Input Arguments

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This page provides a complete reference of all arguments/parameters available in google-images-download.

Arguments Reference

Argument	Short	Description
config_file	cf	Pass arguments via a config file (JSON format). If this argument is present, command line arguments will be discarded. See config file format for details.
keywords	k	Keywords/key phrases to search for. For multiple keywords, wrap in quotes. Tips: Type keyword normally for best match, wrap in double quotes ("") for exact phrase, use OR between words for either/or search, use minus (-) to exclude words.
keywords_from_file	kf	File name to import keywords from. Add one keyword per line. Only .txt or .csv files allowed.
prefix_keywords	pk	Words added before main keyword. Example: if keyword is 'car' and prefix is 'red,blue', searches 'red car' and 'blue car'.
suffix_keywords	sk	Words added after main keyword. Example: if keyword is 'car' and suffix is 'red,blue', searches 'car red' and 'car blue'.
limit	l	Number of images to download. Defaults to 100 if not specified.
related_images	ri	Downloads images from related keywords shown on Google Images. No value needed, just add the flag. Note: Can download hundreds/thousands of additional images.
format	f	Image format/extension. Values: jpg, gif, png, bmp, svg, webp, ico, raw
color	co	Color filter. Values: red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, pink, white, gray, black, brown
color_type	ct	Color type filter. Values: full-color, black-and-white, transparent
usage_rights	r	Usage rights/license filter. Values: labeled-for-reuse-with-modifications, labeled-for-reuse, labeled-for-noncommercial-reuse-with-modification, labeled-for-nocommercial-reuse
size	s	Relative size of images. Values: large, medium, icon, >400*300, >640*480, >800*600, >1024*768, >2MP, >4MP, >6MP, >8MP, >10MP, >12MP, >15MP, >20MP, >40MP, >70MP
exact_size	es	Exact image resolution. Format: <width>,<height> (e.g., -es 1024,768). Note: Cannot use both size and exact_size in same query.
aspect_ratio	a	Aspect ratio filter. Values: tall, square, wide, panoramic
type	t	Image type filter. Values: face, photo, clip-art, line-drawing, animated
time	w	Time uploaded/indexed. Values: past-24-hours, past-7-days, past-month, past-year
time_range	wr	Custom time range. Format: '{"time_min":"MM/DD/YYYY","time_max":"MM/DD/YYYY"}'
delay	d	Time to wait between downloading two images (in seconds, decimal values allowed).
url	u	Download images from a Google Images search URL. Paste the browser URL from Google Images page.
single_image	x	Download one image from its complete (absolute) URL.
output_directory	o	Main directory name for downloads. Defaults to 'downloads' in current path.
image_directory	i	Sub-directory inside output_directory. Defaults to keyword name.
no_directory	n	Download images directly in output_directory without sub-directories. No value needed.
proxy	px	Proxy server setting for all requests. Format: IP:Port
similar_images	si	Reverse image search. Downloads images similar to the provided image URL.
specific_site	ss	Download images only from a specific website/domain.
print_urls	p	Print image URLs to console (useful for debugging). No value needed.
print_size	ps	Print actual image size to console. No value needed.
print_paths	pp	Print absolute paths of downloaded images. Returns list when called from Python. No value needed.
metadata	m	Print image metadata (size, origin, attributes, description, URL). No value needed.
extract_metadata	e	Save metadata of all downloaded images to JSON file in logs/ directory. No value needed.
socket_timeout	st	Socket connection timeout in seconds. Default is 10 seconds. Increase for slow connections.
thumbnail	th	Download image thumbnails in addition to full images. Saved in sub-directories. No value needed.
thumbnail_only	tho	Download only thumbnails without full-size images. Saved in sub-directories. No value needed.
language	la	Language filter for search results. Values: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
prefix	pr	Prefix to add before image filenames (useful for image identification).
chromedriver	cd	Path to chromedriver executable. Usually not needed as webdriver-manager handles this automatically. Format: path/to/chromedriver (Windows: C:\\path\\to\\chromedriver.exe)
safe_search	sa	Enable Safe Search filter. Filter is OFF by default. No value needed.
no_numbering	nn	Disable ordered numbering prefix on downloaded images. No value needed.
offset	of	Skip first N images before downloading. Must be less than limit value.
save_source	is	Create text file with list of downloaded images and their source page URLs. Takes filename as value.
no_download	nd	Print URLs without downloading images. Useful for getting image URLs only. No value needed.
silent_mode	sil	Suppress all notification messages on terminal. Overrides all print arguments. No value needed.
ignore_urls	iu	Skip images whose URLs contain specified strings. Format: comma-separated values (e.g., wikipedia.org,wikimedia.org)
help	h	Show help message with usage information.

Important Notes

• Mandatory Parameter: If single_image or url parameter is not present, then keywords is mandatory. No other parameters are mandatory.
• Chrome Requirement: Chrome/Chromium browser is required for all downloads. Selenium is automatically installed as a dependency.
• Chromedriver: Automatically managed by webdriver-manager. Manual setup is rarely needed.

Usage Examples

See the Examples page for detailed usage examples of these arguments.