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Thumbnails do not display #38
Description
If you use a Proxy in the program settings or an external VPN, thumbnails do not appear next to the videos in the program window when adding links. Instead of a thumbnail, there is a standard gray box. Can this be fixed? So that thumbnails display in the program window regardless of whether a Proxy or VPN is being used.
Activity
hstr0100 commentedon Sep 28, 2025
Are you able to download anything at all through a proxy or VPN?
Unless a cookies.txt file is set up, or "Read Cookies From Browser" is enabled (and a supported browser such as Firefox is logged in to YouTube), YouTube usually detects unauthenticated VPN traffic as a bot and blocks thumbnail/metadata requests and downloads.
If you are certain that GDownloader is configured to read cookies (you can confirm this by trying to download your Likes playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=LL), then I can mark this as a bug.
ipwin-github commentedon Sep 28, 2025
Yes, the video, thumbnail, and description file download without any problems when using a Proxy or VPN. Everything downloads as it would with a general Proxy, and also when using a Proxy that only goes through GDownloader itself.
Yes, the cookies.txt file is configured and always enabled. The "Read Cookies From Browser" function is disabled because enabling it causes an error, and no videos are downloaded.
But I think I understand what the problem is. I only use portable versions of browsers, including Chrome, and GDownloader looks for cookies in "C:\Users\Admin-PC\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data", but mine are located in C:\GoogleChromePortable\User Data. Could this be the reason why thumbnails are not displayed in the program window?
Although I just tried downloading a video using the installed MS Edge. I logged into my YouTube account, configured yt-dlp_cookies.txt, enabled the "Read Cookies From Browser" option, specified "Microsoft Edge" as the cookie source, but the thumbnails still don't appear in the program window, and the video also doesn't download. Error:
If I disable the "Read Cookies From Browser" option, then everything downloads without any problems, but the thumbnails still don't appear in the program window.
No, this specific playlist won't download, error:
Regular playlists download without any problems.