diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 3ff33c1567..43e5114ea1 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -553,6 +553,10 @@ The current default template is `%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s`. In some cases, you don't want special characters such as δΈ­, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title: +#### Output template and Windows batch files + +If you are using output template inside a Windows batch file then you must escape plain percent characters (`%`) by doubling, so that `-o "%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s"` should become `-o "%%(title)s-%%(id)s.%%(ext)s"`. However you should not touch `%`'s that are not plain characters, e.g. environment variables for expansion should stay intact: `-o "C:\%HOMEPATH%\Desktop\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"`. + #### Output template examples Note on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.