Typing the same options into every getiplayer command gets old fast. Your output folder, your preferred quality, your subtitle habit: the tool can remember all of it for you. That memory is the getiplayer options file, a small settings file in your profile that applies your defaults to every run. This guide shows you where the options file lives, how its simple format works, the settings worth saving first, and how presets let you keep more than one setup. By the end, your everyday commands will shrink to a name and a verb.
What the options file is
The options file is a plain text file where each line saves one get_iplayer setting. Any option you could type on the command line, such as your download folder or your default programme type, can be written into the file instead. From then on, get_iplayer applies those settings automatically whenever it runs, whether you start it yourself or your PVR schedule does.
You will find it in your profile folder. On Linux and Mac it lives at ~/.get_iplayer/options. On Windows it sits in the .get_iplayer folder under your user profile. That folder also holds your programme cache and your saved PVR searches, so everything personal to your setup lives in one place, separate from the program files. Updating get_iplayer never touches it.
The format: one setting per line
There is no complicated syntax to learn. Each line of the file holds a setting name and its value, in the same spirit as the command-line options but without the dashes. Two lines you might write on your first day look like this:
output /media/downloads
type radio
The first tells get_iplayer where finished recordings go. The second makes radio your default type, so plain searches lean towards BBC Sounds. Save the file, run any command, and the settings are quietly in force. If a setting is accepted on the command line, its equivalent generally belongs in this file, which makes experimenting easy: when you find yourself retyping an option, move it here.
Set your output folder first
The single most valuable line in most options files is the output folder. By default, getiplayer saves recordings in its standard location, which may not be where your media lives. Point output at the drive or folder you actually use, perhaps an external disk with room for a growing library, and every download, manual or PVR, lands there from then on.
This pays off most with the PVR. A scheduled run recording a series at 6 a.m. should not fill your system drive while you sleep. One saved line prevents that entire category of surprise.
Save your everyday defaults
Beyond the output folder, save whatever describes your normal use:
- type, if most of your recording is one kind of programme.
- modes, if you have a standing quality preference, such as standard definition to save space or high definition for the big screen.
- subs, if you want subtitles included with TV downloads as a matter of course.
- thumb, if you like thumbnails and metadata embedded in your files.
- aactomp3, if your radio listening happens on a player that only accepts MP3.
Start with two or three lines rather than saving everything at once. Defaults you grow gradually are defaults you understand, and a small, clear options file is easy to fix if your habits change.
Control your file names with file-prefix
Default file names are serviceable, but the --file-prefix setting lets you shape them properly. It builds names from tokens that get_iplayer fills in for each programme:
<name>for the programme name.<episode>for the episode title.<pid>for the programme ID, which guarantees unique names.<mode>for the quality mode the recording used.
A prefix like <name>-<episode> gives you tidy, readable names that sort well in a folder. Adding <pid> is a quiet insurance policy: two episodes that share a title can never collide or overwrite each other. Set file-prefix in the options file and every recording, present and future, follows your scheme.
Presets: more than one saved setup
What if you download in two distinct ways? Perhaps radio at standard quality for the car, and television in high definition for home. The options file holds one default setup, and presets hold the others. You can save named sets of options as presets and load the one you need with --preset.
A preset is a tidy way to keep a special-purpose configuration, such as a travel setup that grabs standard definition and subtitles into a laptop folder, without disturbing your everyday defaults. Most users manage with the options file alone, but presets earn their place the moment your recording habits split in two.
A sample options file
Putting it together, a realistic options file for a mixed TV and radio user might read:
output /media/getiplayer
modes hvfhd
subs 1
thumb 1
file-prefix <name>-<episode>-<pid>
Five short lines, and from now on a plain get_iplayer --get "Programme Name" produces a high definition recording with subtitles and artwork, in the right folder, with a clean unique name. The command line did not get longer; the file did the remembering.
Editing the file without breaking it
The options file rewards a gentle touch. Because it is plain text, you edit it in any basic editor, the simpler the better, since word processors can add formatting that a settings file does not want. Change one line at a time, save, and run a quick get_iplayer search to confirm everything still behaves. If you try a setting and dislike the result, deleting its line removes it completely; there is no hidden residue.
Before a big tidy-up, copy the file somewhere safe. That ten-second backup means you can experiment freely, knowing your working setup is one copy away. Many long-time users keep their options file in their regular document backups for the same reason they back up their PVR folder: the file is small, personal, and annoying to rebuild from memory.
One setting, one home
A final habit keeps all of this painless: decide where each default lives and keep it there. Standing preferences belong in the options file. One-off choices, a lower quality for a single huge download or a different folder for a one-time recording, belong on that command. Mixing the two is how people end up puzzled about why a setting stuck. Keep the file for your habits and the command line for your exceptions, and your getiplayer setup will always behave the way you expect.
If you share a computer, remember that the options file belongs to your user profile. Your settings, cache, and PVR searches are yours alone, and another person’s account on the same machine keeps its own separate setup.
Conclusion
The getiplayer options file is a small file with an outsized effect on daily use. It sits in your .get_iplayer profile folder, takes one setting per line, and quietly applies your output folder, quality, subtitle, and naming choices to every run, PVR included. Add presets when your habits split into two setups, and load them with --preset. Spend ten minutes writing yours today, and plain getiplayer commands will do the rest of your remembering for good.
Read next: