IMPORTANT: Our download partner FossHub was compromised for a few hours on 2nd August. This is now resolved. Among other action taken, downloads now use the more secure https protocol.
If you downloaded Audacity’s Windows installer on that date and it is only 355 kB, delete the file and don’t reboot. More help here.
Windows
Recommended Downloads – Latest Version of Audacity
- Audacity 2.1.2 installer (25.3 MB, includes help files)
- Audacity 2.1.2 zip file (10.5 MB) – smaller download (without help files), also useful if you cannot run the installer because of restricted permissions
Optional Downloads
Plug-ins and Libraries
- LADSPA plug-ins 0.4.15 installer (.exe file, 1.4 MB) – Contains over 90 plug-ins.
- Plug-Ins – Download additional effects and filters.
- LAME MP3 encoder – Allows Audacity to export MP3 files.
- FFmpeg import/export library – Allows Audacity to import and export many additional audio formats such as AC3, AMR(NB), M4A and WMA, and to import audio from video files.
Alternative Download Links
- Google Code hosts selected previous versions up to and including Audacity 2.0.5.
Nightly Builds
- For advanced users, nightly builds are available for testing purposes. Nightly builds are alpha builds from latest development code. Your help in testing and reporting bugs in these builds is invaluable. Note: These builds will definitely be less reliable than official releases. They should not be used as your production version of Audacity.
System Requirements
Read about Audacity on Windows 8, Windows 7 and Vista. Windows XP is also supported – please see the table at the bottom of this page.
Windows 10
Windows 10 is supported, but Audacity 2.1.2 requires that all enabled devices have Windows 10-compatible drivers designed for the device. This should be the case for the built-in sound device of a new computer that came with Windows 10.
If you encounter “Internal PortAudio Error” and Audacity sees no devices, please try the Windows 2.1.3-alpha Nightly Builds which should allow all compatible devices to be recognised. Please see our complete Windows 10 page if you need more help with obtaining suitable Windows 10 audio drivers for your device.
Machine requirements
A CPU that supports SSE2 is required (any CPU made after 2003 should support this). Please use the legacy Audacity 2.0.6 version if your machine lacks SSE2 support.
The values in the recommended RAM/processor speed column below are for tasks like recording for an hour, or editing three 20-minute tracks simultaneously. The values in the minimum RAM/processor speed column will be fine for smaller/shorter tasks, especially if unnecessary programs are closed.
| Windows version | recommended RAM/ processor speed |
minimum RAM/ processor speed |
|---|---|---|
|
4 GB / 2 GHz | 2 GB / 1 GHz |
|
4 GB / 2 GHz | 1 GB / 1 GHz |
|
2 GB / 1 GHz | 512 MB / 1 GHz |
|
512 MB/1 GHz | 128 MB/300 MHz |
Audacity works best on computers meeting more than the minimum requirements stated above. For lengthy multi-track projects, we recommend using machines of substantially higher specification than the minimums.
Older versions of Windows
For Windows 98, ME and 2000 see Legacy Windows Downloads.
