How to Check Supported FFmpeg Demuxers

Finding out whether your local installation of FFmpeg supports a specific demuxer is a quick and straightforward process. This guide demonstrates how to use the command-line interface to list all available demuxers on your system and filter the results to locate a specific format instantly.

The Basic Command

To list every demuxer supported by your current FFmpeg build, open your terminal or command prompt and run:

ffmpeg -demuxers

This command outputs a header explaining the status flags followed by a complete list of all available demuxers.

Searching for a Specific Demuxer

Instead of manually scrolling through a long list, you can pipe the output to a search utility depending on your operating system.

On Linux and macOS (using grep):

Run the following command, replacing demuxer_name with the format you are looking for (e.g., mp4, mkv, avi):

ffmpeg -demuxers | grep "demuxer_name"

On Windows (Command Prompt):

Use findstr to filter the results:

ffmpeg -demuxers | findstr "demuxer_name"

On Windows (PowerShell):

Use Select-String to filter the results:

ffmpeg -demuxers | Select-String "demuxer_name"

Understanding the Output

When you run the search, FFmpeg will return matching rows. Look at the legend at the beginning of the output or the character prefixing the demuxer name:

• D (or D .) indicates that Demuxing is supported (the tool can read and deconstruct this container format).

For example, if you search for ogg and see:

 D  ogg             Ogg

The presence of the D flag confirms that the Ogg demuxer is fully supported by your FFmpeg installation. If the command returns no output, the demuxer is not supported by your current build.