Audacity - optional ffmpeg library

Support Software & Applications
1

recently ffmpeg was updated.

now I’m having the following problem with audacity(1:3.7.8-4) whenever I try to open a file:

Could not open file … : Incorrect filetype.

and then immediately the second one:

“… .m4a” is
an Advanced Audio Coding file.
Without the optional FFmpeg library,
Audacity cannot open this type of file.
Otherwise, you need to convert it to a
supported audio format, such as WAV or
AIFF.

audacity cannot detect libavformat.so which in my case is in /usr/lib/libavformat.so and pertains to ffmpeg-libfdk_aac. even if I go to the audacity settings and specify the path to the file manually.

the problem has happened before and the solution would be to build audacity against the new ffmpeg.

a temporary solution until then is to install ffmpeg4.4

2

Your post has been moved to a dedicated topic.

The solution is likely to install the optional ffmpeg library.

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

should cover the majority of use-cases.

By way of confirmation, this is what Audacity have to say about installing ffmpeg; See the “Linux” (tab):

Alternatively, a notable variant is ffmpeg-full AUR, which is built with as many optional features enabled as possible.

pamac build ffmpeg-full

Provides: ffmpeg, libavcodec.so, libavdevice.so, libavfilter.so, libavformat.so, libavutil.so, libswresample.so, libswscale.so

:point_right: A reminder that use of the AUR is not officially supported by Arch or Manjaro – use entirely at your own risk. :eyes:

In the event that there may be an issue with Audacity 1:3.7.8-4, I note that a newer Audacty 1:3.7.9-1 is currently available in Arch and Manjaro (Unstable and Testing) branches, and should filter down to the Stable branch soon. :eyes:

mbn info audacity -q
Branch         : archlinux
Name           : audacity
Version        : 1:3.7.9-1
Repository     : extra
Build Date     : Wed 02 Sep 2026 02:42:58
Packager       : Christian Heusel <gromit@archlinux.org>
Branch         : unstable
Name           : audacity
Version        : 1:3.7.9-1
Repository     : extra
Build Date     : Wed 02 Sep 2026 02:42:58
Packager       : Christian Heusel <gromit@archlinux.org>
Branch         : testing
Name           : audacity
Version        : 1:3.7.9-1
Repository     : extra
Build Date     : Wed 02 Sep 2026 02:42:58
Packager       : Christian Heusel <gromit@archlinux.org>
Branch         : stable
Name           : audacity
Version        : 1:3.7.8-4
Repository     : extra
Build Date     : Thu 13 Aug 2026 18:21:30
Packager       : Christian Heusel <gromit@archlinux.org>

Off-topic: The Beta of Audacity 4.0 is now publicly available.

3

Which version of ffmpeg do you have installed? The file location changed between versions and your version of audacity may or may not find it with the version you have installed. You can have both versions installed. See also Audacity Not "Seeing" ffmpeg - #2 by jofi

❯ pacman -F libavformat.so
extra/ffmpeg 2:8.1.2-7 [installed: 2:9.0.1-4]
    usr/lib/libavformat.so
extra/ffmpeg4.4 4.4.8-2
    usr/lib/ffmpeg4.4/libavformat.so
4

Latest version of Audacity on testing and unstable branches (1:3.7.9-1) does not need ffmpeg4.4

Changelog | Audacity

3.7.9

Added FFmpeg 9 support #11679

$ pamac list -f ffmpeg | grep libavformat.so
/usr/lib/libavformat.so
/usr/lib/libavformat.so.63
/usr/lib/libavformat.so.63.1.101

Audacity 3.7.9 is available as an Appimage if a user prefers to remain on stable branch
https://github.com/audacity/audacity/releases/download/Audacity-3.7.9/audacity-linux-3.7.9-x64-22.04.AppImage

5

There was this same issue for me a week ago; I just uninstalled native version and installed flatpak version, skipping all the manual interventions it needed.
That was my quickest way of getting a project going, as required dependencies are directly bundled into the flatpak.

That said, I did try installing older version of ffmpeg and pointing audacity to it’s libavformat.so file; which was not working, so I went for flatpak for not wasting more time.
My thought was to come back to native Arch Package when the maintainer takes care of the issue, but I guess judging with your post - its not been fixed yet.

If you’re comfortable with flatpaks, It’ll give continuous updates unlike appimage

6

Audacity 3.7.9 has not been released to stable branch yet
OP can use the appimage whilst awaiting update of repository package

Appimage version has a download link to try Audacity 4 Beta release, similar to previous topic
posted in member hub that ordinary users cannot see