diff --git a/bulkredditdownloader/downloader.py b/bulkredditdownloader/downloader.py
index 154865b..b60ed2b 100644
--- a/bulkredditdownloader/downloader.py
+++ b/bulkredditdownloader/downloader.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 import configparser
 import logging
+import re
 import socket
 from datetime import datetime
 from enum import Enum, auto
@@ -153,9 +154,18 @@ class RedditDownloader:
 
         main_logger.addHandler(file_handler)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _sanitise_subreddit_name(subreddit: str) -> str:
+        pattern = re.compile(r'^(?:https://www\.reddit\.com/)?(?:r/)?(.*?)(?:/)?$')
+        match = re.match(pattern, subreddit)
+        if not match:
+            raise errors.RedditAuthenticationError('')
+        return match.group(1)
+
     def _get_subreddits(self) -> list[praw.models.ListingGenerator]:
         if self.args.subreddit:
-            subreddits = [self.reddit_instance.subreddit(chosen_subreddit) for chosen_subreddit in self.args.subreddit]
+            subreddits = [self._sanitise_subreddit_name(subreddit) for subreddit in self.args.subreddit]
+            subreddits = [self.reddit_instance.subreddit(chosen_subreddit) for chosen_subreddit in subreddits]
             if self.args.search:
                 return [
                     reddit.search(
@@ -197,10 +207,11 @@ class RedditDownloader:
             if self.authenticated:
                 if self.args.user:
                     sort_function = self._determine_sort_function()
+                    multireddits = [self._sanitise_subreddit_name(multi) for multi in self.args.multireddit]
                     return [
                         sort_function(self.reddit_instance.multireddit(
                             self.args.user,
-                            m_reddit_choice), limit=self.args.limit) for m_reddit_choice in self.args.multireddit]
+                            m_reddit_choice), limit=self.args.limit) for m_reddit_choice in multireddits]
                 else:
                     raise errors.BulkDownloaderException('A user must be provided to download a multireddit')
             else:
diff --git a/bulkredditdownloader/tests/test_downloader.py b/bulkredditdownloader/tests/test_downloader.py
index caec1e7..2c4208f 100644
--- a/bulkredditdownloader/tests/test_downloader.py
+++ b/bulkredditdownloader/tests/test_downloader.py
@@ -160,13 +160,13 @@ def test_get_subreddit_normal(
         downloader_mock: MagicMock,
         reddit_instance: praw.Reddit):
     downloader_mock._determine_sort_function.return_value = praw.models.Subreddit.hot
+    downloader_mock._sanitise_subreddit_name = RedditDownloader._sanitise_subreddit_name
     downloader_mock.args.limit = limit
     downloader_mock.args.subreddit = test_subreddits
     downloader_mock.reddit_instance = reddit_instance
     downloader_mock.sort_filter = RedditTypes.SortType.HOT
     results = RedditDownloader._get_subreddits(downloader_mock)
-    results = assert_all_results_are_submissions(
-        (limit * len(test_subreddits)) if limit else None, results)
+    results = assert_all_results_are_submissions((limit * len(test_subreddits)) if limit else None, results)
     assert all([res.subreddit.display_name in test_subreddits for res in results])
 
 
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ def test_get_subreddit_search(
         downloader_mock: MagicMock,
         reddit_instance: praw.Reddit):
     downloader_mock._determine_sort_function.return_value = praw.models.Subreddit.hot
+    downloader_mock._sanitise_subreddit_name = RedditDownloader._sanitise_subreddit_name
     downloader_mock.args.limit = limit
     downloader_mock.args.search = search_term
     downloader_mock.args.subreddit = test_subreddits
@@ -209,6 +210,7 @@ def test_get_multireddits_public(
         reddit_instance: praw.Reddit,
         downloader_mock: MagicMock):
     downloader_mock._determine_sort_function.return_value = praw.models.Subreddit.hot
+    downloader_mock._sanitise_subreddit_name = RedditDownloader._sanitise_subreddit_name
     downloader_mock.sort_filter = RedditTypes.SortType.HOT
     downloader_mock.args.limit = limit
     downloader_mock.args.multireddit = test_multireddits
@@ -389,3 +391,19 @@ def test_download_submission_hash_exists(
     output = capsys.readouterr()
     assert len(folder_contents) == 0
     assert re.search(r'Resource from .*? downloaded elsewhere', output.out)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(('test_name', 'expected'), (
+    ('Mindustry', 'Mindustry'),
+    ('Futurology', 'Futurology'),
+    ('r/Mindustry', 'Mindustry'),
+    ('TrollXChromosomes', 'TrollXChromosomes'),
+    ('r/TrollXChromosomes', 'TrollXChromosomes'),
+    ('https://www.reddit.com/r/TrollXChromosomes/', 'TrollXChromosomes'),
+    ('https://www.reddit.com/r/TrollXChromosomes', 'TrollXChromosomes'),
+    ('https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/', 'Futurology'),
+    ('https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology', 'Futurology'),
+))
+def test_sanitise_subreddit_name(test_name: str, expected: str):
+    result = RedditDownloader._sanitise_subreddit_name(test_name)
+    assert result == expected