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Audacity: Free Sound Editor and Recording Software

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How do I download and install the LAME MP3 encoder?

Because of software patents, we cannot distribute MP3 encoding software ourselves. Follow these instructions to use the free LAME encoder to export MP3 files with Audacity.

Windows

  1. Go to the LAME download page.
  2. Under "For Audacity on Windows", left-click the link "Lame v3.98.3 for Audacity on Windows.exe" and save the file anywhere on your computer. Do not right-click the link to the .exe file.
  3. Double-click "Lame v3.98.3 for Audacity on Windows.exe" to launch it (you can safely ignore any warnings that the "publisher could not be verified").
  4. Follow the "Setup" instructions to install LAME for Audacity. Do not change the offered destination location of "C:\Program Files\Lame for Audacity".
  5. The first time you choose "File > Export as MP3", Audacity will ask for the location of "lame_enc.dll". Navigate to "C:\Program Files\Lame for Audacity", select "lame_enc.dll", then click "Open" and "OK". In Audacity Beta, choose "File > Export", select "MP3 Files" in "Save as type", then export should proceed immediately.
  6. If you prefer the Zip option for the LAME download, save the zip file to anywhere on your computer, extract "lame_enc.dll" to any location, then show Audacity where to find it as in Step 5 above.
  7. In case of difficulty, please view our more detailed instructions on the Audacity Wiki.

Mac OS 9 or X

  1. Go to the LAME download page.
  2. Click to download either "Lame Library v3.98.2 for Audacity on OSX.dmg" or "LameLib-Carbon.sit", according to your operating system.
  3. Double-click the .dmg to extract "Lame Library v3.98.2 for Audacity on OSX.pkg" to Finder, or use Stuffit to extract "LameLib" from the .sit (either of these may happen automatically).
  4. Double-click the .pkg to install "libmp3lame.dylib" in /usr/local/lib/audacity, or save "LameLib" anywhere on your computer.
  5. The first time you choose "File > Export as MP3", Audacity will ask for the location of "libmp3lame.dylib" or "LameLib". Navigate to that location, then open the file and click "OK". In Audacity Beta, choose "File > Export", select "MP3 Files" in the list of file types, then export should proceed immediately.
  6. In case of difficulty, please view our more detailed instructions on the Audacity Wiki.

Linux/Unix

Follow these instructions on our Wiki to download and install a suitable LAME package from the internet.

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