Here is the quick version of how to convert FLAC to ALAC on Windows:

1️⃣ Open a converter that supports Apple Lossless and add your FLAC files.
2️⃣ Pick ALAC (Apple Lossless) as the output format, not AAC.
3️⃣ Convert, then drop the new M4A files into Apple Music or iTunes.

You ripped your CDs to FLAC, and now Apple Music on Windows refuses to touch them. The fix is to convert FLAC to ALAC, Apple's own lossless format, which sounds identical and plays everywhere in the Apple world. Both are lossless, so this is a format swap, not a quality downgrade. You can use a FLAC to ALAC Converter Software or a command line with ffmpeg. It also covers how to keep your tags and album art intact along the way. The easiest path uses SoftOrbits MP3 Converter.

What you will learn

Convert with FLAC to ALAC Converter Software Download (easiest)
Convert with ffmpeg on the command line
Batch-convert your whole library

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How to download and use the FLAC to ALAC Converter Software for Windows

Download and install SoftOrbits MP3 Converter

Grab the free trial for Windows and run the installer. It works offline, so your music never leaves your PC.

Add FLAC files to SoftOrbits MP3 Converter..

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Add your FLAC files

Click Add Files and pick your tracks, or drag a whole folder in. The converter keeps the folder order so albums stay together.

Choose Apple Lossless (ALAC) as the output

In the output settings, select Apple Lossless (ALAC), not AAC. This is the step that keeps your music lossless.

Select Apple Lossless ALAC as the output format..

Check the output settings

Chose the output folder

Converted ALAC M4A files ready for Apple Music..

Click Convert and find your ALAC files

Press Convert, then open the output folder. Drag the new M4A files into Apple Music or iTunes and they will play.

SoftOrbits MP3 Converter

SoftOrbits MP3 Converter converts music and audio clips between formats: move between containers, codecs, and bitrates, with lossless paths when you only need a new wrapper.

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FLAC vs ALAC: what is the difference (and why convert)

TL;DR

FLAC and ALAC are both lossless, so they hold the exact same audio. The only real difference is that Apple devices and apps read ALAC, not FLAC.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is the open-source standard most rippers and download stores use. It compresses audio with zero quality loss, which is why audiophiles like it. You can read the spec at the Xiph.Org FLAC project. ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) does the same job, just in Apple's own wrapper, usually a .M4A file. Apple even open-sourced ALAC back in 2011, as noted on the Apple Lossless page.

So why convert at all? Because Apple Music, iTunes, iPhones, and iPods play ALAC natively but ignore FLAC. If your library lives in Apple's ecosystem, ALAC is the format that actually works. The audio data stays the same. Only the file extension changes.

Why iTunes and Apple Music won't play your FLAC files

TL;DR

Apple never built FLAC support into iTunes or Apple Music on Windows. The app silently skips the files instead of showing a clear error, which is why it feels broken.

This trips up almost everyone who moves to Apple from another player. You drag a folder of FLAC files into Apple Music, and nothing happens. No import, no warning. One user on the Apple Community forum summed it up bluntly: "iTunes will not allow it." There is no hidden setting to switch on. Apple simply chose ALAC as its lossless format years ago and never added FLAC playback to its desktop apps.

The practical answer is conversion. Once your tracks are ALAC in an M4A container, Apple Music treats them like any other lossless file, with full quality and proper tags. Gapless playback works too where the album supports it. So you lose nothing in the swap, you just put the same audio in a wrapper Apple can read.

Does converting FLAC to ALAC lose any quality

TL;DR

No. Both FLAC and ALAC are lossless, so a FLAC-to-ALAC conversion is bit-perfect. The decoded audio is identical, byte for byte.

This is the question people ask most, and the answer is reassuring. When you move between two lossless codecs, the encoder fully decodes the FLAC to raw PCM audio and re-compresses it as ALAC without throwing away a single sample. Because both formats are lossless, the audio data stays identical when you convert a track to ALAC and back, a point listeners work through on the Head-Fi forums. One Quora thread frames the worry exactly, asking whether the file shouldn't be exactly identical. And yes, it is.

The only way you lose quality here is by picking the wrong output. If you accidentally export AAC (a lossy codec that also uses the .M4A extension) instead of ALAC, you do throw away data. More on avoiding that trap below.

TL;DR

ffmpeg handles the conversion in one command: ffmpeg -i input.flac -c:a alac -map_metadata 0 output.m4a. The -map_metadata 0 flag carries your tags across.

Comfortable with a command line? ffmpeg is the most direct route, and it is free. Open a terminal in the folder with your file and run:
ffmpeg -i "input.flac" -c:a alac -map_metadata 0 "output.m4a".
The -c:a alac part sets Apple Lossless as the codec, and -map_metadata 0 copies your existing tags into the new file.

One honest warning from real use: ffmpeg can choke on part of a large library. A developer who scripted this on the Meziantou blog found direct FLAC-to-ALAC "encountered errors with about half of my library." The fix is to update to a current ffmpeg build, or route stubborn files through WAV first (FLAC to WAV, then WAV to ALAC). That stays lossless, just an extra step. For a handful of files this is fine; for a whole collection, a batch tool saves the headache.

TL;DR

For hundreds of albums, add the entire root folder at once and let the tool process everything in one run. A FLAC to ALAC Converter Software developed to do batch job.

Converting a few singles is quick by any method. Converting a 500-album rip is where the approach matters. Adding files one at a time is a non-starter, so use a tool that takes a parent folder and walks every subfolder. SoftOrbits MP3 Converter accepts a whole directory tree, queue every track, and keep the album structure in the output.

Before you launch a big batch, run a 30-second test on one album first. Open the result, confirm it shows up as Apple Lossless, and check the tags and album art survived. Once one album looks right, the same settings hold for the rest, and you can leave the batch running while you do something else.

Keep your tags and album art during conversion

TL;DR

Most converters copy tags automatically, but album art can drop out if it was stored as a separate folder.jpg file rather than embedded in the FLAC. Use a tool that embeds art, or embed it before converting.

Metadata is the part people fear losing. On the Apple Community forum, meaning composer, orchestra, conductor, and all. The good news is that ALAC supports the same tag fields, and any decent converter carries them over.

Album art is the trickier piece. If the cover is embedded inside each FLAC, it transfers fine. If it lives as a loose folder.jpg next to the tracks, many converters will not pull it in. The clean fix is to embed the artwork into your FLAC files first (most tag editors do this in bulk), then convert. That way the art rides along inside every M4A.
For most people moving a whole collection into Apple Music, a desktop GUI like a dedicated audio converter is the path of least resistance. Online converters work for a one-off track, but they cap file sizes and send your music to a stranger's server.

Here is the quick version of how to convert FLAC to ALAC on Windows:

How to download and use the FLAC to ALAC Converter Software for Windows

Download and install SoftOrbits MP3 Converter

Add your FLAC files

Choose Apple Lossless (ALAC) as the output

Check the output settings

Click Convert and find your ALAC files

FLAC vs ALAC: what is the difference (and why convert)

Why iTunes and Apple Music won't play your FLAC files

Does converting FLAC to ALAC lose any quality

Convert with ffmpeg on the command line

Batch-convert your whole FLAC library

Keep your tags and album art during conversion

🙋Frequently Asked Questions

❓ Is there a free FLAC to ALAC converter software for Windows?

❓ Is ALAC the same as Apple Lossless?

❓ Will my ALAC files be bigger than the FLAC originals?

❓ Can I play ALAC on Windows or Android too?

❓ Do I have to delete my FLAC files after converting?

❓ Can I convert ALAC back to FLAC later?

❓ Can the same tool convert other audio formats?

❓ What about converting video files?

❓ How do I get audio from a YouTube video?