"Video unavailable. This content isn't available", How to Fix the YouTube Error

Updated June 2026·5 min read

TL;DR This usually happens because you passed your YouTube account/cookies to a download tool, which is not recommended and can get your account temporarily or permanently suspended. The fix: download without your account/cookies, stop all requests with that account, and wait (normally 1 hour to 7 days, rarely longer). When you resume, add a delay between downloads.

Why you're seeing this

This usually happens because you tried to download videos using your YouTube account by passing cookies to a download tool. Passing your account or cookies is not recommended, it may result in temporary or permanent suspension of your account by YouTube.

How to fix it

Download without your account/cookies. Don't authenticate the download tool with your YouTube account.
Stop all requests with that account and wait. Depending on your usage, the limit normally lifts in 1 hour to 7 days. In rare cases it can take longer than 7 days. YouTube can change these limits and suspensions whenever they want.

When you download again

Always add a delay between each download to avoid the risk of rate limiting:

yt-dlp --sleep-interval 5 --max-sleep-interval 10

You can also limit the data usage. For example, to cap it at 5 megabytes per second:

yt-dlp --limit-rate 5M

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