How to Install Audacity Silently with winget on Windows

Audacity is the multi-track audio editor that's been a free Windows mainstay since 2000. Whether you're cleaning podcast recordings, ripping vinyl, or recording band practice, here's how to deploy it silently.

TL;DR

Open Terminal as Administrator:

winget install --id Audacity.Audacity -e --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

Audacity installs to C:\Program Files\Audacity. ~30 seconds. Admin required.

What gets installed

Field	Value
Package ID	`Audacity.Audacity`
Publisher	Audacity Team / Muse Group
Installer type	NSIS (Nullsoft)
License	GPL-3.0
Homepage	audacityteam.org
Default install path	`C:\Program Files\Audacity`

The installer bundles the Audacity DAW with WAV/AIFF/Ogg Vorbis support out of the box. About 100 MB on disk.

Add M4A / AAC / FLAC support

Audacity historically required the LAME MP3 encoder and FFmpeg as separate installs due to patent reasons. As of Audacity 3.4+ (mid-2023), MP3 encoding is built in, but FFmpeg for M4A/AAC import-export is still optional:

winget install --id Audacity.FFmpeg -e --silent

After both installs, Audacity auto-discovers FFmpeg on next launch. You can verify in Edit → Preferences → Libraries.

Customise with NSIS components

Audacity's NSIS installer accepts /COMPONENTS=:

winget install --id Audacity.Audacity -e --override "/S /COMPONENTS=Audacity,Translations,Manual,DesktopShortcut"

Component	What it includes
`Audacity`	Core app (required)
`Translations`	50+ language packs
`Manual`	Local copy of the manual
`DesktopShortcut`	Desktop icon
`Reset`	Reset preferences entry

For minimal install (server / kiosk):

winget install --id Audacity.Audacity -e --override "/S /COMPONENTS=Audacity"

Skips translations, manual, and shortcuts.

Specify version

winget install --id Audacity.Audacity -e --version 3.7.1 --silent

List versions:

winget show --id Audacity.Audacity --versions

⚠️ Audacity 3.0+ changed its project file format (.aup3) — you can't open new projects in pre-3.0 versions. For teaching environments with mixed Audacity versions, standardise everyone on the same major version.

Install VST / LV2 / LADSPA plugins

Audacity loads plugins from these folders on launch:

Plugin type	Folder
VST3	`C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3`
VST2 (32-bit)	`C:\Program Files (x86)\Vstplugins`
LV2	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Audacity\lv2`
LADSPA	`C:\Program Files\Audacity\Plug-Ins\LADSPA`
Nyquist (built-in scripting)	`C:\Program Files\Audacity\Plug-Ins`

Drop your VST DLLs into the right folder and they show up in Effects menu on next launch. Some plugins need explicit enabling via Tools → Add / Remove Plug-ins after install.

Configure default project format

Audacity stores user settings in %APPDATA%\audacity\audacity.cfg. For team-wide defaults:

$cfgPath = "$env:APPDATA\audacity\audacity.cfg"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path (Split-Path $cfgPath) -Force | Out-Null
@'
[AudioIO]
PlaybackDevice=Default
RecordingDevice=Default

[Quality]
DefaultSampleRate=48000
DefaultSampleFormat=Float32

[Export]
DefaultFormat=MP3
'@ | Out-File -Encoding utf8 $cfgPath

Sets 48 kHz / 32-bit float as the project default (good for modern multi-track recording) and MP3 as the default export format.

Verify

& "C:\Program Files\Audacity\Audacity.exe" --version

Or:

winget list --id Audacity.Audacity

Upgrade silently

winget upgrade --id Audacity.Audacity -e --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

Audacity also has an in-app update prompt — it nags on launch. Disable in Edit → Preferences → Application → "Check for updates on startup" off, then let winget upgrade handle it.

Uninstall silently

winget uninstall --id Audacity.Audacity --silent --disable-interactivity

To also wipe user settings and plugin cache:

winget uninstall --id Audacity.Audacity --silent
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\audacity" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

⚠️ Audacity projects (.aup3 files) live wherever you saved them, not under AppData. Don't auto-delete user folders.

In an audio-production setup script

$apps = @(
  "Audacity.Audacity",
  "Audacity.FFmpeg",
  "REAPER.REAPER",
  "OBSProject.OBSStudio"
)

foreach ($id in $apps) {
  winget install --id $id -e --silent `
    --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements
}

Common errors

"Audacity is already installed" — force-overlay:

winget install --id Audacity.Audacity -e --silent --force

"Cannot import M4A / AAC files" — install FFmpeg companion:

winget install --id Audacity.FFmpeg -e --silent

Restart Audacity afterward.

Recording level too low / mic not detected — Windows mic permission denied. Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone → enable for Audacity. Also check Audacity's audio host setting — Windows WASAPI is usually best, MME is the legacy fallback.

0x80073D02 — Audacity is in use — close all Audacity windows:

Get-Process Audacity -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
winget upgrade --id Audacity.Audacity

See package in use fix.

Plugins don't appear in Effects menu — Audacity scans on launch. If you added plugins after launch, restart Audacity. Some plugins also need explicit "Tools → Add / Remove Plug-ins" to enable.

Telemetry concerns — Audacity's parent Muse Group added telemetry in 2021. Disable in Edit → Preferences → Application → uncheck "Share crash reports" and "Anonymous usage data". (Or use the Tenacity fork which strips all telemetry.)