How to Convert FLAC files to MP3 using Windows

July 23, 2020 / By

This detailed and step by step guide will explain how to convert FLAC files to MP3 using Windows.

Update: As of 2020 this tutorial is current. The software used in this step by step guide is still completely free (Open Source) and will have your .FLAC files converted to MP3 in no time at all.

  1. In order to convert your FLAC (.flac) files to MP3 (.mp3) you’ll to download and install a small, free (Open Source in fact!) “no frills” audio converter. Head over to the fre:ac download page and download the latest version. This app works in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.

    Double-click the file to install it, and literally click Next until the last step – then click Finish. The installation is that straight forward.

  2. Now launch it from the newly created Desktop shortcut.

    3. the freac desktop icon

  3. The first time you run fre:ac the “Tip of the day” window will appear. Remove the check from the box labeled Show tips on startup. Then click OK.

    4. the fre:ac tip of the day dialog box

  4. When prompted if you’d like for the app to check for updates on startup, click Yes.

    5. the fre:ac check for updates option

  5. Ta-da! The main fre:ac window. Not fancy, no frills – but powerful and fast.

    6. the main fre:ac window
    click to enlarge

  6. Click the small “down arrow” next to the Add audio files button (see screenshot below). Then select From folder…

    7. adding flac files to convert to mp3

  7. Click the Browse button

    8. browsing windows for files

  8. Navigate to the folder that contains the .flac files that you want to convert to .mp3. Select that folder, and then click OK

    9. selecting a folder in windows

  9. Click OK again.

    10. the fre:ac adding a folder dialog box

  10. Now the main fre:ac window will have all of the .flac files loaded.

    11. fre:ac with flac files loaded
    click to enlarge

  11. Click the “down arrow” next to the Start encoding button, and select LAME MP3 Encoder from the list of options.

    12. selecting LAME MP3 in fre:ac

  12. Now just sit back and watch fre:ac do its thing. fre:ac makes the best use of your hardware in order to complete the conversion as quickly as possible. You can watch the progress of each file and/or overall progress in the section at the bottom of the main fre:ac window (see screenshot below).

    13. the process of converting flac files to mp3 in Windows
    click to enlarge

  13. Once the process has completed, open your Music folder (which is the default “Save” location for all of the files you convert). There they are – ready to load onto your MP3 player of choice.

    If the files didn’t have the track information embedded in them, and you need to name all of the songs and add the album information etc, check out the guide How to Edit MP3/FLAC “Metadata” – which will take you step by step through that process. Otherwise, all done!

    14. converted mp3 files
    click to enlarge

note: if you need to convert .FLAC files to .MP3 in macOS, this guide is for you.

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