diff --git a/client.go b/client.go
index 47205665..16e58706 100644
--- a/client.go
+++ b/client.go
@@ -475,6 +475,20 @@ func (c *Client) GetStreamURLContext(ctx context.Context, video *Video, format *
 	return uri, err
 }
 
+func (c *Client) SetCookiesFromFile(path string) error {
+	if c.HTTPClient == nil {
+		c.HTTPClient = http.DefaultClient
+	}
+
+	jar, err := readCookies(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	c.HTTPClient.Jar = jar
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // httpDo sends an HTTP request and returns an HTTP response.
 func (c *Client) httpDo(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 	client := c.HTTPClient
@@ -482,10 +496,6 @@ func (c *Client) httpDo(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 		client = http.DefaultClient
 	}
 
-	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", c.client.userAgent)
-	req.Header.Set("Origin", "https://youtube.com")
-	req.Header.Set("Sec-Fetch-Mode", "navigate")
-
 	if len(c.consentID) == 0 {
 		c.consentID = strconv.Itoa(rand.Intn(899) + 100) //nolint:gosec
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/youtubedr/downloader.go b/cmd/youtubedr/downloader.go
index fa4c37ff..5f538269 100644
--- a/cmd/youtubedr/downloader.go
+++ b/cmd/youtubedr/downloader.go
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
+	"log/slog"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 	"golang.org/x/net/http/httpproxy"
 
@@ -65,6 +68,14 @@ func getDownloader() *ytdl.Downloader {
 	}
 	downloader.HTTPClient = &http.Client{Transport: httpTransport}
 
+	// load cookies
+	if cookiesPath != "" {
+		if err := downloader.SetCookiesFromFile(cookiesPath); err != nil {
+			slog.Error("unable to read cookie file", "error", err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	}
+
 	return downloader
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/youtubedr/root.go b/cmd/youtubedr/root.go
index 521d1d1f..40a6d230 100644
--- a/cmd/youtubedr/root.go
+++ b/cmd/youtubedr/root.go
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	cfgFile  string
-	logLevel string
+	cfgFile     string
+	logLevel    string
+	cookiesPath string
 )
 
 // rootCmd represents the base command when called without any subcommands
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ func init() {
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&cfgFile, "config", "", "config file (default is $HOME/.youtubedr.yaml)")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&logLevel, "log-level", "info", "Set log level (error/warn/info/debug)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&cookiesPath, "cookies", "", "path to cookies file, see https://everything.curl.dev/http/cookies/fileformat")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&insecureSkipVerify, "insecure", false, "Skip TLS server certificate verification")
 }
 
diff --git a/cookies.go b/cookies.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..952a1bdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cookies.go
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+package youtube
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"log/slog"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type Cookies map[string]*http.Cookie
+
+const cookieDomain = ".youtube.com"
+
+// SetCookies handles the receipt of the cookies in a reply for the
+// given URL.  It may or may not choose to save the cookies, depending
+// on the jar's policy and implementation.
+func (c Cookies) SetCookies(u *url.URL, cookies []*http.Cookie) {
+	if !c.matchesDomain(u) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	for _, cookie := range cookies {
+		c.setCookie(cookie)
+	}
+}
+
+func (c Cookies) setCookie(cookie *http.Cookie) {
+	if cookie.Domain != cookieDomain || cookie.Path != "/" {
+		return
+	}
+
+	if cookie.Expires.IsZero() {
+		slog.Info("delete cookie", "name", cookie.Name)
+		delete(c, cookie.Name)
+	} else {
+		slog.Info("set cookie", "name", cookie.Name)
+		c[cookie.Name] = cookie
+	}
+}
+
+func (c Cookies) matchesDomain(u *url.URL) bool {
+	return strings.HasSuffix(u.Host, cookieDomain)
+}
+
+// Cookies returns the cookies to send in a request for the given URL.
+// It is up to the implementation to honor the standard cookie use
+// restrictions such as in RFC 6265.
+func (c Cookies) Cookies(u *url.URL) (result []*http.Cookie) {
+	if !c.matchesDomain(u) {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	log.Println("asking for", u)
+	for _, cookie := range c {
+		result = append(result, cookie)
+	}
+
+	return
+}
+
+func readCookies(path string) (http.CookieJar, error) {
+	file, err := os.Open(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer file.Close()
+
+	jar := Cookies{}
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+
+	// optionally, resize scanner's capacity for lines over 64K, see next example
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(line, ".") {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		fields := strings.Split(line, "\t")
+		ts, _ := strconv.ParseInt(fields[4], 10, 64)
+
+		if length := len(fields); length < 7 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("not enough fields in cookie file expected >= 7, is = %d", length)
+		}
+
+		jar.setCookie(&http.Cookie{
+			Domain:  fields[0],
+			Path:    fields[2],
+			Expires: time.Unix(int64(ts), 0),
+			Name:    fields[5],
+			Value:   fields[6],
+		})
+	}
+
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return jar, nil
+}