Installing FFmpeg and Adding It to Your System PATH

FFmpeg is a command-line tool. To use it from any directory in your terminal, you need to add its binary folder to your system's PATH environment variable.

1. Installation on macOS (Homebrew)

The easiest way to install FFmpeg on macOS is via Homebrew:

# Install ffmpeg via Homebrew package manager
brew install ffmpeg

Homebrew automatically adds ffmpeg to your PATH. Verify the installation:

ffmpeg -version

2. Installation on Windows

1. Download a static build from ffmpeg.org/download.html (choose a "Windows builds" link from gyan.dev or BtbN).
2. Extract the downloaded .zip file to a stable location such as C:\ffmpeg.
3. Open System Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables.
4. Under System Variables, find Path, click Edit, and add the path to the bin folder inside your extracted directory (for example, C:\ffmpeg\bin).
5. Open a new terminal window and verify:

ffmpeg -version

3. Checking Installed Codecs

To see which codecs and formats are available in your installation:

# List all supported encoders
ffmpeg -encoders

# List all supported input/output formats
ffmpeg -formats