Media Link Downloader

Your notes are full of video links you’ll want later: research clips, references, posts that might get deleted tomorrow. Grabbing them means copying the URL, opening a terminal or some sketchy website, and then dragging the file back into your vault. Media Link Downloader puts a download button right next to the link and saves the file straight into a vault folder.

Features

• ↓ icon next to every supported link In Reading view, Live Preview, the Properties panel (list properties too), and Bases views.
• Supported links YouTube (watch, Shorts, embed, live, youtu.be), X / Twitter status posts, and TikTok videos (including vm. and vt. short links).
• Pick your quality per download Best (merged MP4), up to 1080p, up to 720p, up to 480p, Audio only, or MP3.
• Saves into your vault Defaults to Attachments/Media, with a “Save to” box on every download that autocompletes your vault folders.
• Clean file names Each file is named after the video title plus its ID, so nothing overwrites anything.
• YouTube cookie support Use your Firefox (recommended), Edge, or Chrome login, or point it at a cookies.txt file. A Test button checks that YouTube accepts your cookies and tells you the highest resolution it can get.
• Automatic retries If the first attempt fails, it tries a few alternate yt-dlp strategies on its own before giving up.
• Tool status at a glance The settings tab shows whether yt-dlp and ffmpeg were found (with their paths), plus a Detect again button.
• One-click yt-dlp install and update on Windows Right from settings.
• Helpful error messages For the usual problems: YouTube asking for login, locked Chrome cookies, or a format that isn’t available.
• Commands “Download media from clipboard URL” and “Refresh download icons”.
• Toggle the ↓ icon On or off any time.

Setup: yt-dlp and ffmpeg

• yt-dlp (required). The plugin looks for it in this order: the Custom yt-dlp path setting, a copy it installed into <vault>/.obsidian/media-link-downloader-bin/, then yt-dlp on your system PATH (on Windows it also checks the WinGet and Scoop shim folders). On Windows, Settings > Media Link Downloader > Install / Update yt-dlp downloads the latest official build for you. On macOS and Linux, install yt-dlp yourself (Homebrew, pip, or your package manager) and, if the plugin can’t see it, paste its full path into Custom yt-dlp path.
• ffmpeg (strongly recommended). The plugin doesn’t install ffmpeg, but you’ll want it: it’s what merges separate video and audio streams into one MP4 (the 1080p / 720p / 480p options depend on this), and it’s needed for Audio only and MP3. The plugin finds ffmpeg on your PATH (and the WinGet / Scoop folders on Windows). Windows quick install: winget install Gyan.FFmpeg.

Only download content you have the right to save.

Install

1. Download and unzip media-link-downloader-1.0.26.zip.
2. Move the media-link-downloader folder into <your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/ (.obsidian is a hidden folder, so turn on hidden files if you don’t see it). You should end up with <your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/media-link-downloader/main.js.
3. Restart Obsidian.
4. Go to Settings > Community plugins, turn off Restricted mode if it’s on, and enable Media Link Downloader.
5. Open Settings > Media Link Downloader and make sure yt-dlp and ffmpeg both show a green check.

License

Personal license for one person, in any of your own vaults, including paid work you do yourself. Every Media Link Downloader 1.x update is included. Read the plugin license.

Buying for a team? A Team license covers up to 5 people at one organization (employees or contractors), and you can reassign seats when someone leaves. Team license: $44.99. Request it by email: support@schimkestudios.com. More than 5 people? Email us for a quote.

Downloads: no download limit, and no expiry while the product is on sale. If a plugin is ever discontinued, your download stays available in your account for at least 12 months after we announce it.