Can Audacity Import M4A and How to Import M4A into Audacity

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M4A to Audacity – How to Import M4A Files into Audacity

Updated on Sep 20, 2024

Although M4A is considered as the successor to MP3, it isn’t as ubiquitous as the latter. For example, the famous free digital audio editor, Audacity, doesn’t support M4A natively so that many people wonder how to import M4A to Audacity. To work it out, this article shares two practical methods – install the FFmpeg library for Audacity and convert M4A to an Audacity-supported format.

Tip: It is recommended to use this free audio converter to convert M4A format easily and quickly:

https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/download/hd-video-converter-pro.exe hd-video-converter-pro.exe

※ Can Audacity Open M4A

※ Method 1: Fix M4A Audacity Error - Install FFmpeg Import/Export Library for Audacity

※ Method 2: Convert M4A to Audacity Supported Format

※ In Summary

Can Audacity Open M4A?

Audacity is a portable and open-source digital audio recorder and editor. Many people have met errors when importing M4A music into this software for editing. Does Audacity support M4A?

From the official Audacity manual page, we know that, until now, Audacity only allows users to import audio files in WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MP2, and MP3 formats. However, it does not support AAC (M4A) and other audio containers that use the Apple Lossless Audio Codec. So you can't import M4A files into Audacity.

That said, there are workarounds to import M4A audio to Audacity. Continue reading to learn how to solve this M4A Audacity import problem.

Method 1: Fix M4A Audacity Error - Install FFmpeg Import/Export Library for Audacity

How to Open M4A in Audacity by Installing FFmpeg

You can install the FFmpeg Library to enable Audacity to support more common formats such as AC3, AMR(NB), M4A, MP4, WMA, etc.

Install the FFmpeg Library here: https://lame.buanzo.org/#lamewindl

The download page is a little obscure and complicated. It offers FFMPEG for both Windows and Mac OS X. Just navigate to the corresponding section based on your computer system. Here I take FFmpeg for Windows as an example. Scroll down to find "FFmpeg for Windows and latest Audacity versions" and choose an FFmpeg zip option based on the Audacity version you're using. Download and install the plugin to add Audacity M4A support.

After the installation, you are able to open M4A in Audacity.

Method 2: Convert M4A to Audacity Supported Format

Another way to import M4A to Audacity is converting M4A to MP3, OGG Vorbis, WAV, or other audio formats supported by Audacity. To achieve this, an audio converter is necessary.

WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is a powerful audio/video converter that can deal with conversions between various file types. It provides more than 500 output presets, enabling you to convert M4A to WAV, OGG, MP3, and other formats without any effort. Additionally, you can edit your audio files by cutting, merging, and splitting into multiple tracks.

Now, I will show you how to convert M4A to Audacity supported format. Please free download free download the converter and follow the steps below.

Convert M4A to Audacity Compatible Format

1. Convert M4A to Audacity compatible format in batches.
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Three Steps to Convert M4A for Importing Them into Audacity

Before start, please free download free download and install the software on your PC.

Step 1. Add M4A Files

Launch the audio converter after you install it and head to the “Converter”. Click “Add Files” to import M4A files from your computer.

HD Video Converter Factory Pro supports converting multiple files in batch mode.

Step 2. Choose Audacity Supported Audio Format

Click on Output Format profile on the right side, go to the Audio tab and choose any audio format supported by Audacity.

Tip: As M4A is a container format commonly used to store either lossy AAC audio or lossless ALAC audio, therefore you're advised to convert M4A to MP3, Ogg Vorbis or lossless FLAC format for Audacity input.

Step 3. Start the Conversion

Click on the inverted triangle button at the bottom to select an output path. After that, press Run to convert M4A to Audacity Supported format immediately. The process will be finished in several seconds to minutes.

In Summary

Now you can easily get rid of the annoying error of "Audacity cannot open this type of file" and edit your M4A files in Audacity. We hope this tutorial can solve the M4A Audacity problem you're facing with. Meanwhile, WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is able to deal with other video/audio formats and can help you solve any compatibility issues you would meet when importing or playing video or audio files. Get the software here:

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