How do I install and use ffmpeg on Windows?

FFmpeg is a powerful, open-source multimedia framework that provides command-line tools for video/audio conversion, editing, streaming, and more.

It includes utilities like ffmpeg (core tool), ffplay (media player), and ffprobe (media inspector).

But first of all, let's see how to download and install this amazing toolbox. You can always get the latest version from one of these pages:

1. Download FFmpeg - from codecs.com

2. GyanD's builds

Due to its versatility, FFmpeg is being used behind the scenes in many media-related projects:

myFFmpeg, SmartFFmpeg, LosslessCut and exhale's GUI, just to name a few GUIs listed by us.

Extracting the FFmpeg Archive

Install 7‑Zip or WinRAR if needed.

Right-click the downloaded archive → Extract to ffmpeg-git-full.

Rename this folder to something simple, like FFmpeg.

Move it to a permanent location, e.g., C:\FFmpeg\

Adding FFmpeg to Windows PATH

So you can call ffmpeg from any Command Prompt:

Press Win + S, type Environment Variables, and select Edit the system environment variables.

In System Properties, click Environment Variables... button.

Under System variables, select Path → click Edit → New

Paste:

C:\FFmpeg\bin

Click OK to close dialogs and apply settings

Verifying Installation

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Type:

ffmpeg -version

✔️ If you see an error:

Double-check the PATH entry and ffmpeg.exe location.

Restart your PC (or at least the terminal session).

Basic FFmpeg Usage Examples

Once installed, here are some useful command-line examples:

Convert MP4 → AVI:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.avi

Extract audio from video:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -q:a 0 -map a output.mp3

Resize video:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1280:-1 output.mp4

Create WebM from image set:

ffmpeg -i frame%04d.png -c:v libvpx -b:v 2M output.webm

Stabilize shaky video:

ffmpeg -i in.mov -vf deshake out.mov

Here is a nice myFFmpeg video tutorial, published by Ken Olson that will show you:

1: How to combine a Video and Audio File;
2: How to Selec Audio Tracks.