Installing FFmpeg

Recommended installer

1. Download the FFmpeg installer from lame.buanzo.org/ffmpeg.php. For most computers the 64-bit Windows version is correct. For a native Windows ARM build go to github.com/tordona/ffmpeg-win-arm64.
2. Run the installer. You can ignore the “unknown publisher” warning.
3. Read and accept the license.
4. Select the location to install FFmpeg. By default FFmpeg will be installed into C:\Program Files\FFmpeg for Audacity.
5. Finish the installation.
6. Restart Audacity.

Audacity should now automatically detect FFmpeg and allow you to use it.

Installing using WinGet

FFmpeg for Audacity is also available on WinGet:

winget install --id=Buanzo.FFmpegforAudacity -e

Other FFmpeg builds

If you prefer a manual installation of FFmpeg you can download a ZIP file from a different source:

• github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases
• gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/#release-builds
• Windows ARM64: github.com/tordona/ffmpeg-win-arm64
• Or by compiling it from source, as described in the FFmpeg compilation guide.

Manual installation

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:

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Libraries.
2. Click the Locate… button.
3. If a success message appears, Audacity has automatically identified FFmpeg. You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find it. If that message doesn’t appear, continue with the next steps.
4. In the dialog window, click Browse… to locate the avformat-*.dll from the FFmpeg folder you downloaded or installed elsewhere.
5. Once you’ve found it, click Open, then OK, then OK again to close the preferences.

Recommended installer

This is a universal binary installer. It automatically matches your system architecture.

1. Download FFmpeg for macOS from lame.buanzo.org/ffmpeg.php.
2. When the download is finished, open the .pkg. You’ll be guided through the installation.
3. Click through the steps in the installer.
   • On some Macs the process may look as though it has stalled on “Validating packages” — just be patient and wait for it to complete.
4. Restart Audacity if it was running. Audacity should detect FFmpeg automatically.

If you have problems with Audacity detecting FFmpeg, follow the manual installation steps below.

Homebrew

One way to install an FFmpeg version that matches your system architecture is using Homebrew. You can install it through Terminal:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Once you have Homebrew, install FFmpeg with:

brew install ffmpeg

Audacity should now automatically detect the installation after a restart. If not, follow the manual installation steps below.

Compiling other versions

You can download or compile FFmpeg yourself, as described in the FFmpeg macOS compilation guide.

Manual installation

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:

1. Go to Audacity → Preferences → Libraries.
2. Click the Locate… button.
3. If a Success message appears, Audacity has successfully found FFmpeg. You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find it. If that message doesn’t appear, continue with the next steps.
4. In the Locate FFmpeg dialog, click Browse… to locate the avformat-*.dylib from the FFmpeg folder you downloaded or installed elsewhere.
5. Once you’ve found it, click Open, then OK, then OK again to close the preferences.

Troubleshooting

If you’re using an Apple Silicon (“M1”, “M2”) system, make sure that your FFmpeg and Audacity architectures match:

• arm64 (Apple Silicon) Audacity needs arm64 FFmpeg.
• x86_64 (Intel — also known as x64 and amd64) Audacity needs x86_64 FFmpeg.

Make sure you’re also using the latest version of Audacity.

If you’re using Homebrew, a freshly released version of FFmpeg may be incompatible with Audacity for a while. You can run brew install ffmpeg@6 to install an older version (in this case version 6, which corresponds to avformat 60).

On Linux you can generally install FFmpeg and LAME through the package manager. Use the relevant command in your Terminal:

Debian, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS, Mint

sudo apt install ffmpeg lame

Fedora, Red Hat, CentOS

First install the RPM Fusion repository and check for updates, then:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg lame

Arch, Manjaro

sudo pacman -Syu ffmpeg lame

Once you’ve installed FFmpeg and LAME, restart Audacity. It will automatically try to detect them.

Manual installation

If your FFmpeg or LAME installation didn’t get detected, you’ll need to tell Audacity where to find it:

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Libraries.
2. Click the Locate… button of the relevant library.
3. If a Success message appears, Audacity has successfully found the library. You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find it. If that message doesn’t appear, continue with the next steps.
4. In case of FFmpeg: in the Locate FFmpeg dialog, click Browse… to locate the libavformat.so.* from the FFmpeg folder you downloaded or installed elsewhere. In case of LAME: in the Locate LAME dialog, click Browse… to locate the libmp3lame.so you downloaded or installed elsewhere.
5. Once you’ve found it, click Open, then OK, then OK again to close the preferences.