Installing and updating Audacity on Windows

Peter 14Feb16: This page is a draft work in progress.

This page provides instructions for installing Audacity on Windows computer platforms.

• In addition to basic Audacity you may wish to install the optional LAME MP3 encoding software
• Also the optional FFmpeg library which allows Audacity to import and export a much larger range of audio formats including M4A (AAC), AC3, AMR (narrow band) and WMA and also to import audio from most video files.

Because of software patents, Audacity cannot include LAME or FFmpeg encoding software or distribute such software from its own websites. Instead, use the instructions below to download and install the free and recommended third-party libraries for LAME \nd FFmpeg.

Installation instructions

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Installing LAME on Windows

Because of software patents, Audacity cannot include MP3 encoding software or distribute such software from its own websites. Instead, use the following instructions to download and install the free and recommended LAME third-party encoder to export MP3 files with Audacity. See the LAME Legal Issues page for more details.

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Installing the FFmpeg Import/Export Library on Windows

The optional FFmpeg library allows Audacity to import and export a much larger range of audio formats including M4A (AAC), AC3, AMR (narrow band) and WMA and also to import audio from most video files.

• Because of software patents, Audacity cannot include the FFmpeg software or distribute it from its own websites. Instead, use the following instructions to download and install the free and recommended FFmpeg third-party library.
• Advanced usage: If you already have Audacity-compatible FFmpeg 2.2.x or 2.3.x shared libraries in the system PATH, Audacity will use those as long as you don't install FFmpeg from the links below and as long as you don't specify the FFmpeg you want Audacity to use in Libraries Preferences.

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Locating the FFmpeg library manually

If you installed FFmpeg while Audacity was running, or if you installed FFmpeg to a non-default location, Audacity will ask you to configure Preferences to locate the FFmpeg library. To do this, access Preferences then the "Libraries" tab on the left:

As seen in the image above, the "FFmpeg Library Version" will say "not found". To correct this:

1. Click the Locate... button to right of FFmpeg Library:.
2. If a "Success" message indicates Audacity has now automatically detected valid FFmpeg libraries and asks if you want to detect them manually, click No, then OK to close Preferences.
3. If the "Locate FFmpeg" dialog appears, click Browse....
4. Navigate to the avformat file in the folder that contains FFmpeg, and select it. The file may have different names, such as "avformat-55.dll" on Windows, "libavformat.55.dylib" on Mac or "libavformat.so.55" on Linux.
5. Click Open then OK and OK again to close Preferences.

FFmpeg Library Version should now show a set of three version numbers for the sub-libraries of FFmpeg ("F" for libavformat version, "C" for libavcodec version and "U" for libavutil version). If you still see "not found", you may have installed the wrong libraries. Click the Download... button to obtain the correct library for your operating system. You can also choose Help > Show Log... to see diagnostic information about FFmpeg detection.