Media Downloader Guide

1. Install and remove

1. Download the Windows setup and run it.
2. Choose a dedicated installation folder and whether to create desktop and Start menu shortcuts.
3. The installer checks the included yt-dlp, FFmpeg, and FFprobe files and installs for your Windows account. It does not request administrator access. Installation itself requires no additional download.
4. Open Media Downloader from your chosen shortcut. If you disable both shortcuts, run the included PowerShell launcher from the installation folder.

For manual setup, download the complete ZIP, extract it, then run Install.cmd.

Setup uses a dedicated per-user local folder by default. You can choose another writable, dedicated folder on a local drive. Setup rejects shared system locations, folders containing unrelated files and links to other folders. An existing installation keeps its registered location; uninstall it first if you want to move it.

The complete ZIP is about 89 MB because it contains the app and all three required engine executables.

Close the app before updating or removing it. Running setup again updates or repairs the registered installation while retaining preferences. When upgrading an older installation, replaced application files are backed up in the local data folder. Setup constructs and checks the actual interface before reporting success.

Remove Media Downloader from Settings → Apps → Installed apps, or run Uninstall.cmd. Removal keeps your downloaded media and saved preferences. Files you changed or added inside the installation folder are left in place.

Older releases: the original 0.1.4-test package remains available unchanged. The small 0.1.3-to-0.1.4 startup repair is only for that historical upgrade; it does not install the new interface.

This package is not code-signed. Windows may therefore ask for confirmation before running its scripts.

2. Use

1. Paste one supported media URL.
2. Choose MP4 video or MP3 audio. For MP4, choose Best, 1080p, or 720p.
3. Choose an output folder.
4. Select Download. Progress and engine output remain visible in the app.

The app processes one URL at a time and does not automatically expand playlists. Opening it again brings the existing window forward instead of starting another download controller.

The header offers Light Gray and Dark. Settings also offers Light and Pitch Black / OLED. Light Gray is the default for new users; existing preferences are retained. The app uses the native Windows interface font. Its footer keeps Guide and Settings available, including when you hide the header in Settings.

3. Data behavior

The website serves the installer package. It does not receive the URL entered in the desktop app and does not relay the media.

The installed app contacts the supplied source and any endpoints required by its retrieval engine. Downloaded media and conversion work stay on the user’s computer. Media Downloader has no account, analytics, advertising, remote history, or clipboard monitoring.

Preferences, job files and diagnostics are stored locally in a dedicated per-user data folder, separately from application files. Existing theme and output-folder settings are migrated when no newer settings exist. Job files and diagnostics can contain source URLs; they stay on your computer.

Website preferences are separate from the installed app’s settings.

4. Formats

Output quality is bounded by what the source makes available. Conversion cannot create missing detail.

5. Limits

• 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 are the current release target.
• An internet connection is required. This is local processing, not offline retrieval.
• Supported URLs can change when source sites or the retrieval engine change.
• The included engines stay at their release versions until a newer Media Downloader package is published.
• The app does not import browser cookies or authenticated sessions.
• DRM-protected streams are not supported.

6. Architecture

Media Downloader is a per-user Windows PowerShell/WPF application. The release pins the engine versions so retrieval and conversion use a known toolchain.

The app starts yt-dlp as a child process, passes the selected format and output folder, reads line-oriented progress, and can stop the active process. There is no site-operated media proxy, database, account service, or remote job queue.

The downloadable package carries the interface source, installation and removal scripts, architecture notes, design rules, change history, test procedure, and third-party component record so another developer or AI collaborator can continue it without reconstructing the project from a chat transcript.

7. Verification

Automated checks cover website routes, both versioned downloads, archive integrity, exact bundled engines, preservation of old release bytes and shared interface resources. The Windows smoke-test workflow checks startup, themes, preferences, installation and removal where a Windows runner is available.

The project is Complete and maintained. The published version retains its historical -test suffix because that suffix is part of the verified release identity. This status does not imply full Windows 10 and 11 device coverage; automated checks and hands-on use provide different evidence.

8. Source and licence

Download the complete site and application source package. Media Downloader’s original code is released under the MIT License: you may use, modify and redistribute it, including commercially, while retaining the required notices. Current public source packaging uses the Media Downloader name; immutable historical downloads retain their original filenames.

The Windows package includes pinned yt-dlp and FFmpeg executables as separate programs. They retain their own licences; their exact versions, checksums, original release locations, corresponding-source locations, build record, and licence texts travel inside the package.

Use Node.js 24 for the repository workflow.

npm ci
npm test
npm run dev

Website settings

Main site and the named parents above the page follow the site’s hierarchy. Guide and Settings use local pages where available.

Settings lets you hide the header and choose Light, Light Gray, Dark or Pitch Black / OLED. Light Gray is the first-visit default. The parent row and footer remain available when the header is hidden.

Choose System, DM Sans, Outfit, or Outfit headings with DM Sans body text in Settings. The preview and interface change immediately. Outfit is the first-visit default; fonts are served by these websites. Your saved selection is preserved.

Theme, header and font preferences are shared across andrazdjuric.com websites in this browser. They contain no document data or visitor identifier and are separate from installed application settings.

Contact in the footer opens the main site’s contact options in a new tab. Use it for questions, problem reports or suggestions.

The shared interface rules explain navigation, link markers, themes, raised surfaces and control states.