How to install and Use FFMPEG on windows 10 – Complete Guide

If you convert your video, audio, or image format by going to multiple sites then you must know about FFmpeg and how to install and use FFmpeg on windows 10.

Using online converter or third party apps are really annoying where we need to go through with a couple of ads and screen. In this article, I will cover

• How to download and Install FFmpeg on windows 10
• How to use FFmpeg on Windows 10

 

What is FFmpeg for Windows 10?

FFmpeg stands for fast forward MPEG which is a command-line tool that performs encoding and decoding of multiple formats by installing once on Windows 10.

Now once this exe file gets installed and saved on your window, you can easily convert files format by using either Command Prompt or Windows Power Shell.

           

How to Install FFmpeg on Windows 10

FFmpeg is not any third-party software where you need to go with the entire installation process. Here you simply need to download the zip file and add then add FFmpeg to the windows path.

How do I get FFmpeg for Windows?

You can get FFmpeg from its official website. Now follow the below steps to download, save and then add to the windows path.

Step 1:- Navigate to FFmpeg official website and click on the green download button.

Step 2: Scroll down a little and click on the Windows icon. Now just below the icon, you will find Windows builds from Gyan. dev. Click on it and this will redirect you to gyan developer website.

 

Step 3:- Scroll down to the GIT section and click on the first link as shown in the screenshot. This will start downloading the FFmpeg zip file. Now to unzip this file you must have zip file software like Winzip.

 

Step 4:- Go to the Downloads folder, right-click on the FFmpeg zip file and choose to Extract all or Extract file.

 

 

Now extract all these files in the C drive, by choosing or browsing the location to C drive.

You will see a new folder by the name FFmpeg with an additional suffix, rename the folder to only FFmpeg to easily identify and understand.

 

 

Step 5:- All the extracted files will now be saved in the C drive. Doing this will secure the file safely in the drive.

So here you have successfully saved the FFmpeg folder in Windows C drive and now we need to add this folder path to the windows system utility.

 

 

How to Add FFmpeg folder path to Windows System Utility?

You must be thinking that why we need to add this folder path to the system utility?

If you do not add this FFmpeg path to the Windows system utility you will have to open this path every time you use the converter with the command prompt.

But after adding the path you simply can use converter by just typing FFmpeg in the command prompt.

 

Follow these easy steps to add the path

Step 1:- Open C drive and then double click on the FFmpeg folder that you just saved. Double click on Bin and you will see all the 3 FFmpeg executable files. Now on the top, you will see the path of this location as shown in the screenshot, copy the path.

 

 

Step 2:- Navigate to the Windows search on the very left-hand bottom and type ENV. From the suggestions choose “Edit the system environment variables”.

 

Step 3:- System properties box will now be up, from the right bottom of the box click on “Environment Variables”.

Step 4:- Another window will be up. Come into the system variables section, scroll down and double click on the path.

 

Step 5:- Click on New and simply paste the path. Once done close all the windows by clicking on ok.

So now FFmpeg is completely installed on windows 10 and can be accessed anytime by typing FFmpeg in the command prompt. Now let’s see how to use FFmpeg in Windows 10.

 

How to Use FFmpeg in Windows 10

Don’t worry I will briefly explain to you how to use this FFmpeg on your windows 10 with the help of a command prompt.

Follow the below steps

Step 1:- If you want to convert or work on any pictures or video, try to keep it in the Video or Pictures default folder.

Step 2:- So, here I will explain to you by taking an example of an mp4 video. I will first reduce the file size and then convert it to MKV from mp4.

Step 3:- On your Windows search on the very left-hand bottom, type CMD, and choose run as administrator. Click on yes to allow the permission.

Type “cd Videos” and hit enter to come in the Videos path.

 

 

Step 4:- Now here we will reduce the file size of a video by the name SUB.mp4 in the Videos folder. You can replace the name SUB.mp4 with your file name. Type the below command.

FFMPEG –i SUB.mp4 SUBcompressed.mp4

 

Hit enter and the process will start. Once completed, you can go back to the Videos folder and you will find a new file has been created by the name SUBcompressed.mp4 with compressed size.

 

 

Step 5:- Now if you want to convert this mp4 file to MKV, then follow below command line

FFMPEG –i SUB.mp4 SUB2.mkv

Hit Enter and wait till the process gets completed. You can check again in the videos where a new file will be created with a new name and extension.

 

Frequently Asked Question

FFmpeg is not recognized for windows 10

You may get these messages if you have not followed the installation or path process properly. What you can do is

• Restart the computer after the installation and before using the command.
• Delete the path and file. Follow the process again and you can also watch the above video for proper instruction.
• You can also try optimizing your computer as poor performing PC can also cause such problems.

 

 

FFmpeg no such file or directory Error on Windows command prompt

If you are a beginner user for this FFmpeg, you need to be a little careful while following the procedures at least 1 or 2 times.

• If you are converting any pictures, then make sure you first enter the path of the picture and then enter the command line for conversion. To enter pictures type the command

CD Pictures and hit Enter

• For videos, exit out by typing cd.. and then enter in the path of the video by typing the below command

CD Videos and hit enter

 

CONCLUSION

Now that we cover everything from downloads, installation, adding a path, and using FFmpeg you must be aware of how to install and use FFmpeg on Windows 10.

If you find this article helpful, do let us know in the comment box and also your question if you still have any doubts. I will surely reply to you back with the solution.