Installing FFmpeg
FFmpeg allows you import/export additional audio file formats into/from Audacity
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FFmpeg allows you import/export additional audio file formats into/from Audacity
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Was this helpful?
Due to patent restrictions, FFmpeg cannot be distributed with Audacity itself. However, FFmpeg is required to import and export a variety of audio formats, including M4A and WMA.
You can download and install FFmpeg as follows:
Run the installer. You can ignore the "unknown publisher" warning.
Read and accept the license
Select the location to install FFmpeg. By default FFmpeg will be installed into C:\Program Files\FFmpeg for Audacity
Finish the installation
Restart Audacity
Audacity should now automatically detect FFmpeg and allow you to use it.
If you prefer a manual installation of FFmpeg you can download a ZIP file from a different source:
If you have installed FFmpeg from a different source, or installed it in a different location, you'll need to tell Audacity where to find it. To do this:
Go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries
Click on the Locate... button.
If the following message appears, Audacity has automatically identified FFmpeg:
You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find FFmpeg.
If this message does not appear, proceed with the next steps.
In this dialog window, click Browse... to locate the avformat-*.dll from the FFmpeg folder you downloaded/installed elsewhere
Once you've found it, click Open, then OK, then OK again to close the preferences.
Download the FFmpeg installer from For most computers, the 64-bit Windows version is correct.
Or by compiling it from source as described here:
You can check which dll is in which FFmpeg release .
Download FFmpeg for macOS from
One way to install an FFmpeg version that matches your system architecture is using . You can install it through the Terminal.app by typing in:
You can download or compile FFmpeg yourself as described here:
First install the and check for updates, then
Caution: Audacity supports FFmpeg's libavformat in version 55 (all Audacity versions), 57 and 58 (Audacity 3.1+), 59 (Audacity 3.2+) and 60 (Audacity 3.3+). If your distribution ships with a different version, it may not get detected, or may not work correctly. In that case, you may need to uninstall FFmpeg again and make a shared build of a supported version .