the available environment variables:

• TARTUBE_PKG for packages without restrictions

• TARTUBE_PKG_STRICT for a package which should not download or update youtube-dl or FFmpeg; the user is required to install those packages separately

• TARTUBE_PKG_NO_DOWNLOAD for a package which should not download any videos (and also will not download/update youtube-dl or FFmpeg)

Some packaging systems might forbid installing other packages. If that's the case, you can use TARTUBE_PKG_STRICT or TARTUBE_PKG_NO_DOWNLOAD.

Anyone with concerns over the legality of downloading videos can disable that feature altogether. Tartube will still be able to check videos, channels and playlists, as well as monitor livestreams. Users can watch a video on its original website with a single click. The authors understand that the US courts have ruled that 'scraping' a website is legal. Popular sites like YouTube provide RSS feeds for this very purpose.

Packages can be created in the standard way. For example, an RPM package would be created with the command:

TARTUBE_PKG=1 python3 setup.py bdist_rpm

6.1 Setting up Tartube

When you first start Tartube, you will be asked to choose a few settings.

Most users can use this window to download and install some packages. If not, those packages must be installed separately.

All of these settings can be changed later, if you want. For example, to change where Tartube stores its files, see 6.21 Managing databases.

6.2 Updating the downloader

If you installed Tartube via a repository such as the official Debian repository, then Tartube may not be allowed to update youtube-dl. In that case, this section does not apply; update youtube-dl using your system's package manager.

Tartube uses a downloader to interact with websites like YouTube. Tartube officially supports two downloaders, youtube-dl and yt-dlp. (Other forks of youtube-dl will probably work as well.)

Websites changes their code frequently, and therefore the downloaders must be updated frequently.

• Click Operations > Update youtube-dl

• The name will be different if you're using a different downloader

6.3 Setting the downloader's location

If the update operation fails on MS Windows, you should ask the authors for help.

On other systems, users can customise the downloader's location. There are several locations on your filesystem where youtube-dl might have been installed.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Downloaders > File paths

• Try changing the setting Path to executable

• Try changing the setting Command for update operations

• Try the update operation again

6.4 Installing FFmpeg / AVConv

FFmpeg and AVConv are commonly use for various video-processing tasks.

It is strongly recommended that all users install FFmpeg. Without it, Tartube won't be able to do any of these things:

• Display thumbnails from YouTube

• Download high-resolution videos from any website

• Download some video formats

• Convert video files to audio

• Split or slice videos

youtube-dl uses FFmpeg by default, but it can use AVConv for certain tasks.

For more information about Tartube's use of FFmpeg and AVConv, see 6.26 More information about FFmpeg and AVConv.

6.4.2 On Linux/BSD/MacOS

On all other operating systems, Tartube and youtube-dl should be able to find FFmpeg (and AVConv, if it is also installed) without any help from you.

If the FFmpeg / AVConv executables have been installed to an unusual location, you can tell Tartube where to find them.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Downloaders > FFmpeg / AVConv

• Click the Set buttons and select the FFmpeg or AVConv executable

• Click the Reset buttons to remove that selection

• Click the the Use default path buttons to use the normal location for each executable

6.5 Introducing system folders

On the left side of the Tartube window is a list of folders. You can store videos, channels and playlists inside these folders. You can even store folders inside of other folders.

Tartube saves videos on your filesystem using exactly the same structure.

When you start Tartube for the first time, there are several folders already visible. You can't remove any of these folders (but you can hide them, if you want).

• The All Videos folder shows every video in Tartube's database, whether it has been downloaded or not

• The Bookmarks folder shows videos you've bookmarked, because they're interesting or important (see 6.17.1 Bookmarked videos )

• The Favourite Videos folder shows videos in a channel, playlist or folder that you've marked as a favourite (see 6.17.2 Favourite channels, playlists and folders )

• The Livestreams folder shows livestreams. Videos are automatically removed from this folder (but not from other folders) when the livestream is finished

• The Missing videos folder (see 6.25 Detecting missing videos ) shows videos that you've downloaded, but which have since been removed from the website by their creator

• The New Videos folder shows videos that have been downloaded, but not yet watched

• The Recent Videos folder shows videos that were checked or downloaded, the last time you used youtube-dl (to change this behaviour, right-click the folder and select Downloads > Set removal time...)

• The Waiting Videos folder shows videos that you want to watch soon. When you watch the video, it's automatically removed from the folder (but not from Tartube's database)

• Videos saved to the Temporary Videos folder will be deleted when Tartube next starts

• The Unsorted Videos folder is a useful place to put videos that don't belong to a particular channel or playlist

• The Video Clips folder is a useful place to put video clips (see 6.27 Video clips)

6.6 Adding videos

If you want a simpler way to download videos, see 6.23 Classic Mode.

You can add individual videos by clicking the Add new videos button near the top of the window. (On MS Windows, the text is not visible unless your mouse is hovering over the button, which is in the top-left corner.)

A dialogue window will appear.

Copy and paste the video's URL into the dialogue window. You can copy and paste as many URLs as you like.

When you're ready, click the OK button.

Finally, click on the Unsorted Videos folder to see the videos you've added.

6.7 Adding channels and playlists

You can also add a whole channel by clicking the Add a new channel button or a whole playlist by clicking the Add a new playlist button.

Tartube will download all of the videos in the channel or playlist.

Copy and paste the channel's URL into the dialogue window. You should also give the channel a name. The channel's name is usually the name used on the website (but you can choose almost any name you like).

6.8 Adding videos, channels and playlists together

When adding a long list of URLs, containing a mixture of channels, playlists and individual videos, it's quicker to add them all at the same time. Click the Add new videos button near the top of the window, and paste all the links into the dialogue window.

Tartube doesn't know anything about these links until you actually download them (or check them). If it's expecting an individual video, but receives a channel or a playlist, Tartube will the handle the conversion for you.

By default, Tartube converts a link into a channel, when necessary. You can change this behaviour, if you want to.

• In Tartube's main window, click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Preferences

• Select one of the buttons under URL flexibility preferences

Unfortunately, there is no way for Tartube to distinguish a channel from a playlist. Most video websites don't supply that information.

If your list of URLs contains a mixture of channels and playlists, you can convert one to the other after the download has finished.

• In Tartube's main window, right-click a channel, and select Channel actions > Convert to playlist

• Alternatively, right-click a playlist, and select Playlist actions > Convert to channel

• After converting, you can set a name for the new channel/playlist by right-clicking it, and selecting Channel actions > Rename channel... or Playlist actions > Rename playlist...

6.9 Adding folders

The left-hand side of the window will quickly still filling up. It's a good idea to create some folders, and to organise your channels/playlists inside those folders.

Click the Add a new folder button near the top of the window, and create a folder called Comedy.

Then repeat that process to create a folder called History. You can then drag-and-drop your channels and playlists into those folders.

6.10 Things you can do

Once you've finished adding videos, channels, playlists and folders, you can make Tartube do something. Tartube offers the following operations:

Checking/download videos:

• Check - Fetches information about videos, but doesn't download them

• Download - Actually downloads the videos. If you have disabled downloads for a particular item, Tartube will just fetch information about it instead

• Custom download - Downloads videos in a non-standard way; see 6.14 Custom downloads

• To Check or Download videos, channels and playlists, use the main menu, or the buttons near the top of the window, or the buttons in the bottom-left corner, or right-click an individual video, channel, playlist or folder

• A Custom Download can be started from the main menu (Operations > Custom download all) or by right-clicking a video, channel, playlist or folder

Refreshing the database:

• Refresh - Examines your filesystem. If you have manually copied any videos to the location in which Tartube stores its files, those videos are added to Tartube's database

• To Refresh Tartube's database, use the main menu (Operations > Refresh database...) or right-click a channel/playlist/folder

• Protip: Do a 'Check' operation before you do 'Refresh' operation

Updating packages:

• Update - Installs or updates youtube-dl, as described in 6.2 Updating the downloader. On MS Windows, also installs FFmpeg (see 6.4 Installing FFmpeg / AVConv), matplotlib (see 7.31 Graphs not visible) and streamlink (see 6.24 Livestreams)

• Protip: Do an 'Update' operation before you do a 'Check' or 'Download' operation

Fetching information:

• Info - Fetches information about a particular video: either the available video/audio formats, or the available subtitles

• To fetch Info about a video, right-click it and select Fetch

Tidying up the filesytem:

• Tidy - Tidies up Tartube's data directory (folder), as well as checking that downloaded videos still exist and are not corrupted

• To Tidy the data directory, use the main menu (Operations > Tidy up files...) or right-click a channel/playlist/folder

Dealing with livestreams:

• Livestream check - Checks whether any livestreams have started (or stopped), without fetching the full list of videos from a channel/playlist

• Livestream download - Downloads a livestream that's broadcasting now; see 6.24.4 Downloading livestreams

• A Livestream check happens every few minutes (if Tartube detected livestreams during a Check or a Download). To force a check now, click Livestreams > Update existing livestreams

Processing videos with FFmpeg:

• Process - Processes videos and thumbnails with FFmpeg - see 6.26 More information about FFmpeg and AVConv

• To process video(s) and/or their thumbnails, right-click a video and select Special > Process with FFmpeg...

6.11 Profiles

Next to each channel, playlist and folder is a checkbox. Click one or more of the checkboxes, and the buttoms in the bottom-left corner of the Videos tab will change:

This is one way of checking or downloading just some of the channels, playlists and folders. Other methods include:

• Right-click a channel, and select Download channel (and so on)

• Move channels and playlists into a single folder, then right-click that folder and select Download folder

If you frequently mark a group of channels, playlists and folders for download, then you can create a profile. A profile is just a list of items that have been marked for download.

• Click Media > Profiles > Create profile

• In the dialogue window, choose a profile name, then click OK to create the profile

• Later, click Media > Profiles > Switch profile to mark the same items for download

If you select Media > Profiles > Remember last profile, then Tartube will automatically switch to that profile, whenever the database is loaded.

Note that the red system folders can't be marked for download.

6.12 Download options

youtube-dl offers a large number of download options. This is how to set them.

• Click Edit > General download options...

A new window opens. Any changes you make in this window aren't actually applied until you click the 'Apply' or 'OK' buttons.

6.12.1 Advanced download options

Some of the options are intended for advanced users, so they're hidden by default. To reveal them, click the button Show advanced download options.

After clicking the button, some new tabs will appear. The existing tabs will also have some new features.

6.12.2 Other download options

When you click Edit > General download options..., you are seeing the default download options. If you want to apply a different set of download options to a particular channel or particular playlist, you can do so.

At the moment, the general download options apply to all the videos, channels, playlists and folders you've added.

Now, suppose you want to apply some download options to the History folder:

• Right-click the folder, and select Downloads > Apply download options...

In the new window, select Create new download options, and then click the OK button. A second window will appear, so you can click the OK button there, too.

The new options are applied to everything in the History folder. A pen icon appears above the folder to remind you of this.

Now, suppose you want to add a different set of download options, but only for the channel OverSimplified.

• Right-click the channel, and select Downloads > Apply download options...

• In the new windows, click the OK button

The previous set of download options still applies to everything in the History folder, except the channel OverSimplified.

6.12.3 Managing download options

In fact, you can create as many sets of download options as you like.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Options > Download options

The first item in the list, general, is the default set of download options. The second item, classic, is the set of download options that apply in the Classic Mode tab (see 6.23 Classic Mode).

Download options are saved in the Tartube database, so if you switch databases (see 6.21.2 Multiple databases), a different selection of download options will apply. If you want to move a set of download options from one database to another, you can Export them, then switch databases, then Import them.

6.12.4 Setting download options

Here is a quick summary of the download options that are most useful, assuming that advanced download options are hidden (see 6.12.1 Advanced download options).

You can change the format of the filename for the downloaded video, so it includes useful information such as the playlist number or the video resolution.

• Click Files > File names

• In the drop-down box marked Format for video file names, select one of the options

• If you select the Custom option, the drop-down boxes and buttons below become useable

When you download a video, a thumbnail and a metadata file are usually downloaded too. This can be customised.

• Click Files > Write/move to select which files are downloaded

• Click Files > Keep to select which files are not deleted at the end of the download operation

If you want to specify which video and audio formats should be downloaded, at which resolution and at which bitrate, do this:

• Click the Formats tab

• From the list on the left, select one of the video/audio formats

• Click the Add format button

youtube-dl downloads very high-resolution videos as two separate files, video and audio. If Ffmpeg is installed, the two separate files are automatically merged into one output file.

If you want to specify the format of the output file, for example to create an .mp4 file, do this:

• Click Files > Formats

• From the list on the left, select mp4

• Click the Add format button

• In the drop-down box marked If a merge is required after post-processing, output to this format, select mp4

Most videos cannot be downloaded in every media format. For example, YouTube does not offer mp3 downloads. If you want files in a particular video/audio format, often it's necessary to use Ffmpeg to convert the downloaded video.

• Click Files > Convert

• Select a video and/or audio format

youtube-dl can download subtitles for a video, if they exist. The chat replay of YouTube livestreams can also be downloaded, and is handled as if it were another set of subtitles.

• Click Subtitles > Options

• Select Download all available subtitle files

If you want to download subtiles only in particular languages:

• Select Download subtitles file for these languages

• Select a language from the list on the left

• Click the Add language button

• Repeat for as many languages as you want

See also 6.14.7 Ignoring videos without subtitles.

6.12.5 Customising download options

If you want to set the download options manually - typing them, rather than clicking some buttons - you can do so.

• Click Edit > General download options...

• In the Additional download options box, type any download options

• For example, to download a video as an .mp3 file, you could type -x --audio-format mp3

Download options added here override everything else in the window. (However, they don't override the format selector in the Classic Mode tab.)

You can find a complete list of download options for youtude-dl here, and a complete list for yt-dlp here.

6.13 Scheduled downloads

Tartube can check and download videos, channels and playlists on a regular schedule. This is very useful if you want to leave Tartube running unattended.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Scheduling > Start

• In the box, type a name for the scheduled download, for example test

• Click the Add button to create the scheduled download

A new window appears. You can use this window to congifure the scheduled download.

• In the Download mode box, select whether Tartube should check videos, download them, or perform a custom download (see 6.14 Custom downloads)

• In the Start tab, select whether this download should be performed once, or when Tartube starts, or at regular intervals, or at specified times

When you specify a start time like 'Mondays at 15:00', there is a five-minute window in which the scheduled download can begin. This means that, if you open Tartube at 15:02, the scheduled download will still start (but not if you open Tartube at 15:10).

Now click the Media tab. By default, a scheduled download checks or downloads everything in Tartube's database, but if you don't want that, you can select individual channels, playlists and folders.

There are several ways to add channels, playlists and folders to this list:

• In the dropdown box, select the channel/playlist/folder, and click Add

• In the main window's Videos tab, right-click the channel/playlist/folder and select Downloads > Add to scheduled download...

• Drag and drop the channel/playlist/folder from the main window into this window

You can create as many scheduled downloads as you like. Scheduled downloads are performed in order, from the top of the list to the bottom.

6.14 Custom downloads

By default, Tartube downloads videos as quickly as possible, one URL (link) at a time. A URL might point to an individual video, or it might point to a whole channel or playlist. Tartube will try to download every video associated with the URL.

A Custom download enables you to modify this behaviour, if desired. You can use it to fetch videos from a mirror, add random delays, download video clips, download (or ignore) only livestreams, ignore videos without subtitles, or to download videos with the adverts removed.

It's important to note that a custom download behaves exactly like a regular download until you specify the new behaviour.

6.14.1 Default custom downloads

By default, Tartube provides two custom downloads.

The custom download called general applies in the Videos tab. It is used, for example, when you right-click a channel and select Custom download channel.

If you use the general custom download a lot, you can add an extra button to the Videos tab.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Windows > Videos

• Select the button Show a 'Custom download all' button in the Videos tab

The custom download called classic applies in the Classic Mode tab. To enable it, right-click the menu button in the top-right corner of the tab, and select Enable custom downloads.

6.15 Watching videos

If you've downloaded a video, you can watch it by clicking the word Player.

If you haven't downloaded the video yet, you can watch it online by clicking the word YouTube, Twitch, Website, Odysee, BitChute or Website. (One or the other will be visible).

Restricted YouTube videos (not available in your region, or not visible without a Google account) can sometimes be watched without restrictions on an alternative website, such as HookTube or an Invidious mirror such as this one.

As mentioned above, the original Invidious server has now closed. You can change the Invidious mirror that Tartube is using, if you like.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Mirrors

• Enter a new Invidious mirror in the box

• Click OK to close the window

• You can now watch a video by clicking its Invidious label

6.16 Filtering and finding videos

Beneath the videos you'll find a toolbar. The buttons are self-explanatory, except for the one on the right.

Click that button, and a larger toolbar is revealed. You can use this to filter out videos, change the order in which videos are displayed, or find a video uploaded at a certain date.

• Use the Sort box to change how videos are sorted. The button next to it can be used at any time force a re-sort

• Use the Thumbnail size box to change the size of the video grid (it doesn't affect other layouts)

• Toggle the Frame and Icons buttons to tweak the layout

You can search for videos by applying a filter. For example, you could search for videos whose name contains the word History:

• In the Filter box, type History

• The search is case-insensitive, so it doesn't matter if you type History or history

• Click the magnifiying glass button. All matching videos are displayed

• Click the cancel button next it to remove the filter

You can also search using a regular expression (regex), too. These searches are also case-insensitive. For example, to find all videos whose name begins with the word "Minecraft":

• In the Filter box, type ^Minecraft

• Click the Regex button to select it

• Click the magnifying glass button. All matching videos are displayed

• To search using ordinary text, rather than a regex, de-select the Regex button

By default, the search applies to video names. You can toggle to buttons so it applies to descriptions and/or comments, as well.

Alternatively, you can find videos uploaded around a certain date.

• Click the Find date button to select a date

• If there are several pages of videos, Tartube will show the page containing the videos uploaded closest to this date

6.17 Marking videos

You can mark videos, channels, playlists and folders that you find interesting, or which are important.

• You can bookmark a video

• You can favourite a channel, playlist or folder

Bookmarked and favourite videos shouldn't be confused with archived videos, which are protected from automatic deletion - see 6.19 Archiving videos.

6.18 Combining channels, playlists and folders

Tartube can download videos from several channels and/or playlists into a single directory (folder) on your computer's filesystem. There are four situations in which this might be useful:

• A channel has several playlists. You have added both the channel and its playlists to Tartube's database, but you don't want to download duplicate videos

• A creator releases their videos on Odysee as well as on YouTube. You have added both channels, but you don't want to download duplicate videos

• You don't care about keeping videos in separate directories/folders on your filesystem. You just want to download all videos to one location

• A separate application will process the videos, after Tartube has downloaded them

6.19 Archiving videos

You can tell Tartube to automatically delete videos after some period of time. This is useful if hard drive is smaller than the size of the observable universe.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Files > Delete

• Click the Automatically delete downloaded videos button to select it

• If you want to, change the number of days from 30 to some other value

Alternatively, you can select Remove downloaded videos from the database (but don't delete files).

If you want to protect your favourite videos from being deleted or removed automatically, you can archive them. Only videos that have actually been downloaded can be archived.

• Right-click a video, and select Video is archived

You can also archive all the videos in a channel, playlist or folder.

• For example, right-click a folder and select Channel contents > Mark videos as archived

• This action applies to all videos that are currently in the folder, including the contents of any channels and playlists in that folder

• It doesn't apply to any videos you might download in the future

6.20 Performance limits

By default, Tartube downloads two video, channels or playlists at a time, as quickly as possible (in other words, without bandwidth limits).

You can change this behaviour in the Progress tab, if you want.

• At the bottom of the tab, select the Max downloads button, and change the maximum number of simultaneous downloads

• Alternatively, select the D/L speed button, and set the maximum bandwidth you're willing to allocate to Tartube

These are the default settings. Many users might want lower download speeds during the day, but higher download speeds at night (and so on).

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Limits

• The settings in the top half of the tab are the ones visible in the Progress tab

• The settings in the bottom half of the tab apply only during certain times of the day, and on certain days

There is a third way to change Tartube's behaviour. The maximum downloads and bandwidth limits can also be set for a scheduled download (see 6.13 Scheduled downloads).

Tartube honours most requests to change the maximum downloads and the bandwidth limit, so it's not a good idea to set lots of different values.

6.21 Managing databases

Tartube downloads all of its videos into a single directory (folder) - the Tartube data directory. The contents of this directory comprise the Tartube database.

Tartube stores important files here, some of which are invisible (by default). Don't let other applications store their files here, too.

You can modify the contents of the directory yourself, if you want, but don't do that while Tartube is running.

It's fine to add new videos to the database, or to remove them. Just be careful that you don't delete any sub-directories (folders), including those which are hidden, and don't modify the Tartube database file, tartube.db.

6.22 Converting to audio

Tartube can automatically extract the audio from its downloaded videos, if that's what you want.

The first step is to make sure that either FFmpeg or AVconv is installed on your system - see 6.4 Installing FFmpeg / AVConv.

The remaining steps are simple:

• In Tartube's main window, click Edit > General download options...

• In the new window, click the Convert tab

• Select the checkbox Download each video, extract the sound, and then discard the original video

• In the boxes below, select an audio format and an audio quality

• Click the OK button at the bottom of the window to apply your changes

Alternatively, if you have enabled advanced options (see 6.12.1 Advanced download options) then the Post-processing tab will be visible, and you can do this:

• Click on the Post-processing tab

• Select the checkbox Post-process video files to convert them to audio-only files

• In the box labelled Audio format of the post-processed file, specify what type of audio file you want (.mp3, .wav, etc)

• If you want, click the button Keep video file after processing it to select it

• Click the OK button at the bottom of the window to apply your changes

Some websites, such as YouTube, allow you to download the audio (in .m4a format) directly, without downloading the whole video, and without using FFmpeg or AVconv.

• In Tartube's main window, click Edit > General download options... > Formats

• In the list on the left-hand side, select an .m4a format

• Click the Add format button to add it to the list on the right

• Click the OK button at the bottom of the window to apply your changes

6.23 Classic Mode

Tartube compiles a database of the videos, channels and playlists it has downloaded.

If you want something simpler, then click the Classic Mode tab, which has an interface that looks just like older GUIs.

• Copy and paste the URLs (links) of videos, channels and/or playlists into the box at the top

• Click the + button to select a destination. All the videos are downloaded to this location

• Select a video or audio format and resolution, or leave the default settings enabled

• The video might not exist in your preferred format, but if FFmpeg or AVConv is installed on your system, the video can be converted

• Next, click the Add URLs button

• If you like, you can add more videos/channels/playlists, using a different destination and/or a different format

• When you're ready, click the Download all button

Tartube doesn't add any of these videos to its database. When you restart Tartube, all of the URLs will be gone. However, the videos themselves will still be on your hard drive.

Because the videos aren't in a database, you can move them anywhere you want (once you've finished downloading them).

Video clips and sliced videos can be created in this tab; see 6.27.3 Video clips in Classic Mode. and - see 6.28.3 Video slices in Classic Mode.

6.24 Livestreams

Tartube can detect livestreams, and to notify you when they start. This feature works on YouTube, Odysee and Twitch. It might work on other websites, after a little configuration - see 6.24.5 Compatible websites.

Tartube can download livestreams while they are broadcasting. If streamlink is installed on your system, Tartube can use it; otherwise it will download the livestream using its .m3u manifest.

Youtube Stream Capture is deprecated, and Tartube no longer supports it.

6.24.1 Detecting livestreams

Tartube searches for livestreams whenever you check or download channels and playlists.

Livestreams are easy to spot. A livestream that hasn't started yet has a red background. A video that's streaming now has a green background. (Livestreams that have finished have a normal background.)

YouTube sometimes 'streams' a pre-recorded video at an pre-determined time, as if it were a livestream. These 'debut' or 'premiere' videos are shown in slightly different colours - orange before the stream starts, and cyan while it is in progress.

Every few minutes, Tartube checks whether a livestream (or debut) has started or stopped. This happens automatically in the background; there is no need for you to do anything.

6.24.2 Customising livestreams

You can modify how often livestreams are detected. If you are using yt-dlp, you can also prevent livestreams from being downloaded at all. Click Livestreams > Livestream preferences....

For technical reasons, there are practical limits to what Tartube can detect. On busy channels, Tartube may not be able to detect livestreams that were announced some time ago. Even if you change the number of days from 7 to a very large number, there is no guarantee that Tartube will detect everything. (If you change the value to 0, Tartube will only detect livestreams that are listed before any ordinary videos.)

By default, Tartube checks a livestream every three minutes, waiting for it to start (or stop). When a livestream is due to start, a check happens every minute. Making more frequent checks is probably not a good idea - the video website might block you.

If you want to force a check, in the main window click Livestreams > Update existing livestreams. (Checks are silent, so don't worry if nothing seems to be happening).

6.24.3 Livestream notifications

It's really useful to be notified when a livestream is starting. In the same window, click the Operations > Actions tab.

Desktop notifications do not work on MS Windows.

Tartube provides a number of sound effects. You can choose the one you want to use as an alarm. If you want to add your own sound effects, find the directory (folder) where Tartube is installed, copy the new .mp3 or .wav files into ../sounds, and then restart Tartube.

Most users will prefer to leave all of these checkboxes unselected, and instead set up notifications only for the livestreams they want to see.

• Click Notify to show a desktop notification when the stream starts (does not work on MS Windows)

• Click Alarm to sound an alarm when the stream starts

• Click Open to open the stream in your web browser as soon as it starts

• If you think the stream might be removed from the website, you can click D/L on start or D/L on stop. If you click both of them, Tartube will download the video twice. (Think of the second one as a backup, in case the first download doesn't succeed.)

To disable any of these actions, simply click the same label again.

6.25 Detecting missing videos

Tartube can detect videos you have downloaded, but which have been since deleted by the original uploader.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Missing

• (If advanced preferences are enabled, then instead click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Preferences)

• Click the button Add videos which have been removed from a channel/playlist to the Missing Videos folder to select it

Having enabled detection, removed videos will appear in the Missing Videos folder. To empty that folder, right-click it and select Folder contents > All contents > Mark as not missing.

Tartube only detects missing videos when checking/downloading whole channels or playlists. If you interrupt a download, no detection occurs.

6.26 More information about FFmpeg and AVConv

6.26.2 Using FFmpeg directly

You can process videos and thumbnails with FFmpeg directly, if you need to. This is useful for converting a file from one format to another, and for many other tasks.

• Click a video, or select several videos together

• Right-click the video(s) and select Special > Process with FFmpeg...

• The FFmpeg options window opens

FFmpeg options behave much like download options.

• You can click the Show more FFmpeg options to show advanced options

• One set of FFmpeg options is the current one

• If you want to switch to a different set, click Edit > System preferences... > Options > FFmpeg options

• FFmpeg options are saved with the Tartube database; you can Export and Import them between databases

The box at the top allows you to add FFmpeg options directly. For example, to convert the framerate of some videos to 24 fps, add the following text:

-r 24

6.26.4 Advanced FFmpeg options

Now click the Name tab again. One box shows the FFmpeg system command that will be used to process the videos.

If you click the Show more FFmpeg options button, you'll notice that the system command changes radically, and that two new tabs have appeared. Go ahead and click the new Settings tab.

This tab defines a source file and an output file.

The source file can be a video, or a thumbnail. If you select Thumbnail, then FFmpeg will process the thumbnails associated with videos listed in the Videos tab; otherwise, it will process the video files themselves.

The Output setting defines whatever you're trying to achieve. If you want FFmpeg to produce a video, then H.264 is the most useful setting (but you could also choose GIF).

When youtube-dl downloads a video, it often downloads the video and audio components seperately. The two pieces are then merged by FFmpeg. Usually, all of this happens automatically, but if the merge didn't succeed (or wasn't attempted), you can try again by selecting Merge video/audio. This settings expects to find a video file and an audio file with the same name (but with different file extensions).

If the source file is a thumbnail, then the output file must also be a thumbnail.

6.27 Video clips

Tartube can create video clips by downloading parts of a video. It can also split up a video it has already downloaded. This functionality requires FFmpeg.

Tartube can extract a list of timestamps from a video's description. It can also extract the chapter list from a video's metadata (.info.json) file. If you prefer, you can specify your own timestamps. Using this data, you can create video clips of any length.

Both video clips and the original video are normally added to Tartube's database. Of course, if you create clips in the Classic Mode tab, then they won't be added to the database - see 6.27.3 Video clips in Classic Mode.

It's important to be aware of the limitations of this feature.

• Downloading video clips might take longer than downloading the full video

• Some video formats cannot be divided into clips accurately. .mp4 is much better than .webm. If you want to download video clips, we recommend downloading in .mp4 format

• If you want clips that start and end at a particular frame, Tartube is not a suitable tool. Use a dedicated video editor instead

6.27.2 Quick video clips

After checking or downloading a video, you can right-click it and select Special > Create video clips...

The new dialogue window contains a lot of buttons, but it's actually quite simple.

• First, choose what you want to do

If you have already downloaded a video, you can select Create clips from the downloaded video. However, it is often quicker just to download the clips you want.

There are two options for downloading clips. For some users, downloading with yt-dlp might produce better results than downloading with FFmpeg, but you can use whichever method you prefer.

• Creating a single clip

A timestamp is in the form 15:29, meaning 15 minutes and 29 seconds, or 1:15:29, meaning 1 hour, 15 minutes and 29 seconds.

Each video clip is represented by two timestamps: a start and a stop timestamp. The start timestamp is compulsory. The stop timestamp is optional; if it isn't specified, then the video clip will end at the beginning of the next video clip (or at the end of the video, if there are no more.)

If you already know the start and stop timestamps for your clip, you can use this Download one clip / Create one clip section. Enter the timestamps, enter a clip title, and then click the Download clip / Create clip button. The procedure will begin immediately.

• Creating multiple clips

When you use the Download one clip / Create one clip section, the timestamps are forgotten as soon as the procedure is finished. In the section below, any timestamps you add are stored in Tartube's database permanently. (You can see them by right-clicking a video and selecting Show video > Properties... > Timestamps).

If you don't already see a list of timestamps in the window, you can click the Reset list using video description button. If this doesn't work, you will have to add the timestamps yourself.

When you're ready, you can click one of the buttons at the bottom of the window.

Download all clips / Create all clips will use all of the clips in the list. Download marked clips / Create marked clips will use only the clips you have marked. To mark a clip, select the small button on the left edge of the row.

Download all chapters is only available when you have selected Download new clips using yt-dlp. It uses yt-dlp's built-in ability to download separate video chapters; the timestamps in the list above are ignored.

6.28 Video slices

Unwanted parts of a video, such as adverts and intro/outro music, are called video slices.

Tartube can download a video with the slices removed. It can also remove slices from a video you have already downloaded. This functionality requires FFmpeg.

Tartube contacts a SponsorBlock server to get a list of video slices. Not all videos have been added to the SponsorBlock database, so you can also specify your own slices when necessary.

It's important to be aware of the limitations of this feature.

• Downloading and slicing a video might take longer than a normal download. In some cases, it might be quicker just to skip over (or watch!) the adverts

• Some video formats cannot be sliced accurately. .mp4 is much better than .webm. If you want to remove slices, we recommend downloading videos in .mp4 format

• If you want to remove slices starting and ending at a particular frame, Tartube is not a suitable tool. Use a dedicated video editor instead

6.28.2 Quick video slices

After checking or downloading a video, you can right-click it and then select Special > Remove video slices...

The new dialogue window contains a lot of buttons, but it's actually quite simple.

• First, choose what you want to do

If you have already downloaded a video, you can select Remove slices from the downloaded video. However, it is sometimes quicker just to download the a new copy of the video with the slices removed, in which case, you should select Download new sliced video.

• Removing a single slice

A timestamp is in the form 15:29, meaning 15 minutes and 29 seconds, or 1:15:29, meaning 1 hour, 15 minutes and 29 seconds.

Each video slice is represented by two values: a start and a stop value. You can use a timestamp, or a value in seconds. The start value is compulsory. The stop value is optional; if it isn't specified, then the video slice will end at the beginning of the next video slice (or at the end of the video, if there are no more.)

If you already know the start and stop values for your slice, you can use this Download sliced video / Create sliced video section. Enter the values and then click the Download sliced video / Create sliced video button. The procedure will begin immediately.

• Removing multiple slices

When you use the Download video with one slice / Create video with one slice section, the time values are forgotten as soon as the procedure is finished. In the section below, any time values you add are stored in Tartube's database permanently. (You can see them by right-clicking a video and selecting Show video > Properties... > Slices).

If you don't already see a list of time values in the window, you can click the Contact SponsorBlock to reset list button. If this doesn't work, you will have to add the time values yourself.

SponsorBlock categorises video slices, distinguishing between (for example) adverts and intro music. In this window, it is not necessary to choose a category before clicking the Add slice button, since you'll be choosing for yourself which slices to remove.

When you're ready, you can click one of the buttons at the bottom of the window.

Download video, removing all slices / Create video, removing all slices will use all of the slices in the list. Download video, removing marked slices / Create video, removing marked slices will use only the slices you have marked. To mark a slice, select the small button on the left edge of the row.

6.29 Using youtube-dl forks

youtube-dl is open-source software, and there are a number of forks available. Tartube officially supports both the original version and yt-dlp.

If a youtube-dl fork is still compatible with the original, then Tartube can use it instead of the original.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Downloaders > Forks

• In the box Other forks, enter the name of the fork

• Click OK to close the preferences window

• Now click Operations > Update <fork>, which will download (or update) the fork on your system

6.30 Video comments

yt-dlp can retrieve a video's comments (youtube-dl cannot, currently).

The comments are written to the video's metadata (.info.json) file. Tartube can also store a copy of the comments in its database.

Fetching comments will increase the length of a download, perhaps by a lot. Adding comments to Tartube's database may increase its size dramatically, meaning that on startup, the database takes much longer to load.

This is how to enable comment fetching.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Downloaders > Forks, and make sure yt-dlp is selected

• In the same window, click the tab Operations > Comments

• Select When checking videos, store comments in the metadata file

• You can also select When downloading videos, store comments in the metadata file

• You can also select Also store comments in the Tartube database

By default, the metadata file isn't kept permanently. If you want a permanent archive of video comments, you should do this:

• Click Edit > General download options... > Files > Write/move

• Make sure Write video's metadata to an .info.json file is selected

• Now click the tab Keep

• Make sure the two Keep the metadata file buttons are selected

Comments can be loaded from the metadata file into the Tartube database at any time.

• Right-click a video, and select Show video > Properties... > Comments

• If the metadata file exists, you can click the button Update from the metadata file

Alternatively, you can update the entire database at once. (This may take a long time.)

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Files > Update

• Click the button Extract comments for all videos

6.31 Dark themes on MS Windows

On Linux and MacOS, Tartube will automatically assume the desktop theme (whatever it is). That isn't technically possible on MS Windows, but if you want a darker window to match your darker desktop theme, do this:

• Click System > Change theme...

• In the new window's drop-down box, select dark, and click the OK button

• Restart Tartube to apply the darker theme

If you really want to, it's possible to add more themes to the small selection included in the MS Windows installer.

First, select a suitable theme pack. Tartube's installer includes this one. Let's imagine a future installer that doesn't include that particular theme pack; this is how you would add it.

• Locate Tartube's script folder. In Tartube's menu, click System > Show Tartube script folder

• Navigate to the \pack\mswin_themes folder

• Each of these folders specifies the name of a theme. Create a new folder called dark

• Inside that folder, create a file called settings.ini

• Open the file in a text editor, and add these lines:

  [Settings]

  gtk-theme-name=Windows10

Note that Windows10 is the name of the theme pack, not the name of your operating system.

• Re-start Tartube

• Click System > Change theme...

• Your dark should be visible in the drop-down box

Now you must install the theme pack itself at the correct location.

• Download the theme pack from the link above

• Extract it, and navigate to the gtk-3.20 folder. The files inside this folder are the ones you need to copy

• Next, in Tartube's menu, click System > Show Tartube install folder

• In the new window, navigate to msys64\mingw64\share\themes

• Create a folder called Windows10, matching the theme pack's name

• Inside that folder, create a folder called gtk-3.0

• Copy the files from the theme pack's gtk-3.20 folder into this new gtk-3.0 folder

You can now set the theme from Tartube's menu.

7.1 Tartube won't install/won't run/doesn't work

Q: I can't install Tartube / I can't run Tartube / Tartube doesn't work properly!

A: See 7.24 Doesn't work on 32-bit Windows / Windows 7 / Windows 8

A: See also 7.2 Update Tartube on MS Windows

A: On Linux, if the DEB or RPM package doesn't work, try installing via PyPI: 5.3.5 Install using PyPI

A: Please report any problems to the authors at our Github page.

As of v2.4.108, most system errors should be visible in Tartube's main window (in the Errors/Warnings tab). If not, it may be necessary to run Tartube from inside a terminal window in order to see the errors

On MS Windows, this is how to run Tartube from inside a terminal window:

• In Tartube's main menu, select System > Show Tartube install folder

• After the folder window opens, shut down Tartube

• In the folder window, click the msys64 folder to open it

• Open the terminal by double-clicking mingw64.exe

• In this window, type these commands to start Tartube (paying attention to the forward slashes):

  cd /home/user/tartube

  python3 -X utf8 tartube/tartube

7.2 Update Tartube on MS Windows

Q: You told me I need to update my Windows installation, how do I do that?

A: New installers for MS Windows are not released frequently, but small updates and fixes are uploaded frequently to Github. You can update your Tartube installation quite easily.

• Download the latest source code from Github

• In Tartube's main menu, select System > Show Tartube script folder

• A folder opens containing files such as setup.py and README.html

• Copy the downloaded source code into this folder, replacing old files with new ones

• Restart Tartube

7.3 "Download did not start" error

Q: When I try to download videos, nothing happens! In the Errors/Warnings tab, I can see "Download did not start"!

A: See 6.3 Setting the downloader's location

7.4 Can't download a video

Q: I can't download the video!

A: Make sure youtube-dl is updated; see 6.2 Updating the downloader

Before submitting a bug report, find out whether Tartube is responsible for the problem, or not. You can do this by opening a terminal window, and typing something like this:

youtube-dl <url>

...where <url> is the address of the video. If the video downloads successfully, then it's a Tartube problem that you can report. If it doesn't download, you should submit a bug report to the authors of the downloader instead. (You could also try a different downloader.)

Because most people don't like typing, Tartube offers a shortcut.

• Click Operations > Test youtube-dl, or right-click a video, and select Downloads > Test system command

• In the dialogue window, enter the link (URL) to the video

• You can add more youtube-dl download options, if you want. See here for a complete list of them

• Click the OK button to close the window and begin the test

• Click the Output tab to watch the test as it progresses

• When the test is finished, a temporary directory (folder) opens, containing anything that youtube-dl was able to download

7.5 Downloads never finish

Q: I clicked the 'Download all' button and it starts, but never finishes!

A: This generally indicates an error in the Python, Gtk and/or Tartube code. The error should be visible in the Errors/Warnings tab. See 7.1 Tartube won't install/won't run/doesn't work).

7.6 Videos are missing after a crash

Q: After I downloaded some videos, Tartube crashed, and now all my videos are missing!

A: Tartube creates a backup copy of its database, before trying to save a new copy. In the unlikely event of a failure, you can replace the broken database file with the backup file.

• Open the data directory (folder). If you're not sure where to find Tartube's data directory, you can click Edit > System preferences... > Files > Database

• Make sure Tartube is not running. The Tartube window is sometimes minimised, and sometimes only visible in the system tray

• In the data directory is the broken tartube.db file. You should rename to something else, in case you want to examine it later

• In the same directory, you might be able to see a directory called .backups

• If .backups is not visible, then it is hidden. (On many Linux and BSD systems, pressing CTRL + H will reveal hidden directories)

• Inside the .backups directory, you'll find some backup copies of the database file

• Choose the most recent one, copy it into the directory above, and rename the copy as tartube.db, replacing the old broken file

• Restart Tartube

• Click the Check All button. Tartube will update its database with any videos you've downloaded that were not in the backup database file

Tartube can make more frequent backups of your database file, if you want. See the options in Edit > System preferences... > Files > Backups.

Note that Tartube does not create backup copies of the videos you've downloaded. That is your responsibility!

7.7 Tartube database is broken

Q: The Tartube database is totally broken! How do I rebuild it? I don't want to download everything again!

A: If Tartube is able to load the database at all, then there is a built-in database repair tool. Click File > Check database integrity

A: Try loading one of the database backups - see 7.6 Videos are missing after a crash

A: If the database file (tartube.db) is not actually corrupted, you can extract a list of channels and playlists from it. The list is exported as a JSON file.

To create the export, click File > Database preferences > Dump database to JSON.

The export can then be re-imported into your current database in the normal way (see 6.21.4 Exporting/importing the database).

A: Earlier versions of Tartube did in fact introduce occasional blips into the database. It's possible (though unlikely) that some blips still exist, despite the best efforts of the authors. If you really want to rebuild the database from scratch, this is how to do it.

Firstly, click Media > Export/import > Export from database....

In the dialogue window, it's not necessary to select the button Include lists of videos. Click the OK button. Let Tartube create the backup file. You now have a backup of the names and URLs for every channel/playlist you've added.

Next, shut down Tartube.

Tartube's data folder contains the database file, tartube.db. Rename it (don't delete it).

Now you can restart Tartube. Tartube will create a brand new database file.

Click Media > Export/import > Import into database... and select the file you created moments ago.

All the channels/playlists should now be visible in the main window. Click the Check All button in the bottom-left corner and wait for it to finish.

Your new database now contains information about all the videos, but it doesn't know that most of those videos have been downloaded already. Click Operations > Refresh database... to take care of that.

A: Database files created by Tartube v1.1.0 and earlier cannot be loaded due to serialisation issues. There is possibly no way to fix this.

7.8 'Check all' button takes too long

Q: I clicked the 'Check all' button, but the operation takes so long! It only found two new videos!

A: By default, the underlying youtube-dl software checks an entire channel, even if it contains thousands of videos.

You can drastically reduce the time this takes by telling Tartube to stop checking/downloading videos, if it receives (for example) details about three videos it has already checked/downloaded.

This works well on sites like YouTube, which send information about videos in the order they were uploaded, newest first. We can't guarantee it will work on every site.

• Click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Stop

• Select the checkbox Stop checking/downloading a channel/playlist when it finds videos you already have

• In the Stop after this many videos (when checking) box, enter a number (or keep the current number)

• In the Stop after this many videos (when downloading) box, enter a number

• Click OK to close the window

7.9 'Download all' button takes too long

Q: I clicked the 'Download all' button. The whole operation took so long, even though Tartube only downloaded two new videos!

A: youtube-dl can create an archive file. The archive file remembers which videos have been downloaded, so that youtube-dl can skip them (which saves a lot of time).

To enable this functionality, click Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Archive and select Allow downloader to create its own archive file.

By default, the archive file is stored in the same folder as the video, but you can change this behaviour, if you like.

• Click Store the archive file in Tartube's data directory to create a single archive file that applies to every video, channel and playlist in Tartube's database

• Click Store the archive file at this location to create an archive file somewhere else, then click Set to choose a folder

7.10 Channel downloads one video at a time

Q: In the Progress tab, 'Max downloads' is set to 2. But when I download my favourite channel, it downloads only one video at a time!

When you add a channel (or a playlist), Tartube knows the URL of the channel, but it doesn't know anything about the videos inside it. Therefore it passes the URL of the channel to youtube-dl. Therefore the channel is downloaded, one video at a time.

You can download multiple videos from the same channel simultaneously, if you want (but it probably won't speed up your overall download).

• Right-click the channel and select Check channel

• When the operation finishes, Tartube will know the URL of each video

• In the list of videos, select every video (press CTRL + A)

• Right-click one of the videos, and select Download videos

Alternatively, you can use custom downloads (see 6.14 Custom downloads).

7.11 Tartube database file is getting in the way

Q: Tartube stores its database file in the same place as its videos. Why can't I store them in different places?

A: This question has been asked by several people who were storing their videos on some remote filesystem (perhaps in the so-called 'cloud'). They found that the videos could be downloaded to that remote location, but that Tartube couldn't save its database file there.

At the moment, the answer is 'Tartube is working fine, fix your own computer'. Perhaps in the future, someone will think of an urgent need for the database file and the data folder to be split up. Until then, there are a number of good reasons for keeping them together:

• If the database file exists in the folder, Tartube can be confident that it's downloading videos to the place you actually intended

• If Tartube can't read/write its own database file, that probably means that it won't be possible to store any videos, thumbnails, descriptions, and so on

• Tartube actually creates a number of temporary files at this location, most of which are invisible but need to be in the same place as the videos

• If you want to move your videos from one location to another, it's easy - just move a single directory (folder) and everything it contains. There is no need to reconfigure anything; just tell Tartube where to find the new directory (folder)

• Splitting up the data folder and the database file would require a lot of code to be rewritten, and this would probably introduce lots of new bugs

7.12 Duplicate video names

Q: I downloaded a channel, but some of the videos in the channel have the same name. Tartube only downloads one of them!

A: Tartube can create files with names in different formats. The name of two videos might be identical, but each video will have a unique ID, so you can add the ID to the filename.

• Click Edit > General download options... > Files > File names

• In the box Format for video file names, select Title + ID

• Click OK to close the window

7.13 Convert video to audio

Q: I want to convert the video files to audio files!

A: See 6.22 Converting to audio

7.14 Video is downloaded as separate video/audio files

Q: I downloaded a video and expected a single video file, instead Tartube downloaded several files, none of which are playable!

Q: I set the download option 'If a merge is required after post-processing, output to this format', but it doesn't work!

A: The solution to both problems is to install FFmpeg, and to set the output format correctly.

Firstly, make sure FFmpeg is installed on your system - see 6.4 Installing FFmpeg / AVConv.

Secondly, set your desired output format. Open the Download options window (for example, click Edit > General download options... > Formats). Add a format like mp4 to the List of preferred formats, then add the same format to If a merge is required after post-processing, output to this format.

For some reason, youtube-dl ignores the download option unless the format is specified in both places. (You will see a warning if you forget.)

Tartube can merge a video and audio file together, long after they have been downloaded - see 6.26 More information about FFmpeg and AVConv.

7.15 Too many folders in the main window

Q: The main window is full of folders I never use! I can't see my own channels, playlists and folders!

A: In the main window's toolbar, click the Hide (most) system folders button (a red folder)

A: In the main menu, click Media > Show/hide > Hide (most) system folders

A: Right-click the folders you don't want to see, and select Folder actions > Hide folder. To reverse this step, in the main menu click Media > Show/hide > Show hidden folders

A: In the main menu, click Edit > System preferences... > Windows > Videos, and click Show smaller icons to select it

A: If you have many channels and playlists, create a folder, and then drag-and-drop some channels/playlists into it

7.16 Not enough videos in the main window

Q: I want to see all the videos on a single page, not spread over several pages!

A: In the toolbar at the bottom of the Videos tab, set the page size to zero, and press ENTER.

7.17 Toolbar is too small

Q: The toolbar is too small! There isn't enough room for all the buttons!

A: Click Edit > System preferences... > Windows > Main window and then click Don't show labels in the main window toolbar to select it.

MS Windows users can already see a toolbar without labels.

7.18 Toolbar is too big

Q: The toolbar is too big! Make it go away!

A: Click Edit > System preferences... > Windows > Main window, and then click Don't show the main window toolbar. The new setting is applied when you restart Tartube.

7.19 YouTube name/password not accepted

Q: I added my YouTube username and password, but I am still seeing authentification errors!

A: The questioner is talking about the settings in Edit > General download options... > Advanced > Authentication.

This is a youtube-dl issue. A general solution is described in this post.

The solution describes how to create a cookies.txt file, which can be specified as a download option.

Having created the file, in the same edit window, click the Name tab. In the box labelled Additional download options, you can add:

--cookies=YT-cookies.txt

See also the Tartube thread here.

7.20 Georestriction workarounds don't work

Q: I want to download a video, but it's blocked in my region. I set the geostriction workarounds, but I still can't download the video!

A: youtube-dl provides some options for bypassing region-blocking. To show them, click Edit > General download options...

Click the Show advanced download options button if it's visible, then click the tabs Advanced > Geo-restriction.

Unfortunately, although these options exist, websites are not compelled to respect them. YouTube, in particular, may completely ignore them.

In many cases, the only remedy is to buy a subscription to a VPN (or to the video website itself).

7.21 Video website blocks me

Q: I downloaded some videos from a channel, but then YouTube blocked me, and I can't download the rest of them!

A: Change your IP address and try again.

A: Subscribe to a VPN.

A: You can specify a list of proxies (Edit > System preferences... > Operations > Proxies). During a download operation, Tartube will cycle between these proxies.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to switch between proxies while downloading a channel (youtube-dl does not offer that functionality). But the proxy list will work well if you're trying to download ten different channels.

7.22 Too many blocked videos

Q: The Videos tab is full of 'blocked' videos!

A: If Tartube detects a video that has been age-restricted, censored or otherwise blocked, it is still added to the database. Unfortunately, Tartube doesn't know anything about the video, not even when it was uploaded, so videos like this appear at the top of the list.

If you don't want to see blocked videos in the Videos tab, deselect the button in the toolbar. (If you're not sure how to use the toolbar, see see 6.16 Filtering and finding videos.)

If you don't want the blocked videos added to your database at all, you can click Edit > System preferences > Operations > Downloads, and then de-select Add censored, age-restricted and other blocked videos to the database

7.23 MS Windows installer is too big

Q: Why is the Windows installer so big?

A: Tartube is a Linux application. The installer for MS Windows contains not just Tartube itself, but a copy of Python and a whole bunch of essential graphics libraries, all of them ported to MS Windows.

Installing FFmpeg will dramatically increase the size of the installed folder.

If you're at all suspicious that such a small application uses such a large installer, you are invited to examine the installed files for yourself:

• In Tartube's main menu, select System > Show Tartube install folder

Everything is copied into this single folder. The installer doesn't modify the Windows registry, nor does it install files anywhere else (other than to the desktop and the Start Menu).

The NSIS scripts used to create the installers can be found here:

• In Tartube's main menu, select System > Show Tartube script folder

• Click the nsis folder to open it

The scripts contain full instructions, so you should be able to create your own installer and then compare it to the official one.

7.24 Doesn't work on 32-bit Windows / Windows 7 / Windows 8

Q: Tartube does not install/work on my ancient computer!

A: MSYS2 has dropped support for older Windows systems. As of November 2023, the minimum requirement is 64bit Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2.

Tartube cannot be run on any 32-bit Windows system.

Tartube can be run on Windows 7 and Windows 8, but you will need to use an older installer.

After running the installer, you can manually update Tartube to the most recent version, as described here: 7.2 Update Tartube on MS Windows.

7.25 Tartube can't detect livestreams

Q: Tartube can't detect upcoming livestreams at all!

A: Click Edit > System preferences... General > Modules.

If the Python feedparser module is not available, you can install it via PyPI. On Linux/BSD, the command to use is something like:

pip3 install feedparser

The Tartube installer for 64-bit MS Windows already contains a copy of feedparser, so there is no need to install it again.

7.26 Livestream is already finished

Q: Tartube is showing a livestream that finished hours/days/centuries ago!

A: Right-click the video and select Livestream > Not a livestream.

7.27 Can't hear livestream alarms

Q: I set an alarm for an upcoming livestream, but I didn't hear anything!

A: Obviously you have already checked that your speakers are turned on, so now click Edit > System preferences... > General > Modules.

If the Python playsound module is not available, you can install it via PyPI. On Linux/BSD, the command to use is something like:

pip3 install playsound

The Tartube installer for 64-bit MS Windows already contains a copy of playsound, so there is no need to install it again.

7.28 Some icons not visible

Q: Icons in the Videos tab are broken! They all look the same!

Q: Icons in the Classic Mode tab are broken! They all look the same!

A: Since v2.4, Tartube uses a set of custom icons, replacing system (stock) icons. This was because some users were complaining that their (broken) systems didn't provide the stock icons.

If you want to restore stock icons, click Edit > System preferences... > Windows > Main window and then click Replace stock icons with custom icons (in case stock icons are not visible) to deselect it. Click the OK button to close the window, then restart Tartube.

7.29 Video thumbnails not visible

Q: Tartube doesn't download video thumbnails any more! It used to work fine!

A: In June 2020, YouTube changed its image format from .jpg to .webp. Unfortunately, most software (including the graphics libraries used by Tartube) don't support .webp images yet. Worse still, YouTube begain sending .webp thumbnails mislabelled as .jpg files.

In September 2020, Tartube and youtube-dl added separate fixes for this problem. These fixes both depend on FFmpeg, so they won't work if FFmpeg is not installed on your system - see 6.4 Installing FFmpeg / AVConv.

If you have already downloaded a lot of .webp images, you can ask Tartube to convert them back to .jpg. Once converted, they will be visible in the main window.

• Click Operations > Tidy up files...

• In the dialogue window, click Convert .webp files to .jpg using FFmpeg to select it, then click the OK button

7.30 Video text not visible

Q: I can't see the text below each video!

A: If the background colours in the Videos and Drag and Drop tabs are getting in the way, you can change them: click Edit > Sysem preferences... > Windows > Colours.

7.31 Graphs not visible

Q: My buddy installed Tartube, and he showed me some download history graphs. But when I looked for that on my computer, I couldn't find them!

A: Tartube shows download statistics in a number of places, for example Edit > System preferences... > Files > History.

The graphs are created by matplotlib, but none of the Tartube installers include it (because it's quite a large download). If you want graphs, you have to install matplotlib yourself.

On Linux/BSD, use your system's software manager.

On MS Windows, click Operations > Install matplotlib...

7.32 Tartube is not visible in the system tray

Q: Tartube is not visible in the system tray! There is just an empty space where the Tartube icon should be!

A: This problem exists on certain Linux desktop environments (e.g. Cinnamon) which have still not fixed an ancient bug. The bug is related to a message you might be able to see in a terminal window:

gdk_window_thaw_toplevel_updates: assertion 'window->update_and_descendants_freeze_count > 0' failed.

Other desktop environments (e.g. MATE) display the Tartube icon correctly.

7.33 Tartube is not portable

Q: I want to install Tartube on a USB stick. How do I make Tartube portable?

A: On MS Windows, download the portable edition rather than the usual installer - see 5.1 Installation - MS Windows.

A: On other operating systems, just download the source code and run it. Installation is not necessary (as long as you have installed the correct dependencies) - see 5.3.10 Run without installing.

Tartube looks for a configuration file in two places: firstly, the directory (folder) containing the source code (the one that contains a setup.py file), and then, the default location for the system.

If it doesn't find a configuration file in either location, it creates one in the default location for your system.

However, you can create an empty settings.json file in the source code directory. If Tartube sees that empty file, it starts writing config files to that location, rather than to the default location. The source code directory is now truly portable, since when you move it somewhere, its configuration file moves with it.

You can see both locations by clicking Edit > System preferences... > Files > Config.

7.34 Run out of disk space

Q: When I try to download videos, Tartube refuses, complaining "You have only X / Y Mb remaining on your device". But I'm using an external hard drive with over a trillion terabytes of empty space!

A: Some users have reported that, when using a virtual machine (e.g. VirtualBox), and when downloading videos to a separate filesystem (e.g. an external hard drive), Tartube checks the size of the virtual filesystem instead of the external drive.

This seems to be an issue with the virtualisation software itself (we have confirmed that everything works as expected on a non-virtual system).

The only thing that can be done is to disable the checks and warnings altogether. Click Edit > System preferences > Files > Device, and deselect both Before checking/downloading videos, warn user if disk space is less than and Halt downloads if disk space is less than.

7.35 Cannot embed thumbnails in videos

Q: In download options, I enabled embedding thumbnails in my downloaded videos, but it doesn't work!

A: Make sure you have installed FFmpeg.

A: Make sure you have not disabled the setting to remove .webp thumbnails after converting them to another format. Open Edit > System preferences > Operations > Downloads. If Convert .webp thumbnails into .jpg thumbnails is enabled, then ...but don't delete the original thumbnails should also be enabled.

7.36 Cannot install FFmpeg

Q: I'm trying to install Tartube on MS Windows. When Tartube prompts me to install FFmpeg, the installation fails!*

A: The software library that makes FFmpeg available for download breaks frequently. The only solution is to wait for the library to be fixed (but please still report the problem to Tartube's authors in the usual way).

This issue only affects users on MS Windows.

7.37 Annoying messages after downloads

Q: Every time Tartube downloads videos, it shows an annoying dialogue window. Make it stop!

A: The dialogues can be disabled in Edit > System preferences > Operations > Actions > Don't notify the user at the end of an operation.

7.38 No puedo hablar inglés

Q: ¡No puedo usar Tartube porque no hablo inglés!

A: Necesitamos más traductores.

If you would like to contribute a translation of this project, please read this document.

Contributions can be made using Tartube's Weblate page, if that is convenient.