Introduction

Coursera is one of the most popular and extensive online educational platforms available today. It has partnered with prestigious universities, educational institutions, and organizations to offer online courses, specializations, and degrees in numerous subjects—including engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and many more.

While Coursera allows you to watch courses online, sometimes you may want to download the content for offline viewing or archival purposes, especially after you've paid for the content. This guide will show you how to use the command-line tool coursera-dlp to download your enrolled Coursera courses efficiently and organize them for offline access.

Important Note: The original post mentioned coursera-dl, but this tool is no longer actively maintained. We'll be using coursera-dlp, which is the actively maintained fork with additional features and fixes.

Why Use coursera-dlp?

There are several ways to download online course content, including generic tools like youtube-dl, you-get, or wget. However, these have significant limitations when it comes to Coursera:

Video filenames often have numbers that don't correspond to the actual course order, requiring manual renaming
Using wget in a loop often downloads extra or duplicate videos
Most tools don't allow downloading multiple courses simultaneously
Generic tools don't preserve the course structure and organization

coursera-dlp solves these problems and offers additional features specifically designed for Coursera courses:

Properly organizes content by week and lesson
Maintains the correct order of videos and materials
Downloads subtitles, slides, and additional resources
Allows batch downloading of multiple courses or entire specializations
Creates playlists for seamless offline viewing

Installing coursera-dlp

Installing coursera-dlp is straightforward using pip:

pip install coursera-dlp

For a system-wide installation (requires administrator privileges):

sudo pip install coursera-dlp

System Requirements

Python 3.7 or higher
pip package manager
An active Coursera account with enrolled courses

Authentication Methods

Before you can download courses, you need to authenticate with Coursera. There are three main ways to authenticate:

Method 1: Using Email and Password

coursera-dlp -u your.email@example.com -p yourPassword courseSlug

While simple, this method may not work reliably due to Coursera's security measures and may trigger CAPTCHA challenges.

Method 2: Using Cookies (Recommended)

This more reliable method uses your browser cookies:

Log in to Coursera in your browser
Install a cookie export extension:
- For Chrome: "EditThisCookie" or "Cookie-Editor"
- For Firefox: "Cookie Quick Manager" or "Cookie-Editor"
Export cookies as a JSON or Netscape format file
Use the cookies file with coursera-dlp:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt courseSlug

Method 3: Using CAUTH Token

The CAUTH token is a specific authentication cookie from Coursera:

Log in to Coursera in your browser
Open Developer Tools (F12 or Right-click → Inspect)
Go to Application tab → Cookies → coursera.org
Find the "CAUTH" cookie and copy its value
Use the CAUTH value:

coursera-dlp -ca YOUR_CAUTH_VALUE courseSlug

Basic Usage

Once you have authentication set up, you can start downloading courses.

Downloading a Single Course

To download a single course, you need the course "slug" - the unique identifier in the course URL.

For example, for "Introduction to Deep Learning" (URL: https://www.coursera.org/learn/intro-to-deep-learning), the slug is "intro-to-deep-learning":

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt intro-to-deep-learning

Finding the Course Slug

The course slug is the part of the URL after "/learn/" for individual courses or after "/specializations/" for specializations:

Individual course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning → slug is "machine-learning"
Specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning → slug is "deep-learning"

Downloading an Entire Specialization

One of coursera-dlp's most powerful features is the ability to download all courses within a specialization using a single command:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --specialization deep-learning

This will download all courses included in the Deep Learning specialization.

Downloading Multiple Specializations or Courses

You can download multiple courses or specializations in a single command by listing them:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --specialization deep-learning machine-learning tensorflow-in-practice

Advanced Configuration

The default settings of coursera-dlp may not suit everyone's needs. Here are some useful options to customize your downloads:

Setting Video Quality

By default, coursera-dlp downloads videos in 540p. To change the resolution:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --video-resolution 720p courseSlug

Available resolutions typically include: 360p, 540p, 720p, and sometimes 1080p.

Subtitle Options

To specify which subtitle languages to download:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --subtitle-language en courseSlug

Use comma-separated language codes for multiple languages:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --subtitle-language en,fr,es courseSlug

Downloading Additional Materials

To download quizzes, assignments, and other supplementary materials:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --download-quizzes --about courseSlug

Creating Playlists

For easier viewing of the course videos in sequence:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --playlist courseSlug

This creates an .m3u playlist file that works with most media players.

Specifying Download Location

To save courses to a specific directory:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --path=/path/to/download/folder courseSlug

Resuming Interrupted Downloads

If your download gets interrupted, you can resume where you left off:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --resume courseSlug

Creating a Configuration File

Rather than typing long commands with multiple options each time, you can create a configuration file with your preferred settings:

Create a file named .coursera-dlp in your home directory
Add your preferred options, one per line:

--cookies
/path/to/cookies.txt
--subtitle-language
en
--video-resolution
720p
--download-quizzes
--resume
--playlist
--path
/path/to/coursera/folder

Now you can run coursera-dlp with minimal commands:

coursera-dlp courseSlug

All your preferred options will be automatically applied.

Automating Multiple Downloads

For batch downloading multiple courses or specializations, you can create a shell script:

Create a text file (e.g., download-courses.sh)
Add the courses you want to download:

#!/bin/bash

# Data Science courses
coursera-dlp machine-learning
coursera-dlp deep-learning
coursera-dlp tensorflow-in-practice

# Business courses
coursera-dlp business-foundations
coursera-dlp digital-marketing

Make the script executable:

chmod +x download-courses.sh

Run the script:

./download-courses.sh

Troubleshooting

Common Issues and Solutions

Authentication Failures:
- Try the cookie-based authentication method
- Ensure your Coursera session is active in your browser
- Check if your account has access to the course you're trying to download
"Course Not Found" Error:
- Verify you're using the correct course slug
- Make sure you're enrolled in the course on Coursera
- Check if the course is still available on the platform
Slow Downloads:
- Try using the --external-downloader aria2c option for faster downloads
- Consider limiting concurrent downloads with --jobs 2
Incomplete Downloads:
- Use the --resume flag to continue interrupted downloads
- Check your disk space

Best Practices

Organize Downloads: Use the --path option to organize courses by category or topic
Batch Download Overnight: Schedule large download batches during off-peak hours
Verify Downloads: Use the --verify-successful flag to ensure all files were downloaded correctly
Update Regularly: Keep coursera-dlp updated with pip install --upgrade coursera-dlp

Keeping Your Courses Updated

Coursera occasionally updates course content. To update your downloaded courses:

coursera-dlp --cookies cookies.txt --ignore-errors --resume --download-new-only courseSlug

The --download-new-only flag ensures only new content is downloaded.

Ethical Considerations

While coursera-dlp makes it easy to download content from Coursera, it's important to use this tool ethically:

Only download courses you're enrolled in or have paid for
Don't share downloaded materials publicly or commercially
Respect Coursera's Terms of Service and intellectual property rights
Consider purchasing courses to support educators and the platform

Conclusion

coursera-dlp is a powerful tool for organizing and downloading your Coursera courses for offline learning. By following this guide, you can efficiently download and manage your educational content while maintaining the structure and quality of the original courses.

Remember to respect copyright and use this tool only for personal educational purposes. Happy learning!

Additional Resources

coursera-dlp GitHub Repository
For downloading Udacity courses, check out my other post: Udacity Courses Free Download using Udacimak

#coursera-dlp-sh.sh

#technologies

#gcp
coursera-dlp gcp-data-machine-learning
coursera-dlp machine-learning-tensorflow-gcp
coursera-dlp advanced-machine-learning-tensorflow-gcp
coursera-dlp gcp-data-engineering
coursera-dlp machine-learning-trading
coursera-dlp from-data-to-insights-google-cloud-platform
coursera-dlp gcp-architecture
coursera-dlp architecting-google-kubernetes-engine
coursera-dlp security-google-cloud-platform
coursera-dlp networking-google-cloud-platform
coursera-dlp google-it-support
coursera-dlp gcp-cloud-architect
coursera-dlp apigee-api-gcp-onprem
coursera-dlp cloud-engineering-gcp
coursera-dlp developing-apps-gcp
coursera-dlp apigee-api-gcp
coursera-dlp gcp-data-machine-learning-es
coursera-dlp google-it-automation
coursera-dlp g-suite-administration

#ibm
coursera-dlp advanced-data-science-ibm
coursera-dlp ibm-data-science
coursera-dlp applied-artifical-intelligence-ibm-watson-ai
coursera-dlp ibm-ai-workflow
coursera-dlp introduction-data-science
coursera-dlp applied-data-science
coursera-dlp ai-engineer
coursera-dlp ai-foundations-for-everyone
coursera-dlp it-fundamentals-cybersecurity

#UCSanDiego
coursera-dlp big-data
coursera-dlp python-data-products-for-predictive-analytics
coursera-dlp data-structures-algorithms
coursera-dlp object-oriented-programming
coursera-dlp java-object-oriented
coursera-dlp discrete-mathematics
coursera-dlp bioinformatics
coursera-dlp interaction-design
coursera-dlp internet-of-things
coursera-dlp teach-java
coursera-dlp teach-impacts-technology-k12-education
coursera-dlp computational-thinking-block-programming-k12-education

#colorado system
coursera-dlp computer-communications
coursera-dlp programming-unity-game-development
coursera-dlp computer-network-security
coursera-dlp algorithms-for-battery-management-systems
coursera-dlp cyber-security-business
coursera-dlp computer-security-systems-management
coursera-dlp computational-thinking-c-programming
coursera-dlp introduction-applied-cryptography
coursera-dlp advanced-system-security-design
coursera-dlp applied-crypto
coursera-dlp requirements-engineering-secure-software
coursera-dlp homeland-security-cybersecurity
coursera-dlp secure-software-design

#Colorado Boulder
coursera-dlp power-electronics
coursera-dlp embedding-sensors-motors
coursera-dlp semiconductor-devices
coursera-dlp statistical-thermodynamics-engineering
coursera-dlp developing-industrial-iot
coursera-dlp spacecraft-dynamics-control
coursera-dlp optical-engineering
coursera-dlp active-optical-devices
coursera-dlp excel-vba-creative-problem-solving
coursera-dlp mind-machine

#JHU
coursera-dlp jhu-data-science
coursera-dlp data-science-foundations-r
coursera-dlp data-science-statistics-machine-learning
coursera-dlp genomic-data-science
coursera-dlp executive-data-science
coursera-dlp biostatistics-public-health
coursera-dlp health-informatics
coursera-dlp r

#michigan
coursera-dlp python
coursera-dlp data-science-python
coursera-dlp web-design
coursera-dlp python-3-programming
coursera-dlp web-applications
coursera-dlp michiganux
coursera-dlp statistics-with-python
coursera-dlp data-collection

#UCDavis
coursera-dlp learn-sql-basics-data-science
coursera-dlp seo
coursera-dlp data-visualization
coursera-dlp gis
coursera-dlp computational-social-science-ucdavis
coursera-dlp healthcare-information-literacy-data-analytics

#deep-learning.ai
coursera-dlp deep-learning
coursera-dlp ai-for-medicine
coursera-dlp tensorflow-in-practice
coursera-dlp tensorflow-data-and-deployment

#Autodesk
coursera-dlp cad-design-digital-manufacturing
coursera-dlp autodesk-cad-cam-cae-mechanical-engineering
coursera-dlp autodesk-cad-cam-manufacturing
coursera-dlp autodesk-generative-design-manufacturing

#unity
coursera-dlp unity-3d-artist
coursera-dlp unity-xr
coursera-dlp unity-gameplay-programmer
coursera-dlp unity-certified-programmer

#Minnesota
coursera-dlp software-development-lifecycle
coursera-dlp user-interface-design
coursera-dlp software-testing-automation

#UC irvine
coursera-dlp iot
coursera-dlp google-golang
coursera-dlp ios-development

#Imperial College
coursera-dlp mathematics-machine-learning
coursera-dlp statistical-analysis-r-public-health
coursera-dlp public-health-epidemiology

#GoldSmiths Uni London
coursera-dlp virtual-reality
coursera-dlp website-development
coursera-dlp introduction-computer-science-programming

#Illionis
coursera-dlp cs-fundamentals
coursera-dlp data-mining

#HSE
coursera-dlp aml
coursera-dlp mathematics-for-data-science

#alberta
coursera-dlp software-design-architecture
coursera-dlp reinforcement-learning

#duke
coursera-dlp java-programming
coursera-dlp c-programming

#INSEAD
coursera-dlp blockchain
coursera-dlp blockchain-financial-services

#Rice
coursera-dlp introduction-scripting-in-python
coursera-dlp computer-fundamentals
coursera-dlp pcdp

#toronto
coursera-dlp self-driving-cars
coursera-dlp gis-mapping-spatial-analysis
coursera-dlp plant-bioinformatic-methods

#mathematics
coursera-dlp infectious-disease-modelling

#IT
coursera-dlp aws-fundamentals
coursera-dlp networking-basics
coursera-dlp cloudera-big-data-analysis-sql
coursera-dlp emerging-technologies
coursera-dlp information-systems
coursera-dlp secure-coding-practices
coursera-dlp palo-alto-networks-cybersecurity
coursera-dlp machine-learning-algorithms-real-world
coursera-dlp sscp-training
coursera-dlp architecting-hybrid-cloud-infrastructure-anthos
coursera-dlp ibm-z-mainframe

#Physical Science
coursera-dlp energy-industry
coursera-dlp digital-manufacturing-design-technology
coursera-dlp robotics
coursera-dlp cyber-security
coursera-dlp modernrobotics
coursera-dlp managing-major-engineering-projects
coursera-dlp climate-change-and-health
coursera-dlp journey-of-the-universe

#Data Science
coursera-dlp investment-management-python-machine-learning
coursera-dlp machine-learning
coursera-dlp excel-mysql
coursera-dlp social-science
coursera-dlp pwc-analytics
coursera-dlp statistics
coursera-dlp data-warehousing
coursera-dlp practical-data-science-matlab
coursera-dlp strategic-analytics
coursera-dlp probabilistic-graphical-models
coursera-dlp database-systems
coursera-dlp machine-learning-reinforcement-finance
coursera-dlp data-analysis
coursera-dlp marketing-analytics
coursera-dlp information-visualization
coursera-dlp rpa-cognitive-analytics
coursera-dlp data-science
coursera-dlp leadership-nursing-informatics
coursera-dlp sas-programming
coursera-dlp sas-visual-business-analytics

#CS
coursera-dlp ruby-on-rails
coursera-dlp full-stack-react
coursera-dlp full-stack-mobile-app-development
coursera-dlp ui-ux-design
coursera-dlp android-app-development
coursera-dlp algorithms
coursera-dlp agile-development
coursera-dlp scala
coursera-dlp game-development
coursera-dlp cloud-computing
coursera-dlp intro-cyber-security
coursera-dlp blockchain-revolution-enterprise
coursera-dlp game-design
coursera-dlp embedded-systems-security
coursera-dlp oss-development-linux-git
coursera-dlp swift-5-ios-app-developer
coursera-dlp app-development
coursera-dlp advanced-app-android
coursera-dlp introduction-to-blockchain
coursera-dlp data-structures-algorithms-tsinghua

#Art & business

#Illinois
coursera-dlp digital-marketing
coursera-dlp strategic-leadership
coursera-dlp financial-management
coursera-dlp managerial-economics-business-analysis
coursera-dlp value-chain-management
coursera-dlp innovation-creativity-entrepreneurship
coursera-dlp accounting-fundamentals
coursera-dlp global-challenges-business
coursera-dlp financial-reporting
coursera-dlp united-states-federal-taxation
coursera-dlp professional-iq

#Pennsylvania
coursera-dlp team-building
coursera-dlp introduction-intellectual-property
coursera-dlp regulatory-compliance
coursera-dlp healthcare-administration-management
coursera-dlp positivepsychology
coursera-dlp wharton-business-foundations
coursera-dlp business-analytics
coursera-dlp finance-quantitative-modeling-analysts
coursera-dlp wharton-success
coursera-dlp wharton-fintech
coursera-dlp wharton-global-business-strategy
coursera-dlp wharton-business-financial-modeling
coursera-dlp wharton-entrepreneurship
coursera-dlp healthcare-law

#Berkely Music
coursera-dlp diy-musician
coursera-dlp electronic-music-production
coursera-dlp music-production
coursera-dlp business-music-production
coursera-dlp musicianship-specialization
coursera-dlp music-business
coursera-dlp singer-songwriter

#UC Irvine
coursera-dlp career-success
coursera-dlp project-management-success
coursera-dlp product-management
coursera-dlp conflict-management
coursera-dlp esports
coursera-dlp uci-blockchain
coursera-dlp applied-project-management
coursera-dlp intermediate-grammar
coursera-dlp advanced-grammar-punctuation
coursera-dlp speaklistenenglish
coursera-dlp teach-english
coursera-dlp american-english-pronunciation

#Michigan
coursera-dlp leading-teams
coursera-dlp foundational-finance
coursera-dlp financialtechnology
coursera-dlp photography-basics
coursera-dlp become-a-journalist
coursera-dlp art-for-games
coursera-dlp business-statistics-analysis
coursera-dlp engineering-project-management
coursera-dlp investment-portolio-management
coursera-dlp leadership-communication-engineers
coursera-dlp leadership-development-engineers
coursera-dlp market-research
coursera-dlp coaching-skills-manager
coursera-dlp fundraising-development

#Colorado boulder
coursera-dlp data-analytics-business
coursera-dlp effective-business-communication
coursera-dlp digital-advertising-strategy
coursera-dlp sustainable-transformation

#Macquaire
coursera-dlp excel
coursera-dlp influencing-storytelling-change-management
coursera-dlp hr-management-leadership
coursera-dlp strategic-management-competitive-advantage
coursera-dlp analysing-numeric-digital-literacies
coursera-dlp adapting-career-development
coursera-dlp solving-complex-problems

#North western university
coursera-dlp social-media-marketing
coursera-dlp organizational-leadership
coursera-dlp the-art-of-sales-mastering-the-selling-process
coursera-dlp content-strategy

#Virginia
coursera-dlp uva-darden-digital-product-management
coursera-dlp uva-darden-bcg-pricing-strategy
coursera-dlp business-strategy
coursera-dlp coding-for-managers

#ASU
coursera-dlp tesol
coursera-dlp tesol-certificate-2
coursera-dlp arizona-state-university-tesol
coursera-dlp ell-teaching
coursera-dlp english-for-business

#Cal inst Arts
coursera-dlp graphic-design

#Copenhegan
coursera-dlp strategic-management
coursera-dlp digital-transformation-financial-services
coursera-dlp social-entrepreneurship-cbs

#Rutgers
coursera-dlp supply-chain-management
coursera-dlp healthcare-organization-operations
coursera-dlp procurement-sourcing

#Maryland
coursera-dlp business-entrepreneurship
coursera-dlp english-interview-resume
coursera-dlp corporate-entrepreneurship

#ESSEC
coursera-dlp hotel-management
coursera-dlp negotiation-mediation-conflict-resolution

#ISB
coursera-dlp business-technology-managment
coursera-dlp trading-strategy
coursera-dlp investment-strategy

#Uni Georgia
coursera-dlp six-sigma-fundamentals
coursera-dlp six-sigma-green-belt
coursera-dlp cybersecurity-developing-program-for-business
coursera-dlp human-resource-management
coursera-dlp healthcare-marketplace
coursera-dlp recommender-systems

#IE business school
coursera-dlp marketing-mix
coursera-dlp marketing-strategy
coursera-dlp branding-the-creative-journey

#health
coursera-dlp anatomy
coursera-dlp immunology
coursera-dlp professional-epidemiology
coursera-dlp become-an-emt
coursera-dlp integrative-health-and-medicine
coursera-dlp school-health-for-children-and-adolescents
coursera-dlp systems-biology
coursera-dlp global-health
coursera-dlp patient-safety
coursera-dlp newborn-baby-care
coursera-dlp foundations-public-health-practice
coursera-dlp social-welfare-policy
coursera-dlp health-effects-cannabis-thc-cbd
coursera-dlp palliative-care
coursera-dlp gmph-global-disease-masterclass
coursera-dlp healthcare-trends-business-professionals
coursera-dlp global-health-innovations

#social Science
coursera-dlp academic-english
coursera-dlp academic-skills
coursera-dlp english-for-research-publication-purposes
coursera-dlp virtual-teacher
coursera-dlp globalization-economic-growth-and-stability
coursera-dlp good-with-words
coursera-dlp teacher-sel
coursera-dlp nonprofit

#Languages
coursera-dlp improve-english
coursera-dlp learn-spanish
coursera-dlp business-english-speakers
coursera-dlp business-english
coursera-dlp learn-english
coursera-dlp hsk-learn-chinese
coursera-dlp learn-mandarin
coursera-dlp russian-for-beginners-a1
coursera-dlp learn-mandarin-chinese-intermediate
coursera-dlp effective-communication
Personal development
coursera-dlp public-speaking
coursera-dlp presentation-skills
coursera-dlp inspirational-leadership
coursera-dlp graphic-design-elements-non-designers
coursera-dlp futures-thinking
coursera-dlp career-brand-management
coursera-dlp sustainable-business-change-agent

#Arts
coursera-dlp creative-writing
coursera-dlp memoir-personal-essay

#business
coursera-dlp project-management
coursera-dlp investment-management
coursera-dlp construction-management
coursera-dlp inspired-leadership
coursera-dlp foundations-management
coursera-dlp managing-innovation-design-thinking
coursera-dlp competitive-strategy
coursera-dlp finance-for-everyone
coursera-dlp mba
coursera-dlp marketing-digital
coursera-dlp sales-training-high-performing-teams
coursera-dlp entrepreneurial-finance
coursera-dlp learn-finance
coursera-dlp fintech
coursera-dlp international-marketing
coursera-dlp startup-entrepreneurship
coursera-dlp start-your-own-business
coursera-dlp value-creation-innovation
coursera-dlp understanding-modern-finance
coursera-dlp sales-management-bridging-gap-strategy-sales
coursera-dlp sales-operations
coursera-dlp startup-valuation
coursera-dlp supply-chain-finance-and-blockchain-technology
coursera-dlp fintech-startups-emerging-markets
coursera-dlp doing-business-in-china