Clip is a Windows-only WinUI 3 desktop app for downloading video and audio from supported links. It uses yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and ffprobe for media work, and keeps a native Windows shell with tray behavior, clipboard monitoring, queue controls, history, trim, compression, and update helpers.
- Features
- Screenshots
- Supported Services
- Tray Menu
- TXT Import
- Tool Security
- Build
- Portable Build
- Installer
- Code Signing
- License
- Third-Party Binaries
- Troubleshooting
- Local Data
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Native Windows UI | WinUI 3 window, Mica backdrop, Windows tray icon, and Windows file pickers. |
| Single link downloads | Paste or drop a supported URL and Clip analyzes it automatically. |
| TXT import | Import a .txt file with one or more links. Duplicate links are queued once. |
| Clipboard monitoring | Clip can detect supported URLs copied to the clipboard. |
| Queue | Multiple downloads can be queued, paused, resumed, retried, canceled, and opened from history. |
| Metadata cache | Video metadata is cached locally to make repeated analysis faster. |
| Formats | MP4, MOV, WebM, and MP3. |
| Resolution | 4K, 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p, or Original. |
| Target size | Keep the original size or compress to a custom megabyte target. |
| Clip range | Download the full media or save a selected trim range. |
| Processing options | Fast or exact trim, compression mode, hardware encoder preference, and concurrent yt-dlp fragments. |
| Tool updates | Check and update bundled yt-dlp from the app with SHA-256 verification. |
| Service | Notes |
|---|---|
| YouTube / YouTube Shorts | Public links work without cookies. If YouTube asks for sign-in, Clip can try browser cookies. |
| X / Twitter | Availability depends on X platform restrictions. |
| Some links require an active browser login. | |
| TikTok | Public links usually work through yt-dlp. |
Links are resolved through api.reddit.com. |
Unsupported services are ignored by clipboard monitoring, TXT import, and drag and drop. Manual downloads still depend on yt-dlp support, but automatic clipboard analysis is limited to the services above.
When Hide to tray on close is enabled, the Windows close button hides the window instead of exiting. The tray menu can show or hide Clip, paste a link, start the current download, pause or resume the queue, and exit the app.
A TXT file can contain links on separate lines or mixed with common separators:
https://youtu.be/example1
https://youtu.be/example2 https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123
https://x.com/user/status/123; https://www.instagram.com/reel/example/
https://youtu.be/example3: https://reddit.com/r/videos/comments/example
Duplicate links are queued once. Imported links are added to the normal queue immediately, so they are analyzed and downloaded with the same progress, cancellation, retry, history, and privacy behavior as pasted links. Low-level yt-dlp -a links.txt command support exists in the core command builder for a future dedicated batch job UI.
Release builds use bundled tools only by default:
Resources\bin\win-x64\yt-dlp.exe
Resources\bin\win-x64\ffmpeg.exe
Resources\bin\win-x64\ffprobe.exe
Resources\bin\win-x64\aria2c.exe
PATH fallback is disabled unless the user explicitly enables Allow external tools from PATH in Settings and restarts the app. When external tools are enabled, the Check buttons show the full executable path and mark it as an external PATH executable.
The built-in yt-dlp updater only downloads assets from https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/download/, downloads the release checksum file, verifies SHA-256, then starts the downloaded executable with --version before replacing the bundled binary. Failed updates remove the .download file and keep a .bak backup for rollback.
Requirements:
- Windows 10 19041 or newer.
- .NET 8 SDK.
- Windows App SDK dependencies restored through NuGet.
Place optional bundled tools here:
resources\bin\win-x64\yt-dlp.exe
resources\bin\win-x64\ffmpeg.exe
resources\bin\win-x64\ffprobe.exe
Build commands:
dotnet restore .\Clip.sln --configfile NuGet.Config -p:Platform=x64
dotnet build .\Clip.sln -c Debug -p:Platform=x64Run from source:
dotnet run --project .\Clip\Clip.csproj -p:Platform=x64Run tests:
dotnet run --project .\Clip.Tests\Clip.Tests.csproj -c ReleaseSecurity checks:
dotnet list .\Clip.sln package --vulnerable --include-transitive
dotnet list .\Clip.sln package --deprecatedCreate a portable Windows build:
.\scripts\publish-unpackaged.ps1Output:
artifacts\Clip-win-x64\Clip.exe
Move the whole Clip-win-x64 folder when distributing the portable build.
Create a single-file installer:
.\scripts\build-installer.ps1Output:
artifacts\ClipSetup.exe
The installer places the app in:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Clip
Uninstall:
.\artifacts\ClipSetup.exe /uninstallClip also appears in Windows Settings -> Apps -> Installed apps. For local cleanup from the repository, use:
.\scripts\uninstall.ps1By default, uninstall removes only the app, shortcuts, and uninstall entry. History, settings, and logs in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Clip are preserved. To remove user data too:
.\scripts\uninstall.ps1 -RemoveUserDataPublic releases should be signed with a trusted code-signing certificate. A self-signed certificate is useful only for local testing.
Create a test certificate:
mkdir certs
$cert = New-SelfSignedCertificate `
-Type CodeSigningCert `
-Subject "CN=Clip Dev" `
-CertStoreLocation "Cert:\CurrentUser\My" `
-HashAlgorithm SHA256
$password = Read-Host "PFX password" -AsSecureString
Export-PfxCertificate `
-Cert $cert `
-FilePath .\certs\clip-dev.pfx `
-Password $passwordBuild and sign Clip.exe inside the installer, then sign ClipSetup.exe:
$password = Read-Host "PFX password" -AsSecureString
.\scripts\build-installer.ps1 `
-CertificatePath .\certs\clip-dev.pfx `
-CertificatePassword $passwordVerify the signature:
signtool verify /pa /v .\artifacts\ClipSetup.exesigntool.exe is included with the Windows SDK and is available from Visual Studio Developer PowerShell. Keep certificates, .pfx files, and passwords out of git.
Clip is distributed under GPL-3.0-only. New source files should include this SPDX header:
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-onlyThe repository keeps placeholder folders under resources/bin/* and does not commit third-party binaries. Before publishing a release that bundles yt-dlp, ffmpeg, ffprobe, or aria2c, update THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md with exact versions, binary providers, checksums, licenses, and FFmpeg build configuration.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
Missing required binary |
Check yt-dlp.exe, ffmpeg.exe, and ffprobe.exe in resources\bin\win-x64. Public builds do not use PATH unless the setting is enabled. |
Sign in to confirm you're not a bot |
Sign in to YouTube in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Brave, then retry. |
Could not copy Chrome cookie database |
Close Chrome and retry. Clip can also try Edge, Firefox, or Brave if available. |
Clip could not locate the output file |
Update yt-dlp.exe, check the output folder, and verify write permissions. |
| SmartScreen warning | Sign the release with a trusted code-signing certificate. |
| Drag and drop did not work | Drop URL text, a browser address bar link, or a .txt file into the Clip window. |
Downloads: %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\Clip
History: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Clip\history.json
Settings: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Clip\settings.json
Log: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Clip\logs\clip.log
Cache: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Clip\cache\metadata
History can be disabled in Settings. Store only history titles keeps titles but omits saved URLs, formats, resolutions, and local output paths. Metadata cache can also be disabled or cleared from Settings; oversized and expired cache files are pruned automatically before new metadata is saved.