diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index 62b16b0..190ae9e 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { TooltipProvider } from "@/components/ui/tooltip";
 import { AppContext } from "@/providers/appContextProvider";
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { arch, exeExtension } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-os";
-import { downloadDir, join, resourceDir, tempDir } from "@tauri-apps/api/path";
+import { downloadDir, join, resourceDir, tempDir, dataDir } from "@tauri-apps/api/path";
 import { useBasePathsStore, useCurrentVideoMetadataStore, useDownloaderPageStatesStore, useDownloadStatesStore, useEnvironmentStore, useKvPairsStatesStore, useSettingsPageStatesStore } from "@/services/store";
 import { isObjEmpty} from "@/utils";
 import { Command } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-shell";
@@ -258,8 +258,9 @@ export default function App({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
             setIsFetchingYtDlpVersion(true);
             try {
                 const isFlatpak = await invoke<boolean>('is_flatpak');
+                const xdgDataDir = await dataDir();
                 const command = isFlatpak
-                ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `yt-dlp --version`])
+                ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `${xdgDataDir}/pip/bin/yt-dlp --version`])
                 : Command.sidecar('binaries/yt-dlp', ['--version']);
                 const output = await command.execute();
                 if (output.code === 0) {
@@ -309,11 +310,11 @@ export default function App({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
                 console.log("Auto-update check already performed in this session, skipping");
                 return;
             }
-            const isFlatpak = await invoke<boolean>('is_flatpak');
-            if (isFlatpak) {
-                console.log("Flatpak detected! Skipping yt-dlp auto-update");
-                return;
-            }
+            // const isFlatpak = await invoke<boolean>('is_flatpak');
+            // if (isFlatpak) {
+            //     console.log("Flatpak detected! Skipping yt-dlp auto-update");
+            //     return;
+            // }
             hasRunYtDlpAutoUpdateRef.current = true;
             console.log("Checking yt-dlp auto-update with loaded config values:", {
                 autoUpdate: YTDLP_AUTO_UPDATE,
diff --git a/src/components/pages/settings/applicationSettings.tsx b/src/components/pages/settings/applicationSettings.tsx
index 9de2db0..01097a5 100644
--- a/src/components/pages/settings/applicationSettings.tsx
+++ b/src/components/pages/settings/applicationSettings.tsx
@@ -1842,7 +1842,7 @@ function AppInfoSettings() {
                     <TriangleAlert className="size-4 stroke-primary" />
                     <AlertTitle className="text-sm">Flatpak Sandbox Detected!</AlertTitle>
                     <AlertDescription className="text-xs">
-                        It looks like you are running NeoDLP in a Flatpak sandbox. Some features like browser integration, desktop notifications, cookies, po tokens, changing download folder, revealing completed downloads in explorer, automatic yt-dlp updates and auto-launch on startup are not available in Flatpak due to sandbox restrictions. To use these features, please install the native linux build (DEB, RPM or AUR) of NeoDLP.
+                        It looks like you are running NeoDLP in a Flatpak sandbox. Some features like browser integration, desktop notifications, cookies, changing download folder, revealing completed downloads in explorer, and auto-launch on startup are not available in Flatpak due to sandbox restrictions. To use these features, please install the native linux build (DEB, RPM or AUR) of NeoDLP.
                     </AlertDescription>
                 </Alert>
             ) : isAppimage ? (
@@ -1933,7 +1933,7 @@ function AppInfoSettings() {
 }
 
 export function ApplicationSettings() {
-    const isFlatpak = useEnvironmentStore(state => state.isFlatpak);
+    // const isFlatpak = useEnvironmentStore(state => state.isFlatpak);
 
     const activeSubAppTab = useSettingsPageStatesStore(state => state.activeSubAppTab);
     const setActiveSubAppTab = useSettingsPageStatesStore(state => state.setActiveSubAppTab);
@@ -1992,14 +1992,14 @@ export function ApplicationSettings() {
                         <Switch
                         id="ytdlp-auto-update"
                         checked={ytDlpAutoUpdate}
-                        disabled={isFlatpak}
+                        // disabled={isFlatpak}
                         onCheckedChange={(checked) => saveSettingsKey('ytdlp_auto_update', checked)}
                         />
                         <Label htmlFor="ytdlp-auto-update">Auto Update</Label>
                     </div>
                     <Select
                     value={ytDlpUpdateChannel}
-                    disabled={isFlatpak}
+                    // disabled={isFlatpak}
                     onValueChange={(value) => saveSettingsKey('ytdlp_update_channel', value)}
                     >
                         <SelectTrigger className="w-37.5 ring-0 focus:ring-0">
@@ -2014,7 +2014,7 @@ export function ApplicationSettings() {
                         </SelectContent>
                     </Select>
                     <Button
-                    disabled={ytDlpAutoUpdate || isUpdatingYtDlp || ongoingDownloads.length > 0 || isFlatpak}
+                    disabled={ytDlpAutoUpdate || isUpdatingYtDlp || ongoingDownloads.length > 0 /*|| isFlatpak*/}
                     onClick={async () => await updateYtDlp()}
                     >
                         {isUpdatingYtDlp ? (
diff --git a/src/helpers/use-downloader.ts b/src/helpers/use-downloader.ts
index fca60ee..7d10de0 100644
--- a/src/helpers/use-downloader.ts
+++ b/src/helpers/use-downloader.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { sendNotification } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-notification';
 import { FetchVideoMetadataParams, StartDownloadParams } from "@/providers/appContextProvider";
 import { useDebouncedCallback } from '@tanstack/react-pacer/debouncer';
 import { fetchDownloadStateById } from "@/services/database";
+import { dataDir } from "@tauri-apps/api/path";
 
 export default function useDownloader() {
     const globalDownloadStates = useDownloadStatesStore((state) => state.downloadStates);
@@ -199,8 +200,9 @@ export default function useDownloader() {
             }
 
             const isFlatpak = await invoke<boolean>('is_flatpak');
+            const xdgDataDir = await dataDir();
             const command = isFlatpak
-            ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `yt-dlp ${args.map(arg => `'${arg.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`).join(' ')}`])
+            ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `${xdgDataDir}/pip/bin/yt-dlp ${args.map(arg => `'${arg.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`).join(' ')}`])
             : Command.sidecar('binaries/yt-dlp', args);
 
             let jsonOutput = '';
@@ -569,8 +571,9 @@ export default function useDownloader() {
 
         console.log('Starting download with args:', args);
         const isFlatpak = await invoke<boolean>('is_flatpak');
+        const xdgDataDir = await dataDir();
         const command = isFlatpak
-        ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `yt-dlp ${args.map(arg => `'${arg.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`).join(' ')}`])
+        ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `${xdgDataDir}/pip/bin/yt-dlp ${args.map(arg => `'${arg.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`).join(' ')}`])
         : Command.sidecar('binaries/yt-dlp', args);
 
         command.on('close', async (data) => {
diff --git a/src/helpers/use-ytdlp-updater.ts b/src/helpers/use-ytdlp-updater.ts
index 50d562b..a72402a 100644
--- a/src/helpers/use-ytdlp-updater.ts
+++ b/src/helpers/use-ytdlp-updater.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { useSettingsPageStatesStore } from "@/services/store";
 import { useKvPairs } from "@/helpers/use-kvpairs";
 import { Command } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-shell";
 import { invoke } from "@tauri-apps/api/core";
-import { join } from "@tauri-apps/api/path";
+import { join, dataDir } from "@tauri-apps/api/path";
 import { platform } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-os";
 import { useLogger } from "@/helpers/use-logger";
 import { toast } from "sonner";
@@ -18,13 +18,14 @@ export function useYtDlpUpdater() {
     const updateYtDlp = async () => {
         const CURRENT_TIMESTAMP = Date.now();
         const isFlatpak = await invoke<boolean>('is_flatpak');
+        const xdgDataDir = await dataDir();
         setIsUpdatingYtDlp(true);
         LOG.info('NEODLP', 'Updating yt-dlp to latest version');
         try {
             const command = currentPlatform === 'linux' && isFlatpak
             ? ytDlpUpdateChannel === 'nightly'
-              ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', 'pip3 install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"'])
-              : Command.create('sh', ['-c', 'pip3 install -U "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"'])
+              ? Command.create('sh', ['-c', `PYTHONUSERBASE=${xdgDataDir}/pip pip3 install --user --upgrade --pre "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"`])
+              : Command.create('sh', ['-c', `PYTHONUSERBASE=${xdgDataDir}/pip pip3 install --user --upgrade "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"`])
             : currentPlatform === 'linux'
               ? Command.create('pkexec', ['yt-dlp', '--update-to', ytDlpUpdateChannel])
               : Command.sidecar('binaries/yt-dlp', ['--update-to', ytDlpUpdateChannel]);