Audacity 2.0.5 zip for Windows

(8.2 MB) for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8 - Use this if you want a smaller download (without help files), or cannot run the installer because of restricted permissions.

Known Issue: On a very few machines, launching Audacity may give a configuration error. This is a Microsoft issue which can be solved by installing the appropriate 32-bit or 64-bit Microsoft Redistributable Package.

System Requirements

Read about Audacity on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Windows 95 and NT are not supported.

The values in the "Recommended RAM/processor speed" column below are for tasks like recording for an hour, or editing three 20-minute tracks simultaneously. The values in the "Minimum RAM/processor speed" column will be fine for smaller/shorter tasks, especially if unnecessary programs are closed.

Windows 7 (64-bit)/Windows 8 (64-bit)
Recommended RAM/processor speed: 4 GB / 2 GHz
Minimum RAM/processor speed: 2 GB / 1 GHz

Windows Vista (Home Premium/Business/Ultimate) (32- or 64-bit)/
Windows 7 32-bit (except Windows 7 Starter) / Windows 8 (32-bit)
Recommended RAM/processor speed: 4 GB / 2 GHz
Minimum RAM/processor speed: 1 GB / 1 GHz

Windows Vista (Home Basic) (32- or 64-bit)/Windows 7 Starter
Recommended RAM/processor speed: 2 GB / 1 GHz
Minimum RAM/processor speed: 512MB / 1 GHz

Windows 2000/ XP (32- or 64-bit)
Recommended RAM/processor speed: 512MB / 1 GHz
Minimum RAM/processor speed: 128 MB/300 MHz


Generally, Audacity works best on computers meeting more than the minimum requirements in the table above. Where Audacity is to be used for lengthy multi-track projects, we recommend using Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 running on machines of substantially higher specification than the minimum stated above.