How to Use Audacity to Convert WAV to MP3

Download the LAME MP3 encoder to convert to MP3

By
Mark Harris
Writer
Mark Harris is a former writer for Lifewire who wrote about the digital music scene and streaming music services in an easy to understand, no-nonsense manner.
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Mark Harris
Updated December 13, 2019

Audacity is one of the best ways to edit audio files, so it's only natural to want to convert files with the program too. However, when you need to export an audio file in a format like WAV to MP3, you'll quickly learn that, by default, you can't do it—unless you tell Audacity where to find the LAME MP3 encoder.

When you use the LAME MP3 encoder in Audacity, you can reduce the space that the audio files are using on your hard drive because MP3 is a lossy format (i.e., not a bit-perfect conversion) that saves the audio to a compressed format.

While lots of MP3 converters are available, Audacity is one that boasts an impressive number of features but remains easy to use. Plus, it works in Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Don't Have Audacity or LAME?

  1. Download Audacity if you don't already have it.

  2. Download the LAME file that corresponds with your operating system.

If you're confused about which LAME package you should install, some quick instructions are as follows:

Convert WAV to MP3 With Audacity

With Audacity installed and the proper LAME files ready to go, you can now convert from WAV to MP3.

  1. Go to File > Open in Audacity.

    File > Open option in Audacity

  2. Select the WAV file you want to convert to MP3, and click Open.

    Open a WAV file in Audacity

  3. Go to File > Export > Export as MP3.

    Export to MP3 option in Audacity

  4. Find and select a folder where you want to save the MP3. You can also change the name of the file there if you want.

    Click Save.

    Optionally, before saving, you can edit the bit rate mode, quality, variable speed, and other settings for the MP3. These options are at the bottom of the Export Audio window.

    Save WAV to MP3 in Audacity
     

  5. Edit the metadata tags if you want something else to be included there. You can edit the artist name, track title, genre, and more.

    Click OK.

    Metadata tags options in Audacity

  6. Audacity converts the file to MP3 in the folder you chose above. You'll know the conversion has finished when the conversion window goes away and you're left with the original WAV file you opened in Audacity.

Audacity Can't Find the LAME Encoder

LAME error in Audacity

If you get a lame_enc.dll error or a similar message about how Audacity can't convert to MP3, you need to tell the program where it can find the LAME encoder library.

  1. Click Browse.

  2. Locate the folder where you extracted the LAME binaries, and click Open.

    The file is called lame_enc.dll in Windows and libmp3lame.dylib in macOS.

    How to find the lame_enc.dll file in Windows

  3. Click OK on the Locate LAME window.

    Import the lame_enc.dll file to Audacity in Windows

  4. Audacity then continues with the conversion.

Alternatively, you can go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries and click Locate to select the LAME plugin. In Windows, you can expect to find the file in C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity; Mac users should look in /usr/local/lib/audacity/.