---
title: "Back to the Basics: Use and Install FFmpeg"
description: "Learn how to use and install FFmpeg from the command-line and use in everyday IT operations crucial to business operations."
canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/install-ffmpeg/"
---

# Back to the Basics: Use and Install FFmpeg

> Learn how to use and install FFmpeg from the command-line and use in everyday IT operations crucial to business operations.

Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/install-ffmpeg/

---

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# Back to the Basics: Use and Install FFmpeg

[![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2788bb1a3f735603f81eca51d68daec56a9d97e805a10268fb2c20afcc76b81b?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Nicholas Xuan Nguyen](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/nicholas-xuan-nguyen/)19 July 20227 min. read

Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/)

Tags:[Command Line](/tag/command-line/)[FFmpeg](/tag/ffmpeg/)[Windows](/tag/windows/)

Table of Contents

*   [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
*   [Installing FFmpeg on Ubuntu](#installing-ffmpeg-on-ubuntu)
*   [Installing FFmpeg on Windows 10](#installing-ffmpeg-on-windows-10)
*   [Method 1: Install FFmpeg via PowerShell](#method-1-install-ffmpeg-via-powershell)
*   [Method 2: Install FFmpeg via Chocolatey](#method-2-install-ffmpeg-via-chocolatey)
*   [Installing FFmpeg on macOS](#installing-ffmpeg-on-macos)
*   [Listing Available Encoders and Decoders](#listing-available-encoders-and-decoders)
*   [Extracting Media File Information](#extracting-media-file-information)
*   [Converting Media Files with FFmpeg (Examples)](#converting-media-files-with-ffmpeg-examples)
*   [Example 1: Basic Conversion with Automatic Codec Selection](#example-1-basic-conversion-with-automatic-codec-selection)
*   [Example 2: Changing the Container without Encoding](#example-2-changing-the-container-without-encoding)
*   [Example 3: Changing the Video Resolution](#example-3-changing-the-video-resolution)
*   [Example 4: Extracting Audio from a Video File](#example-4-extracting-audio-from-a-video-file)
*   [Conclusion](#conclusion)

Did you receive a video with those annoying black bars on the side? Do you wonder how you could change the orientation and remove those black bars? Or maybe you want to create a montage of your favorite pictures and make a music video. You can do all that for free when you install [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/).

Not a reader? Watch this related video tutorial!

**_Not seeing the video? Make sure your ad blocker is disabled._**

In this guide, you will learn to install FFmpeg and how to use it by following many examples. By the end, you’ll have acquired the foundation to start converting and altering media files!

## Prerequisites

This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have the following.

*   You’ll need a computer running on a compatible operating system, such as Windows, Linux (RHEL-based, Debian-based, or Ubuntu-based), and macOS. This tutorial will be using Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10, and macOS Big Sur for the installation.

Related:[How to Install Ubuntu 20.04 \[Step-by-Step\]](https://adamtheautomator.com/install-ubuntu/)

> _While the installation method varies, FFmpeg usage should be the same across different operating systems._

*   Your computer must have at least 4GB of RAM and a two-core CPU. Multimedia processing is generally a resource-intensive task. As such, your computer must have decent hardware capacity.

## Installing FFmpeg on Ubuntu

FFmpeg is available in the default repositories of most Linux distributions. Conveniently, you can install FFmpeg through your distro’s package manager, such as `apt` in Ubuntu.

To install FFmpeg on Ubuntu, follow these steps:

1\. SSH into your Ubuntu server and update the apt package index.

```bash
sudo apt update -y
```

Related:[Using Pageant Putty Agent to Unleash Your SSH Key Use](https://adamtheautomator.com/pageant-putty/)

2\. Next, install FFmpeg and all the necessary libraries.

```bash
apt install ffmpeg -y
```

3\. Finally, check the FFmpeg version you installed.

```bash
ffmpeg -version
```

You will see an output similar to the following screenshot. Your version may be different.

![Viewing the FFmpeg version](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-696.png)

Viewing the FFmpeg version

## Installing FFmpeg on Windows 10

So far, you have learned how to install FFmpeg on Ubuntu. Now, know two ways to install FFmpeg on Windows 10 in this section.

### Method 1: Install FFmpeg via PowerShell

This method gives you more control over where to download and install FFmpeg on your computer. Best of all, you’ll perform everything within PowerShell.

To install FFmpeg on Windows 10, follow these steps.

1\. Open a PowerShell as administrator on your computer.

Related:[How to Run PowerShell as Administrator](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/)

2\. Create the folder where you’ll download and install FFmpeg. This command creates the folder C:\\ffmpeg.

```powershell
New-Item -Type Directory -Path C:\ffmpeg ; Set-Location C:\ffmpeg
```

![Creating the install location](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-697.png)

Creating the install location

3\. Run the below command to download the latest FFmpeg release for Windows. This command saves the file as ffmpeg.zip.

```powershell
curl.exe -L 'https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-essentials.zip' -o 'ffmpeg.zip'
```

![Downloading FFmpeg for Windows](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-698.png)

Downloading FFmpeg for Windows

4\. After downloading, extract the ffmpeg.zip file to the current directory. To do so, run the Expand-Archive command below.

```powershell
# Expand the Zip
Expand-Archive .\ffmpeg.zip -Force -Verbose
```

As you can see, the command extracted all files from the zip file. The only files you’ll need are the executable files.

![Extracting the FFmpeg archive](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-699.png)

Extracting the FFmpeg archive

5\. Move the executable files to the top folder for simplicity and quick access.

```powershell
# Move the executable (*.exe) files to the top folder
Get-ChildItem -Recurse `
    -Path .\ffmpeg\ -Filter *.exe |
    ForEach-Object {
        Move-Item $_ -Destination .\ -Verbose
    }
```

![Moving the essential executable files to the top folder](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-700.png)

Moving the essential executable files to the top folder

6\. Now, clean up the FFmpeg directory by deleting the unnecessary files and folder.

```powershell
# Clean up
Remove-Item .\ffmpeg\ -Recurse
Remove-Item .\ffmpeg.zip
# List the directory contents
Get-ChildItem
```

At this point, only the executable files remain

![Cleanup unnecessary files and folders](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-701.png)

Cleanup unnecessary files and folders

7\. Now, prepend the C:\\ffmpeg folder to the system path environment variable. This step ensures that you can run the ffmpeg.exe command from any directory without specifying the full path.

```powershell
# Prepend the FFmpeg folder path to the system path variable
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    "PATH",
    "C:\ffmpeg\;$([System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('PATH','MACHINE'))",
    "Machine"
)
```

8\. For the new system variables to take effect, perform either one of the two options below.

> _Note: You only need to do either option once. Every subsequent PowerShell or CMD session will pick up the environment variables automatically._

Option 1: Close your current PowerShell session and open a new one.

Option 2: Run the below command in the current PowerShell session to import the machine’s PATH variable into the current session.

```powershell
$env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine")
```

9\. Finally, check the FFmpeg version by running the below command.

```powershell
ffmpeg -version
```

As you can see, you don’t need to specify the full path of the ffmpeg.exe executable file due to what you did in steps 5 and 6.

![Displaying the FFmpeg version](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-702.png)

Displaying the FFmpeg version

### Method 2: Install FFmpeg via Chocolatey

Since Windows 10 does not have a default package manager like Ubuntu’s apt, an excellent alternative is to use [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/).

Related:[How to Install Chocolatey and Get Started in No Time](https://adamtheautomator.com/install-chocolatey/)

Follow the steps below to install FFmpeg via Chocolatey.

1\. If you don’t have Chocolatey yet, open an elevated PowerShell terminal and run the following code to install.

```powershell
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
```

2\. After installing Chocolatey, close your current PowerShell window and reopen a new one. On your new PowerShell window, run the following command to install FFmpeg.

```powershell
choco install ffmpeg
```

Type Y and press Enter at the confirmation prompt.

![Install FFmpeg from Chocolatey](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-703.png)

Install FFmpeg from Chocolatey

3\. Finally, check the FFmpeg version you installed.

```powershell
ffmpeg -version
```

![Displaying the FFmpeg version on Windows](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-702.png)

Displaying the FFmpeg version on Windows

## Installing FFmpeg on macOS

If you’re using a macOS computer, the most convenient way to install FFmpeg is through Homebrew. Homebrew is a package manager for macOS but does not come out of the box.

1\. Open a terminal window on your macOS computer.

2\. If you don’t have Homebrew yet, run the below command to install it on your computer.

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

3\. Once you’ve installed Homebrew, run the below command in the terminal to install FFmpeg.

```powershell
brew install ffmpeg
```

![Install FFmpeg via Homebrew](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-705.png)

Install FFmpeg via Homebrew

As you can see below, Homebrew automatically detects and installs every FFmpeg dependency.

> _Installing FFmpeg on macOS could take several minutes, especially when many dependencies are missing. Be patient._

![Homebrew installing FFmpeg dependencies](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-706.png)

Homebrew installing FFmpeg dependencies

4\. Finally, check your version of FFmpeg by running the below command.

```powershell
ffmpeg -version
```

![Displaying the FFmpeg version on macOS](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-707.png)

Displaying the FFmpeg version on macOS

## Listing Available Encoders and Decoders

FFmpeg is known for its media processing capabilities, especially in converting media formats. Converting media files between different formats involves encoding and decoding. What enables FFmpeg to convert media files are the encoders and decoders.

These encoders and decoders determine which media file formats FFmpeg can process. How do you know which encoders and decoders come with FFmpeg?

To display the list of encoders or decoders, run the commands below.

```powershell
# Show encoders
ffmpeg -encoders
# Show decoders
ffmpeg -decoders
```

The below screenshots show only a portion of the available encoders and decoders. The legend at the beginning indicates whether the encoder supports video, audio, subtitles, etc.

![FFmpeg encoders](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-708.png)

FFmpeg encoders

![FFmpeg decoders](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-709.png)

FFmpeg decoders

## Extracting Media File Information

After installing FFmpeg, the first thing you will want to do is to get the essential information about a media file. This information includes the duration of a video or which codecs were used during an audio file encoding.

To get a file’s media information, run the below command. Ensure to provide the correct filename after the -i option. The -f null – flag prevents FFmpeg from encoding the output to a file, where null means no file format and – means no filename.

> _This example uses a sample MP3 file named file\_example\_MP3\_5MG.mp3 downloaded from this [link](https://file-examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/file_example_MP3_5MG.mp3)._

```powershell
ffmpeg -i .\\file_example_MP3_5MG.mp3 -f null -
```

As you can see, the input file information shows the metadata, bitrate, duration, and container format, among others.

![Extracting an mp3 file’s media information](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-710.png)

Extracting an mp3 file’s media information

## Converting Media Files with FFmpeg (Examples)

Suppose you have a WEBM video file that you want to watch on your smart TV. But your TV does not support the WEBM format. You can use FFmpeg to convert the WEBM file to a format that your TV supports, such as MP4.

> _This example uses a sample video file called file\_example\_WEBM\_1920\_3\_7MB.webm downloaded from this [link](https://file-examples.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/file_example_WEBM_1920_3_7MB.webm)._

### Example 1: Basic Conversion with Automatic Codec Selection

The command is as follows to perform a basic conversion of a video format. This command takes file\_example\_WEBM\_1920\_3\_7MB.webm as the input, converts it, and saves the output file file\_example\_MP4\_1920\_3\_7MB.mp4.

```powershell
ffmpeg -i file_example_WEBM_1920_3_7MB.webm file_example_MP4_1920_3_7MB.mp4
```

Notice that you didn’t have to specify the output format? Because FFmpeg recognized the format since MP4 is well-known and uses the correct codecs and encoders.

### Example 2: Changing the Container without Encoding

In some cases, you may want to change a file container into another without re-encoding the video or audio streams. One reason could be that you’ve already encoded the streams correctly but chose the wrong container in the first place.

To change contains without transcoding, run the below command. This command uses the -c:a copy and -c:v copy options to copy the audio and video streams from a WEBM into an MKV container.

```powershell
ffmpeg -i file_example_WEBM_1920_3_7MB.webm -c:v copy -c:a copy file_example_MKV.mkv
```

![Changing the Container without Encoding](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-711.png)

Changing the Container without Encoding

### Example 3: Changing the Video Resolution

What you are mainly playing videos on a small screen, perhaps on a mobile phone. Smaller screens may have fewer benefits with higher video resolutions, such as 1920×1080, and bigger file sizes.

In such cases, FFmpeg can resize a video to a smaller resolution, like 1280×720. To do so, run the following command. This command uses the -c:a copy option to copy the audio stream (without conversion), and the -s 1280×720 option specifies the output video resolution.

```powershell
ffmpeg -i file_example_WEBM_1920_3_7MB.webm -c:a copy -s 1280x720 file_example_1280x720.webm
```

![Changing a video resolution](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-712.png)

Changing a video resolution

### Example 4: **Extracting Audio from a Video File**

You can also use FFmpeg to extract the audio from a video file. This FFmpeg usage is widespread for converting music videos or instructional videos to audio files like MP3 and OGG.

To extract the audio from a video file, run the below command. This command uses the `-vn` option to disable the video stream and save the output to an MP3 file.

```bash
ffmpeg -i file_example_WEBM_1920_3_7MB.webm -vn file_example_WEBM.mp3
```

As you can see below, the input file had two streams; `Stream#0:0` for video and `Stream#0:1` for audio.

![Video file input streams](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-713.png)

Video file input streams

But the output only contains one stream, which is the audio-only since you’ve disabled the video stream.

![FFmpeg audio-only output stream](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-714.png)

FFmpeg audio-only output stream

## Conclusion

FFmpeg is a powerful multimedia tool for converting media files between different formats and extracting audio from video files. This guide taught you how to install FFmpeg and used its command with several real-life examples.

With FFmpeg, you can make your media files work on any device or platform. So don’t be afraid to give it a try. Don’t stop here! There’s a lot more you can do with FFmpeg, like how to [compress a large video file](https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/how-decrease-video-sizes-using-ffmpeg-linux) to save space or [extract all the images from a movie](https://gist.github.com/loretoparisi/a9277b2eb4425809066c380fed395ab3) to create a photo gallery.

For more ideas, check out the FFmpeg [documentation](https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html). Thanks for reading, and happy learning!

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