Shell Interpretation Errors (zsh: no matches found)
You’re using the Z shell (zsh), which has strict globbing (filename expansion) rules. Characters like ?
, !
, *
, and []
are treated specially. In your YouTube URL (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg-cx5OiEQ
), the !
can cause unexpected behavior, leading to the zsh: no matches found
error.
Solution:
To prevent zsh from interpreting special characters in the URL, always enclose URLs in quotes. You can use either single (' '
) or double (" "
) quotes. Here’s how you can modify your commands:
Example Commands:
- Basic Download:bashCopy
yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg-cx5OiEQ"
Or using single quotes:bashCopyyt-dlp 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg-cx5OiEQ'
- Specifying Formats:bashCopy
yt-dlp -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best' "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg-cx5OiEQ"
- Downloading Audio Only:bashCopy
yt-dlp -x "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg-cx5OiEQ"
Alternative: Escaping Special Characters
If you prefer not to use quotes, you can escape special characters with a backslash (\
):
bashCopyyt-dlp https://www.youtube.com/watch\?v\=rNg-cx5OiEQ
However, using quotes is generally more straightforward and less error-prone.