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.
- 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.
- Now launch it from the newly created Desktop shortcut.
- 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.
- When prompted if you’d like for the app to check for updates on startup, click Yes.
- Ta-da! The main fre:ac window. Not fancy, no frills – but powerful and fast.
- Click the small “down arrow” next to the Add audio files button (see screenshot below). Then select From folder…
- Click the Browse button
- Navigate to the folder that contains the .flac files that you want to convert to .mp3. Select that folder, and then click OK
- Click OK again.
- Now the main fre:ac window will have all of the .flac files loaded.
- Click the “down arrow” next to the Start encoding button, and select LAME MP3 Encoder from the list of options.
- 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).
- 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!
note: if you need to convert .FLAC files to .MP3 in macOS, this guide is for you.
Perfect! It worked and now my flacs are all mp3s :)
thank you so very much I can now fully listen to my audio story
this works!!!
Thanks it still works great
Rock on my man this worked like a charm now my iPod (old school) is full of jams :P
Thanks a million for plain speaking instructions, this was painless. Took less than 15 minutes from downloading the program to converting the files.
Awesome! Totally worked :) Cheers
thank you!
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Great!!! Thank you
amazing!!!! thank you!!!
fantastic, thanks.
Thanks Man. That was really helpful and very easy! Wll done!!
Genius ! Thanks so much for this !! :) :)
thanks man :)
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Thank you very much for your time. Great job.
holey moley! Step by step awesomeness, thanks a whole bunch dude!
THANK YOU! So easy to follow and instructions are very clear! :)
thanks so much for this! :)
Dude. You’re a legend. If you can get an idiot like me to get this right, you’re a born teacher. Thank you.
A thousand thank yous, sir! Awsome.
Wow thank you SO SO SO much for this!!!! :)
Thank you kindly. Easy to follow even for an easily confused person. Yay!
This was fantastic advice, exactly what I was looking for, took a while but worth it to have everything on my ipod, thanks!
Fantastic guide, thanks.
Excelente guide. Thanks for the help!
It made it real easy to do…sometimes we forget how to do things.
help me a whole lot!!!!! Thanks a bunch.
excellent instructions helped alot, thanks alot mate!!
awesome!! very clear & worked… :-)
Wow, you made that easy, thanks so much.
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Thank you very much. Clear and easy.
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Thank You so much!!!
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Working perfect!! Thank you very much!!!! Great instructions!!!! MC and HNY!!!
Excellent instructions, thanks very much
Thanks for the very easy and practical help with this matter
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Work well, instructions very clear and easy to follow
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!!!
This works perfectly! thanks so much!
Thank you so much! This guide told me everything I needed, step by step. I checked the mp3 file when I was done, and the quality was perfect. Thanks again!
Thank you so much!! helped a lot :D
thank you very much!!!! :)
You are amazing.
You’re an angel :) thanks
I LOVE YOU, THANKS!
thanks so much, you explained/illustrated the steps very well, it wasn’t hard to follow :-)
Thanks! This was very helpful!
Awesome worked perfectly didnt bother doing anything after getting them into wav. files though you can just play them with Itunes THANNNKKKSSS :D
thanks, very helpful.
Easy to follow instructions & worked well :) THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge!!
Thank you, this is great info!!
100% SOOOO HELPFUL!
Thank you! That worked perfectly! Much appreciated!!!
It worked great! I LOVE YOU!
Thanks for the well-written explanation. Super helpful.
Worked great, thanks so much!
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These instructions worked really well for me. Many thanks.
Thanks for writing this guide!! This was so easy-to-follow!!
GREAT! Thanks you for this step to step instructions! Even I got it ;-)
thank u so much
Great tutorial! Very good explanation, simple and straightforward! Keep up the good work!
YOU ARE THE BEST – I have searched the wild world over for some neophyte instructions on flac conversions – yours were perfect!
I have no idea who you are, but I am now eternally indebted to you. Thank you very much for simplying this process for the technically incompetent amongst us.
Thanks a bunch, very helpful. Couldn’t help noticing you have good taste in music too.
Cheers
Very good tutorial. Couldn’t of done it better. THANKS MAN : ) very appreciated!
I can finally sleep at night and not fret about getting my songs into my player~!! Simplified and very detailed. Best yet! THANKS!!
thank you so much…. the directions were really clear and precise i had no issues
Thanks a million!
Simple! Thanks a million for the easy to follow instructions :)
Very clear, concise, and easy instructions thank you for an excellent posting, probably the very best I’ve ever used!
This is perfect, exactly what I needed. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this guide!
Thank you so much! What a comprehensive walkthrough :-)
Thanks!!! Very helpful and easy to understand.
Thank you so much for the tutorial. It worked great!!!!
WOW! ty so much!!!! my music supplier recently changed to.flac files and didnt kno what to do, until i found this. THANK U!!!
Thank you, very, very VERY much ;)
Thanks a lot…that really helped…easiest tutorial ever…
I love step by step instructions – thanks so much for doing this!
Just wanted to say thank you very much for this post. Very helpful :-)
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Thank you so much for this, all the other websites i went to i couldnt understand not being computer literate, you’ve totally made my day!!!
Great! Thanks
No Sweat!
You’re my hero!! Thanks soo much.
Great guide , thank you !
Awesome. Converting right now. Thanks a ton.
Thanks a lot!!!
I would like to add another kudos! First time I encountered the .flac extension file and this is the first site I opened up to get info on how to handle the file. Things work perfectly and fast! Thanks!
Great instructions! Thanks!
I followed these instuctions to a T and worked out perfectly!
Thanks so much.
Thanks so much, very helpful instructions!
Thanks SO much!! very much appreciated
You genius! Finally, a way of converting flac to mp3 without those dodgy programs online. Thank you so much!
wow! thanks a lot guys, now I should know better…
Thank you a lot :D
good!! thanks
thanks a whole bunch!
A most excellent approach, explanation and solution.
Worked like a charm.
May the force be with you!
Thank you so much! You made it very clear and easy!
Cheers for the clear and concise walk through – everything worked perfectly!
Thanks again!
Thanks a ton..very helpful!
Thanks very much. Very helpful.
Thanks for the help… much appreciated
A million thanks for sharing your knowledge!
simplest way possible. fantastic!
thanks!
THANK YOU!
Simple, fantastic, economical, helpful, clear and effective.
In short, everything that help should be.
THANK YOU!
Extremely helpful! Thank you SO much!
appreciate it, thanks a ton
Thank You, the pictures are very clear and they helped me a lot.
Gosh…. thanks a million, I never thought It’d work this great and easy I’ ve spent hours trying to convert and now, within minutes It was easily done.
Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks
WOW…. what more is there to say…works like a dream and solved a huge problem i have……had….lol
the instructions were really easy to follow
thanks so much!
i’m listening to my newly converted music now!
Tnx!!
Easy and clear!!
THANK YOU! This works AMAZINGLY and sooo easy <3
DUDE!! fixed everything…easy to do…thanx so much
Excellent resources tutorial on how to do this. Thanks for the help.
Thank you so much! Great how to, clear and very easy to follow.
hey man! thanks a lot for your help! it worked perfectly! ;)
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thanks really thanks!!
Thank you so much. It worked perfectly and saved a lot of time. Thanks again.
great help, thank you
Thanks so much, saved me a ton of time.
It worked just perfect!!!! Thanks for the tip!
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing the tips.
Thank you for great tip and tutorial!
*skip away while listening fav music on phone*
this worked perfectly, thank you!
This was very helpful and easy to follow along with. Thank you!
One of the best and easiest sites i have ever come across. Thanks
Thanks so much for the simple instructions. Worked a treat!
Very helpful. Thank you.
Excellent tutorial. Thanks a bunch! <3
Thanks, it worked 4 me!!!
Excellent post, very very clearly written. Ross McKillop = Legend.
Thank you :)
Awesome walkthrough, thanks so much! Had a bunch of files I was dying to put on my iPod and now I can!!
thanks! very concise…great job!
A great walk through!!! Concise and clear….thanks!
worked PERFECTLY first time….
Wow! really helpful and easily explained! Thanks a lot!
Thank you!
very helpfull
Thank you.
hey thanks all free programs and siple clear web / screenshots
thank you so so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Worked perfectly! The directions were right on and every step worked great. Thanks so much.
I have never posted one of these responses, but I do have to say this was the clearest most helpful, free way of accomplishing this seemingly annoying task. This actually gives me a great deal of faith in humanity. I have mad a terrible past few days with money-grubbing people and this is a refreshingly kind thing someone has done. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
great help, thank you!
Thank you so much,
Great tutorial, quick and helpful.
Awesome write up. Thanks a million.
Songs sound incredible.
thanks for posting this because it was so easy to follow and will save me so much hassle converting files from now on. thanks.
thanks, worked great for me
Thanks a lot for the guide, much appreciated
best ‘how to do’ i have ever read. perfectly written, completely awesome! thanks!
Quality tool. Brilliantly written instructions. I hope this is your permanent job – it should be!
Worked like a dream dude, as the rest said!
You’re the best!! ^^ Thanks for the help
thank you soooo much I was about to give up. You rock!!
Wow thanks for the help! Worked perfect!
I just wanted to thank you for your extremely clear instructions. I buzzed right through the whole process without a hitch, and now have a lot of great new music that I can finally play on my MP3 player!
Wow!
That was really great, easy to follow and everything.
Thanks.
That was great so easy…
Thanks!!!
Perfect! Thanks very much!!
wow your instructions a simply crystal clear im all done in 10mins!!
thanks very much man
Thanks so much. This saved me a lot of time and effort.
Thanks a lot. Easy and clear.
Thank you! Really helpful!
It works. Great instructions. Enough said !
Thank you SO much. I couldn’t get songs up on myspace without this. REALLY good instructions.
Tnx for the info! Finally someone who knows how to explain this in a good way!
Thank you! This was very helpful.
thanks guys!! big help
Great job. Really helped me out. Thanks a lot man
amazing instructions. thank you so much!
Easy and well explained, thanks a bunch
Just what I was looking for. Thanks
thanks a bunch, this was a simple and easy guide.
your rock… great job I would have never done it without you.
Absolutely flawless, incredibly easy conversion. I’d expected it to be so much more difficult, but little did I know, I already had all the tools I needed. Thanks so much, Ross, and now I shall no longer fear FLAC torrents.
this is awesome, thanks so much! i’ve been looking for a solution like this for ages!
Dude you are too good.. this thing worked great .. thanks again
thx alot… brilliant
thank you for this. :) wonderful guide!
Thank you for help!
Ross, I know it’s been said many times but many thx for the instructs… worked like a champ!
Thank you very much. It worked great.
The testimonials say it all……
solving peoples headaches for over a year with a simply perfect solution.
Many thanks, Ross
Best regards
Ian
WOW – you are the BEST. I love the way this is explained. You ROCK!!!
Worked perfectly for me. Thanks
This is a really super duper helpful info
Thanks a million!
Hey that works! WOW! so simple! LOL
Thank you..This tutorial is awesome…. this is the best advice for flac conversion can you say SIMPLE…CHEERS
This tutorial is awesome, thanks so much!
Many thanks – nice and easy!
Thanx man, great instructions and dead easy to follow! Superb!
THANK YOU!
Thanks a ton for putting this online. Was going nuts looking at other websites. Simple and easy to follow directions. Worked flawlessly.
Great guide. Thanks for the effort.
Thanks very much for this well put together guide.
Simple, easy and quick guide explained oh so clearly.
Many thanks!
You are a star :) Thanks a lot!!!
Thank you SO much! Extremely helpful. Worked perfectly!
Thanks a lot, this was super helpful!
Thanks. Simple and helpful. Cheers
It was very easy.
Thanks a lot.
BRILLIANT!!!!! Thank you so much. I have been searching for software to enable me to do this, for ages. So easy to follow guide, what more can I say BRILLIANT!!!!!
I never leave comments at these pages, but I feel obligated here, because this is the most elegant set of instructions I have ever seen. Thanks so much, you saved me so much time.
very cool! so straight forward, worked flawlessly
Cheers for that
:-)
Superb ! The man who wrote it is genius!
cheers mate
the instructions were clear, concise and to the point
and more importantly, it works
thanks a lot
you are a star
It worked this time, thanks so much!
Sweet! Thank you!
Thank you so much. Saved me a lot of time. Greetings from Brazil.
Perfection.
Many thanks!
wow that was absolutely great
thank you so easy
Thank goodness for you (whoever figured this out and wrote it in such easy-to-follow directions)!
After trying out several cryptic programs and websites i finally found this one and I’m all set!
Thanks again
~kenny
This was easy to follow & understand. Clear, concise, coherent. Thank you so much for writing this so that I could understand it & not making me feel like a fool at the same time. :)