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 Jun 28, 2022

Although M4A is always considered the successor to MP3, it isn't as ubiquitous as the latter. For example, the famous free digital audio editor, Audacity, doesn't offer native support for it, so many people have no idea how to import M4A to Audacity. To this end, there are two practical methods for you to work it out – install the FFmpeg library for Audacity or convert M4A to Audacity with HD Video Converter Factory Pro:

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

Can Audacity Open M4A

Audacity is a portable, free, and open-source digital audio editor and recording application, but many people have faced with errors when importing M4A music into Audacity for further editing. Does Audacity support M4A? From the official Audacity manual page, we can know that, until now, Audacity natively enables us to import audio files in WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MP2 and MP3 formats. M4A, AAC or other audio containers using the Apple Lossless Audio Codec are not supported by this application. The reason why you can't import M4A files into Audacity is self-explanatory. But how can you solve this M4A Audacity import problem? The following methods will tell you the answer.

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, but once you go through this page, you will find that there offers FFMPEG for both Windows and Mac OS X. You can navigate to the corresponding section based on your computer version. 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

A new approach of importing M4A to Audacity is converting M4A to MP3, OGG Vorbis, WAV, and other audio formats supported by Audacity. To this end, you need a good audio converter. WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is a mighty video audio converter, and it supports almost all video/audio inputs and 500+ output formats and profiles for devices. So it can help you convert M4A to MP3, M4A to WAV, M4A to OGG, and so on effortlessly. Of course, if you need to edit your audio files, you can make use of its editing features to merge, cut, and split your video and audio files.

Now free download free download this powerful converter and learn how to convert M4A to Audacity supported format with it.

Convert M4A to Audacity Compatible Format

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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 of the window, go to the Audio tab and choose any audio format supported by Audacity.

Tips: 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 lossy 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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