FFmpeg for Audacity 3.2 and later

The downloads on this page are designed for Audacity 3.2 and later versions only. If you need Windows 64-bit Audacity 3.0.3 to 3.1.x or older legacy packages, use the compatibility guide or the home page.

Installation Notes

Make sure your Audacity version is 3.2 or later. On Windows, use the correct installer for 32‑bit or 64‑bit. You may see an error about format60 not being found; you can ignore it.

FFmpeg is not an Audacity plugin. Run the installer or point Audacity to the library in Preferences → Libraries. Do not add FFmpeg in Plugin Manager.

On macOS, the current package is expected to install libavformat*.dylib, libavcodec*.dylib, and libavutil*.dylib. You do not need ffmpeg*.dylib files for Audacity 3.2+.

If these current installers do not match your setup, use the compatibility guide for older downloads.

Note:

  • Audacity prior to 3.1 only supports avformat-55.dll.
  • Audacity 3.1 and later supports avformat-55.dll, avformat-57.dll, and avformat-58.dll.
  • Audacity 3.2 and later also supports avformat-59.dll.
  • Audacity 3.3 and later also supports avformat-60.dll.
  • Audacity 3.5 and later also supports avformat-61.dll.
  • On macOS, this current package uses libavformat*.dylib, libavcodec*.dylib, and libavutil*.dylib. The absence of ffmpeg*.dylib is expected and does not mean the package is wrong.
  • Older legacy macOS packages may use ffmpeg*.dylib filenames instead.
  • Make sure you download full FFmpeg copies, not isolated library files. Shared builds are required on Windows because they contain the DLLs Audacity can load.
  • Different versions of FFmpeg may have different codecs enabled in them. In particular, AMR (narrowband) is not featured in the recommended installer.
  • You can compare FFmpeg release contents on ffmpeg.org.

Manual installation

If you have installed FFmpeg from a different source, or installed it in a different location, you will need to tell Audacity where to find it in Preferences → Libraries.

Windows

  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Libraries.
  2. Click the Locate... button.
  3. If Audacity says it already found FFmpeg automatically, click No and you are done.
  4. If that message does not appear, click Browse... and select the avformat-*.dll file from the FFmpeg folder you downloaded or installed elsewhere.
  5. Click Open, then OK, then OK again to close Preferences.

macOS

  1. Go to Audacity → Settings / Preferences → Libraries.
  2. Click the Locate... button.
  3. If Audacity says it already found FFmpeg automatically, click No and you are done.
  4. If that message does not appear, click Browse... and select the installed libavformat*.dylib file.
  5. Click Open, then close Settings / Preferences.

FFmpeg Installer for Audacity 3.2 and later

Package contents (quick reference)

Package Contents (key files) Notes
FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_Windows_x86_64.exe Installer (file list not exposed). Installs shared FFmpeg libraries such as avformat-*.dll, avcodec-*.dll, and avutil-*.dll. If you need exact filenames or manual-selection help, use the compatibility guide.
FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_Windows_x86.exe Installer (file list not exposed). Installs shared FFmpeg libraries such as avformat-*.dll, avcodec-*.dll, and avutil-*.dll. 32‑bit build for older Windows installs.
FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_macOS.pkg Installer containing libavformat*.dylib, libavcodec*.dylib, and libavutil*.dylib. Current macOS package for Audacity 3.2+. No ffmpeg*.dylib files are expected in this package.

Security Data (VirusTotal)

For Windows 64-bit Audacity 3.0.3 to 3.1.x or older legacy downloads, please use the compatibility guide.