How to Download HLS Streams

What are HLS Streams?

HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) files with .m3u8 extension are playlist files that contain references to video segments. They require special tools to download the complete video.

Method 1: Using yt-dlp (Recommended)

yt-dlp is the most reliable tool for downloading HLS streams.

Installation:

macOS:

brew install yt-dlp

Or using pip:

pip install yt-dlp

Windows:

winget install yt-dlp

Or download from: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases

Usage:

Basic download:

yt-dlp "YOUR_M3U8_URL_HERE"

Download best quality:

yt-dlp -f best "YOUR_M3U8_URL_HERE"

Save with custom filename:

yt-dlp -o "video.mp4" "YOUR_M3U8_URL_HERE"

Method 2: Using FFmpeg

FFmpeg is another powerful tool for downloading HLS streams.

Installation:

macOS:

brew install ffmpeg

Windows:

Download from: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html

Usage:

ffmpeg -i "YOUR_M3U8_URL_HERE" -c copy output.mp4

Method 3: Browser Extensions

  • Video DownloadHelper - Firefox/Chrome extension
  • HLS Downloader - Chrome extension
  • Stream Recorder - Downloads HLS streams directly

Tips for HLS Downloads

  • Always use quotes around URLs containing special characters
  • Some streams may be geo-restricted or time-limited
  • If one method fails, try another tool
  • For best results, download soon after extracting the URL

Important Note

HLS URLs often expire after a certain time. If you get an error, try extracting a fresh URL from the original page.