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Audacity Support
Audacity Support
How-Tos and Tutorials for Audacity
Audacity Support still is in a very early stage and under heavy development.
Do check out Contributing to Audacity if you want to add or change some pages.
Quick links to get started:
Downloading & installing Audacity
Installing FFMPEG
Editing audio
Noise reduction & removal
Audacity Basics
Downloading & installing Audacity
Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other
operating systems. This page will guide you through the download & installation process.
Windows
Downloading through the Microsoft Store
Audacity is available from the Microsoft Store.

Go to the Microsoft Store website.
Click Get in Store App.
The Microsoft Store app will open. Click Install to install Audacity.
When Windows asks you if the installer may make changes to the system, click Yes.
Audacity is now installed. You can start Audacity from the start menu.
Downloading from the Internet
Head to the download page: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
It will automatically download the latest version of Audacity after 5 seconds.
If prompted, click Run or Save.
If you clicked Save, head to your downloads, locate the Audacity installer and double-click it.
In Windows 11 it is possible that you get a warning about Audacity being a non
Microsoft-verified app. Click Install anyway.
Windows 11 warning when running Audacity installer
When Windows asks you if the installer may make changes to the system, click Yes.
Select the language to use during the installation and click OK.
Select the language to use during the installation
In the Welcome page click Next.

Welcome page - Click Next
In the Information page you will links to learn more about Audacity and its license. Click
Next to proceed.
Information page - Links to learn more about Audacity and its license
In the Select Destination Location page you can select a different folder to install Audacity
using the Browse... button or simply use the recommended destination. Click Next to
continue.
Select the folder to install Audacity
In the Select Additional Tasks page you can choose that the installer adds a shortcut to
Audacity in your Desktop.
If you have installed Audacity previously you will have the option to Reset Preferences.
Select if you want to create a shortcut to open Audacity
Verify your choices and click Install
Verify your choices and click Install
Wait a few seconds until the setup process completes.

Wait until the setup process completes
Please take some time to know how to get community support through the Audacity Forum
and how to make suggestions or report bugs.
Information on how to make suggestions or report bugs
Click Finish to close the installer and Launch Audacity
Click Finish to close the installer

macOS
Head to the download page: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/mac/

It will automatically download the latest version of Audacity after 5 seconds.
If prompted, click Save.

Once the download has completed to your Downloads folder, double-click the DMG file to
mount it.
Drag the Audacity.app icon rightwards onto the "Applications" folder shortcut.
You can also drag Audacity out of the DMG to any other location. You need the
administrator password to copy Audacity to "Applications".
Launch Audacity.app from /Applications or from your chosen location.

Note: Do not double-click the "Audacity" icon in the DMG to launch Audacity from there.
Once the program has opened press "OK" to start editing!

Additionally, you may check the "Don't show this again at start up" prompt.
Linux
1. Head to the download page: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/linux/

It will automatically download the AppImage after 5 seconds.
2. Make the downloaded AppImage runnable.
To do this, you can right-click the file -> Properties -> Permissions
or run the following command in the terminal:
chmod +x <path to your Audacity.AppImage>

3. Double-click the AppImage to run Audacity.
Additionally, your Linux distribution (for example Ubuntu, Fedora or Debian) may have a version
of Audacity as part of the repository. This version is typically older than the latest AppImage, but
may be better integrated into your distribution.
Note: If you have trouble opening the AppImage, try installing libfuse2. Exact steps
for various distributions can be found at
https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/wiki/FUSE
Installing FFMPEG
FFmpeg allows you import/export additional audio file formats into/from Audacity
Due to patent restrictions, FFMPEG cannot be distributed with Audacity itself. However, FFMPEG is
required to import and export a variety of audio formats, including M4A and WMA.
Note: In previous versions of Audacity, LAME was required to export MP3 files. It is now included
with Audacity by default on Windows and macOS. Make sure you are using the latest version of
Audacity if you're getting any LAME errors.
You can download and install FFMPEG as follows:
Windows
Recommended installer
1. Download the FFmpeg installer from a third party site, for example
https://lame.buanzo.org/#lamewindl
For Audacity 3.2.0 download the FFmpeg_for_Audacity_3.2_on_Windows.zip file.
The ZIP file contains both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the FFmpeg installer. Use the
x86_64.exe installer for 64-bit versions of Audacity or if you are using the 32-bit version
of Audacity, choose the x86.exe installer.
For previous versions like Audacity 3.1.x download the installer FFmpeg v2.2.2
INSTALLER (.EXE) from https://lame.buanzo.org/ffmpeg64audacity.php. If you are using
a 32-bit version of Audacity 3.1.x download the installer ffmpeg-win-2.2.2.exe from
https://lame.buanzo.org/#lamewindl
2. Extract and run the installer (for example,

FFmpeg_5.0.0_for_Audacity_on_Windows_x86_64.exe). You can ignore the "unknown
publisher" warning.
3. Read and accept the license
4. Select the location to install FFMPEG. By default FFMPEG will be installed into C:\Program
Files\FFmpeg for Audacity
5. Finish the installation

6. Restart Audacity
Audacity should now automatically detect FFMPEG and allow you to use it.
Other FFMPEG builds
If you prefer a manual installation of FFMPEG you can download a ZIP file from a different
source:
https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases
https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/#release-builds
Or by compiling it from source as described here:

https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/CompilationGuide
Note:
Audacity 3.1 and later supports avformat-55.dll, avformat-57.dll and avformat-
58.dll. Audacity 3.2 and later supports also avformat-59.dll. You can check which
dll is in which FFMPEG release here.
Make sure you download full FFMPEG copies, not just the avformat-*.dll's
individually. Further, make sure to download or build the shared versions as only
those contain .dll's.
Manual installation
How to manually locate FFMPEG in Audacity 3.2
Video guide
If you have installed FFMPEG from a different source, or installed it in a different location, you'll
need to tell Audacity where to find it. To do this:
1. Go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries
2
2.
Click on the Locate... button.
3. If the following message appears, Audacity has automatically identified FFMPEG:
You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find FFMPEG.

If this message does not appear, proceed with the next steps.
4. In this dialog window, click Browse... to locate the avformat-*.dll from the FFMPEG folder
you downloaded/installed elsewhere
5. Once you've found it, click Open, then OK, then OK again to close the preferences.
macOS
Caution: If you're using an Apple Silicon ("M1", "M2") system, make sure that your
FFMPEG and Audacity architectures match:
arm64 (Apple Silicon) Audacity needs arm64 FFMPEG,
x86_64 (intel, also known as x64 and amd64) Audacity needs x86_64 FFMPEG.
Recommended installer
This is a universal binary installer. It automatically matches your system architecture.
1. Download FFMPEG (FFmpeg_for_Audacity_3.2_on_macOS.pkg) from
https://lame.buanzo.org/#lameosx64bitdl
2. When you have finished downloading, double-click the

"FFmpeg_for_Audacity_3.2_on_macOS.pkg" in your Downloads folder.
3. You will be guided through the installation
4. Click through the steps in the installer. This will install the ffmpeg.59.64bit.dylib file in the
system library at /Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/.
On some Macs the process may look as though it has stalled on "Validating packages" -
just be patient and wait for it to complete.
5. Restart Audacity if it was running when you installed FFmpeg then Audacity should detect
FFmpeg automatically.
If you have problems with Audacity detecting FFmpeg, follow the steps below to manually
locate FFmpeg.
Homebrew
One way to install an FFMPEG version that matches your system architecture is using
homebrew. To install homebrew, you first need xcode. You can install it through the
Terminal.app by typing in:
xcode-select --install
When XCode is installed, the following command downloads and runs the homebrew installer:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/
And once you have Homebrew, the following command installs FFMPEG:
brew install ffmpeg
Audacity should now automatically detect the installation after a restart. If not, follow the steps of
a manual installation.
Compiling other versions
You can download or compile FFMPEG yourself as described here:

https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/CompilationGuide/macOS
Note:
Audacity 3.1 and later supports avformat 55, 57 and 58. Audacity 3.2 and later
supports also avformat 59. On mac, the avformat files usually are called
ffmpeg.5*.64bit.dylib
Make sure to download or build the shared versions (with .dylib's) as only those
can be used by Audacity.
Manual installation
If you have installed FFMPEG from a different source, or installed it in a different location, you'll
need to tell Audacity where to find it. To do this:
1. Go to Audacity > Preferences > Libraries

2. Click on the Locate... button.
3. If a "Success" message appears, Audacity has successfully found FFMPEG.

You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find FFMPEG.
4. In the "Locate FFMPEG" dialog, click Browse... to locate the avformat-*.dylib from the
FFMPEG folder you downloaded/installed elsewhere.
5. Once you've found it, click Open, then OK and OK again to close the preferences.
Linux
On Linux, you generally can install FFMPEG as well as LAME through the package manager.
You can use the following command in your Terminal/Console to install it:
Debian, Ubuntu, Pop_OS!, Mint sudo apt install ffmpeg lam
First install the RPM Fusion repository

Fedora, Redhat, CentOS updates, then
sudo dnf install ffmpeg lam
Arch, Manjaro sudo pacman -Syu ffmpeg lam
Once you have installed FFMPEG and LAME, restart Audacity. It will automatically try to detect
them.
Caution: Audacity supports FFMPEG's libavformat in version 55 (all Audacity

versions), 57 and 58 (Audacity 3.1+) and 59 (Audacity 3.2+). If your distribution ships
with a different version, it may not get detected, or may not work correctly. In that case,
you may need to uninstall FFMPEG again and make a shared build of a supported
version from source.
Manual installation
If your FFMPEG or LAME installation didn't get detected, you'll need to tell Audacity where to
find it. To do this:
1. Go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries

2. Click on the Locate... button of the relevant library.
3. If a "Success" message appears, Audacity has successfully found the library.

You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find the library.
4. In case of FFMPEG:
In the "Locate FFMPEG" dialog, click Browse... to locate the libavformat.so.* from the
FFMPEG folder you downloaded/installed elsewhere.
In case of LAME:
In the "Locate LAME" dialog, click Browse... to locate the libmp3lame.so that you
downloaded/installed elsewhere.
5. Once you've found it, click Open, then OK and OK again to close the preferences.
Recording your voice & microphone

Audacity can record various types of microphones and other audio devices.
1. Connect your Microphone
You can connect your mic by plugging it into the appropriate port. In general, this means:
If you have a USB mic, plug it into a USB port.
If you have a mic with a 3.5mm jack, plug it into a mic-in port.
If you have an XLR mic, plug it into an XLR-USB audio interface and the interface into the USB port.
The exact details depend on both your exact computer model and your microphone model. Please see their
respective manuals or support pages for further information. You may need adapters if your computer is
missing appropriate ports.
Note: Many Laptops and Notebooks feature built-in microphones. While they may be good
enough to record your voice to an intelligible standard, the recordings they produce tend to be
somewhat unpleasant to listen to.
2. Select your Microphone

Select the microphone to record from the list of available recording devices in the Audio Setup toolbar
Use the Audio Setup toolbar to select the microphone you want to record
You may see some unexpected devices here (for example, webcams), as well as virtual devices (software
pretending to be a microphone). Choose the entry that matches the microphone you actually want to use.
You can also use the Audio Setup toolbar to select whether you'll be recording in Mono or Stereo.
The Audio Setup toolbar also displays the number of recording channels available from your microphone
Note: Most microphones are in Mono, and Mono is generally the best choice for recordings. Only
use Stereo if you do need directionality.
3. Test your Settings

Turn on the monitoring (shown below) and tap onto your mic. If you see the green bar move when tapping
the mic, you have selected the correct device in the previous step.
Audacity will display the microphone level in the recording meter
Then try to speak in a normal volume. In general, the volume should remain in the green zone throughout (in
general, between -18 and -12 dB is best).
Caution: If your input volume is too low (below -42 dB) or too high (frequently in the red area),
your audio quality will likely suffer. See this page for how to fix this:
Setting recording levels and playback levels
Next, make a test recording. To start recording your voice in Audacity, simply press the red record button.
Transport toolbar: the record button is the second from the right
When you have made the recording, listen back to it. If everything went well, you should now hear your
voice clearly and you should now be able to continue with the next steps.
Common problems
If you run into trouble with any of these steps, you may find the solution here:
Solving recording problems
Next Steps
Once you've made your recording, make sure to save your work. This applies regardless of whether you
intend on editing it later or not. Saving and exporting projects
If you want to edit your recording afterwards: Editing audio
The recording and playback levels can be set using the sliders in the Recording and Playback meter
toolbars:
Recording meter toolbar and Playback meter toolbar with level sliders
The slider with the microphone icon sets the recording volume on a system level. If the operating system
is prohibiting this action, this slider will be inactive.
The Recording Level slider will change the level of your recording device on a system level
The slider with the speaker icon sets the playback volume relative to the system volume. It does not
affect the volume of exported files, use the gain sliders on each track to edit those.
Best practice: Before starting to record, click on the microphone icon and select Start
Monitoring to activate the recording level meter.
If it enters the yellow or red area (-9 dB to 0 dB) when testing with a normal volume, lower the
recording level to prevent clipping and distortions in the real recording.
Activate the recording level meter before starting to record
Use the recording level slider to reduce the level when it is too high
If you selected 1 (Mono) Recording Channel on the Audio Setup > Recording Channels the
meter will only display the level on the Left channel
Monitoring 1 (Mono) Recording Channel level
Recording desktop audio

Audacity can record computer audio (including sound from YouTube, Spotify and more).
1. Select the loopback device
Windows
1. Use the Audio Setup toolbar to select Windows WASAPI as the Host and then select the
output you want to use (the device you're using to listen) as the input. It will be marked with a
(loopback) after it's name.
Select the loopback device to record desktop audio
When using the (default) MME device, you may find a virtual microphone called
Stereo Mix, What you hear or similar in it. This also will record your desktop audio.
Selecting Stereo Mix as an alternative to record desktop audio
macOS
https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower/releases/
Caution: Soundflower is not compatible with Apple Silicon-based machines
Linux
When using PulseAudio (default for Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and others):
1. Install PulseAudio Volume Control (pavucontrol). This should be in your repository already.
2. Use the Audio Setup toolbar to select ALSA as the audio host and select pulse as the
recording device.
If your system uses Pulse by default, the pulse device may be called default.
3. Enable the recording meter by selecting Start Monitoring.
Click the Microphone icon to start monitoring the recording level
4. Open PulseAudio Volume Control and choose the Recording tab.

5. In the Capture from dropdown, select the "Monitor" option of the playback device used by
the application you want to record from
PulseAudio Volume Control - Select Capture from: Monitor of device
6. Launch the application that you wish to record and begin playback.
7. In the "Recording" tab of PulseAudio Volume Control, drag the volume sliders so that the
recording level in Audacity's Recording Meter is to left of 0 dB (-6 dB is a good level to aim
for).
2. Check if everything is set up correctly

Recording the desktop audio will record all desktop audio, including notification-pings, games, and Audacity
itself (for example, other tracks in the timeline if you're using overdub) . So unless you specifically want
these noises, make sure to turn them off.
DON'T use software playthrough when recording desktop audio. Make sure it's off in the menu:
Transport > Transport Options > Software playthrough (on/off) - The checkmark next to it must
be turned off. You can turn off overdub here as well.
3. Record
Hit the record button to record your desktop audio.
Editing audio
This page is an introduction tutorial to editing in Audacity. It covers how to import files, making cuts,
rearranging clips, and applying effects!
Importing a file
To start editing, you need some sort of sound to edit. You can either record some sound, or import an
existing sound file (for example, an MP3 or WAV) by dragging & dropping it into the project window. You can
also import files via the File > Import menus.
Note: To import proprietary file formats such as M4A or WMA, you need to install FFMPEG first.
Once you have that, you will see a waveform of your sound:
The waveform of a song
This waveform is a visual representation of the song. The larger the blue "blob" is, the louder the section.
Lines standing alone ("spikes") indicate sudden and short loud sections such as clicks, snaps, claps and
drum hits. With a bit of practice, you can use the waveform to quickly find your way around an audio file.
Removing sections of a song

To remove a section of an audio file, first select the section by clicking and dragging in the waveform.
A selected waveform
Hint: You can zoom in using the Zoom+ icon, or by Ctrl+Scroll ( Cmd+Scroll ) to
precisely adjust the beginning and end of the selection.
Once you have a selection, press Delete or Backspace to delete it.
Moving sections of audio (clips)

Audacity supports clips, which are pieces of audio inside the project which can be moved independently.
Technically, any audio you record or import already exists as a clip, denoted by the rounded clip handle bars
above the waveform.
You can click + drag on the clip handle bar to move a clip around.
A clip handle bar. double-click to rename, Click and drag to move

around.
Splitting up clips
To split a clip into two independent clips,
1
1.
ClickTo
Tip: into the waveform
make where you zoom
precise adjustments, want toinsplit
first.the clip.
2. Right-click > Split Clip ( Ctrl+I / Cmd+I )
Note: If you select some audio instead, it will create a clip out of the selection.
Resizing and trimming clips

To trim a clip, hover with your cursor around the upper third of the left or right edge of a clip:
To trim a clip,
click + drag on
the upper third of
the sides.
Then click and drag the edge to trim the clip to it's desired length.
Note: Trimming is a non-destructive operation. You can un-trim a clip at any time. If you have
created your clip by splitting up a larger clip, you can even un-trim the current clip until it's at the
length of the old clip.
Applying Effects
Audacity supports a wide range of effects and effect plugins. These effects can be used for
Noise reduction & removal and more, and while each effect does different things, they all generally can
be applied in the following way:
1. Select the audio you want to apply the effect to.

Tip: If you want to apply an effect onto your entire project, select it with Ctrl + A ( Cmd + A ).
2. Go to the Effect menu.
3. Select the effect you want to use. Typically, a window like this will open:
4. Tweak the effect to your liking. You can click the Preview button to hear a short sample before applying
it to the whole selection.
5. Press OK to apply the effect.
Saving and exporting projects

There are two ways to get your work out of Audacity: Saving the project, and exporting audio.
Saving projects
You can save projects using the File > Save Project menu. A saved project (.aup3) has the most information
about your project available, but can only be opened in Audacity. There are three options available, each
useful for a different use case:
Save Project ( Ctrl+S / Cmd+S ) will save your current project. If you save for the first time, you may
need to specify where to save it to.
Save Project As... will save your project in a new place and continue editing on it, should you want the
original project to remain untouched.
Backup Project... will save the current state of the project in a new file, but won't switch to it.
Warning: Avoid saving active projects on external drives, USB sticks, or network storage.
Audacity requires fast, uninterrupted access to your storage when recording and editing.
Exporting audio
You can export your project into an audio file using the File > Export menu. Exported audio (.mp3, .wav,
.ogg, and more) can be opened with a wide variety of programs, and uploaded to some social media, but
may have worse quality and lose some Audacity-specific information.
In the File > Export menu, you'll see a few different options:
Note: You may need to install FFMPEG to access some of these options.
Export as MP3, Export as WAV and Export as OGG will export your project into the selected format.
Export Audio... ( Ctrl+Shift+E / Cmd+Shift+E ) will provide you options to export to more
uncommon formats, such as FLAC, M4A, AC3, WMA, AMR, MP2 and custom FFMPEG exports.
Export Selected Audio... will export only the current selection time range, instead of the entire project.
Export Multiple... ( Ctrl+Shift+L / Cmd+Shift+L ) will let you export different parts of the audio
based on either tracks or labels.
Caution: Muted tracks are not exported. What you hear when playing in Audacity is what will be
exported.
There are also two additional options which export non-audio data:
Export Labels... will export labels if you have any.
Export MIDI... will export the currently selected note track as a MIDI or Allegro file. You can only export
one note track at a time.
Sharing audio online

With Audacity 3.2 and onwards, you can easily share audio online.
The Share Audio Button in Audacity 3.2.0
Video walkthrough of the feature
Location of the Share Audio button

With Audacity 3.2 you can quickly share audio online using the new service audio.com. To do this, simply
click the Share Audio button.
You can now upload your audio by pressing Continue. If you'd like to link an existing audio.com first, you
can do that by clicking Link Account.
Audacity will now prepare the track for upload and upload your audio.
Note: This may take a few minutes depending on how fast your computer is, how fast your
internet connection is, and how long your audio is.
After your audio has been uploaded, press Continue. You will be taken to the audio.com website.
On audio.com you now can either create an account to use this with, or copy the anonymous link. To share
the link,
1. Close the sign up panel,

2. click the share button (shown below) and
3. select Copy Link
Location of the share button
You now can share your audio by sending this link to people.
All uploaded audio is private by default. Only people with access to the link can listen to it.
Linking audio.com to Audacity

Linking your audio.com account to Audacity lets you get the sharable link from Audacity itself. To link your
account,
1. Press the Share Audio button.

Note: You need to have some sort of audio present in your project for this button to work
2. Your browser will open audio.com
3. Login or sign up if you aren't yet logged in

4. You will see the following page:
5. Click on "Link audacity".
6. You may see a popup asking you whether you want to open in Audacity.
Click the option that opens Audacity

Installing plugins
You can download various plugins here:
Audacity Plugins
Most plugins get automatically activated once you install them on your system.
Caution:
64-bit Audacity can only run 64-bit plugins, and 32-bit Audacity can only run 32-bit plugins.
Additionally, Apple Silicon (arm64) Audacity cannot run Intel (x86-64) plugins and vice versa.
"Instrument" versions of plugins (VSTi, LV2i) are not supported.
Manually installing plugins
Windows
VST2: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2 or C:\Program

Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins
VST3: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
LV2: C:\Program Files\Common Files\LV2

Note: Always copy the complete .lv2 folder
LADSPA: C:\Users\<username>\Appdata\Roaming\audacity\Plug-ins\
Vamp: C:\Program Files\Vamp Plugins\
Nyquist: See below
macOS
All Plugins can be installed per-user ( ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/... ) or system-wide

( /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/... ). In following, only the system-wide path is named
Audio Unit: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
VST2 and VST3: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
LV2: ~/.lv2 or /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/LV2 ,

Note: always copy the entire .lv2 folder
Vamp: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Vamp
Nyquist: See below
Linux
LV2: ~/.lv2 , /usr/local/lib/lv2 (for 32-bit) or /usr/local/lib64/lv2 (for

64-bit)
Note: Always copy the entire .lv2 folder
VST2: ~/.vst or /usr/local/lib/vst

Note: Many VST effects are Windows-only
VST3: ~/.vst3 or /usr/local/lib/vst3
LADSPA: ~/.ladspa or /usr/local/lib/ladspa
Vamp: ~/.vamp or /usr/local/lib/vamp

Nyquist: See below
Installing Nyquist plugins
Audacity Tutorial: How to Install a Nyquist Plugin
Watch a step-by-step tutorial of this guide
To install a Nyquist Plugin, follow these steps:
1. Download the plugin in question.

2. Open Audacity, and go to Tools > Nyquist Plugin Installer
3. Click Browse and locate your downloaded plugin
4. Click Open and then OK and OK again.

5. Restart Audacity
6. The plugin should now be available in the plugins list.
Deactivating and re-activating plugins
1. Go to Tools -> Plugin-Manager
2. Select the plugins or effects you want to deactivate

3. Click Disable.
4. To re-enable a plugin, select them and click Enable.
Keyboard shortcuts
This page lists all commands in the Audacity menus and all pre-defined keyboard shortcuts.
The default Standard set of shortcuts is a reduced set, compared to earlier versions of Audacity, to simplify
the set of shortcuts somewhat and to provide greater flexibility for users who wish to create their own
shortcuts. There is also an extended Full set of keyboard shortcuts that can be selected from the Defaults
button on the Keyboard Preferences dialog. This Full set is the set that was available in Audacity 2.1.3 and
earlier. You can use Keyboard Preferences to change or remove existing shortcuts or to assign a shortcut to
commands that lack a default shortcut.
Standard shortcuts are shown like so: Ctrl + A .
Shortcuts that are only in the Full set are shown like so: Ctrl + # Extra.
Shortcuts that have not been assigned, that you can assign using keyboard preferences, are shown like
so (unassigned).
Some less commonly used commands are not in the default menus but they can be accessed by menu by
enabling Show extra menus in Interface Preferences
Note: You can change all shortcuts via Preferences > Keyboard. This includes adding new
shortcuts, or removing shortcuts existing by default.
Other Tips and hints:
Mac users: Ctrl = ⌘ and Alt = Option. So, for example, Ctrl + Alt + K = ⌘ + Option + K.
See Audacity Selection for examples of changing track focus and selection.
PAGE UP scrolls the project rightwards and PAGE DOWN scrolls the project leftwards, equivalent to a
single click in the white area either side of the horizontal scrollbar. These shortcuts cannot be configured
in Keyboard Preferences.
There are a number of key combinations that can be used in combination with mouse clicks. These
cannot be configured. They are listed on Mouse Preferences
File Menu
The File Menu provides commands for creating, opening and saving Audacity projects and importing and
exporting audio files
Action Shortcut Description
Creates a new empty project

New Ctrl+N window, to start working on new
or imported tracks.
Presents a standard dialog box

where you can select either
audio files, a list of files (.LOF)
Open... Ctrl+O
an Audacity Project file to open
Lists the full path to the twelve

most recently saved or opened
projects or most recently
Recent Files (unassigned)
imported audio files
Closes the current project

Close Ctrl+W window, prompting you to save
your work if you have not saved
Save Project (unassigned) Various ways to save a project
Compacts your project, saving

disk space. Using this comman
will delete your Undo/Redo
Compact Project Shift+A
History and your Audacity
clipboard contents.
Export (unassigned) For exporting audio files
For importing audio files or labe

Import (unassigned)
files into your project
Opens the standard Page Setu
Page Setup... (unassigned)
dialog box prior to printing
Prints all the waveforms in the

current project window (and the
contents of Label Tracks or oth
Print... (unassigned) tracks), with the Timeline above
Everything is printed to one
page.
Closes all project windows and

exits Audacity. If there are any
unsaved changes to your
Exit Ctrl+Q
project, Audacity will ask if you
want to save them.
File: Recent Files
Lists the full path to the twelve most recently saved or opened projects or most recently imported audio files
Clears the list of recently used

Clear (unassigned)
files.
File: Save Project
Various ways to save a project.
Saves the current Audacity

Save Project Ctrl+S
project .AUP3 file.
Same as "Save Project" above

but allows you to save a copy o
Save Project As... (unassigned) an open project to a different
name or location
Saves a backup copy of your

Backup Project... (unassigned) project in .AUP3 format to a
different name or location
File: Export
For exporting audio files
Export as MP3 (unassigned) Exports to an MP3 file
Export as WAV (unassigned) Exports to a WAV file
Export as OGG (unassigned) Exports to an OGG file
Export Audio... Ctrl+Shift+E Exports to an audio file.
Export Selected Audio... (unassigned) Exports selected audio to a file
Exports audio at one or more

Export Labels... (unassigned)
labels to file(s).
Exports multiple audio files in

one process, one file for each
track if there are multiple audio
Export Multiple... Ctrl+Shift+L tracks, or labels can be added
which then define the length of
each exported file.
Exports MIDI (note tracks) to a

Export MIDI... (unassigned)
MIDI file.
File: Import
For importing audio files or label files into your project
Similar to 'Open', except that th

Audio... Ctrl+Shift+I file is added as a new track to
your existing project.
Launches a file selection

window where you can choose
to import a single text file into th
project containing point or
Labels... (unassigned)
region labels. For more
information about the syntax fo
labels files, see Importing and
Exporting Labels.
Imports a MIDI (MIDI or MID

extension) or Allegro (GRO) fi
to a Note Track where simple
cut-and-paste edits can be
MIDI... (unassigned)
performed. The result can be
exported with the File > Export
> Export MIDI command. Note:
Currently, MIDI and Allegro file
cannot be played.
Attempts to import an
uncompressed audio file that
might be "raw" data without any
headers to define its format,
might have incorrect headers o
Raw Data... (unassigned)
be otherwise partially corrupted
or might be in a format that
Audacity is unable to recognize
Raw data in textual format
cannot be imported.
Edit Menu
The Edit Menu provides standard edit commands (Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete) plus many
other commands specific to editing audio or labels
Undoes the most recent editing

Undo Ctrl+Z
action.
Redoes the most recently

Redo Ctrl+Y
undone editing action.
Removes the selected audio

data and/or labels and places
these on the Audacity clipboard
Cut Ctrl+X
By default, any audio or labels
right of the selection are shifted
to the left.
Removes the selected audio

data and/or labels without
copying these to the Audacity
Delete Ctrl+K
clipboard. By default, any audio
or labels to right of the selectio
are shifted to the left.
Copies the selected audio data

Copy Ctrl+C to the Audacity clipboard witho
removing it from the project.
Inserts whatever is on the

Audacity clipboard at the
position of the selection cursor
Paste Ctrl+V
in the project, replacing
whatever audio data is currentl
selected, if any.
Creates a new track containing

Duplicate Ctrl+D only the current selection as a
new clip.
For more "advanced" removal o

Remove Special (unassigned)
audio
Create or remove separate clip

in the audio track. A clip inside
an audio track is a separate
section of that track which has
Clip Boundaries (unassigned)
been split so that it can be
manipulated somewhat
independently of the other clips
in the track.
These commands are to add

Labels (unassigned)
and edit labels.
Labeled Audio commands app

standard Edit Menu commands
to the audio of one or more
Labeled Audio (unassigned)
regions that are labeled. The
labels themselves are not
affected.
The Metadata Editor modifies

information about a track, such
Metadata... (unassigned)
as the artist and genre. Typical
used with MP3 files.
Preferences let you change

most of the default behaviors
and settings of Audacity. On
Preferences... Ctrl+P
Mac, Preferences are in the
Audacity Menu and the default
shortcut is ⌘ + ,.
Edit: Remove Special
For more "advanced" removal of audio

Same as Cut, but none of the
Split Cut Ctrl+Alt+X audio data or labels to right of
the selection are shifted.
Same as Delete, but none of th

Split Delete Ctrl+Alt+K audio data or labels to right of
the selection are shifted.
Replaces the currently selected

Silence Audio Ctrl+L audio with absolute silence.
Does not affect label tracks.
Deletes all audio but the

selection. If there are other
separate clips in the same trac
Trim Audio Ctrl+T these are not removed or shifte
unless trimming the entire leng
of a clip or clips. Does not affec
label tracks.
Edit: Clip Boundaries
Create or remove separate clips in the audio track. A clip inside an audio track is a separate section of that
track which has been split so that it can be manipulated somewhat independently of the other clips in the
track.
Splits the current clip into two

clips at the cursor point, or into
three clips at the selection
Split Ctrl+I
boundaries.
Does a Split Cut on the current

selection in the current track,
then creates a new track and
Split New Ctrl+Alt+I Extra
pastes the selection into the ne
track.
If you select an area that

overlaps one or more clips, the
are all joined into one large clip
Join Ctrl+J Extra
Regions in-between clips
become silence.
In a selection region that

includes absolute silences,
creates individual non-silent
Detach at Silences Ctrl+Alt+J Extra clips between the regions of
silence. The silence becomes
blank space between the clips.
Edit: Labels
These commands are to add and edit labels.
Brings up a dialog box showing

all of your labels in a keyboard
accessible tabular view. Handy
Edit Labels... (unassigned) buttons in the dialog let you
insert or delete a label, or impo
and export labels to a file. See
Labels Editor for more details.
Creates a new, empty label at

Add Label at Selection Ctrl+B the cursor or at the selection
region.
Creates a new, empty label at

Add Label at Playback Position Ctrl+M (⌘ + . on Mac) the current playback or
recording position.
Pastes the text on the Audacity

clipboard at the cursor position
in the currently selected label
track. If there is no selection in
the label track a point label is
Paste Text to New Label Ctrl+Alt+V Extra
created. If a region is selected
the label track a region label is
created. If no label track is
selected one is created, and a
new label is created.
When a label track has the

yellow focus border, if this optio
Type to Create a Label (on/off) (unassigned) is on, just type to create a label
Otherwise you must create a
label first.
Edit: Labeled Audio

Labeled Audio commands apply standard Edit Menu commands to the audio of one or more regions that are
labeled The labels themselves are not affected
Same as the Cut command, bu

Cut Alt+X Extra operates on labeled audio
regions.
Same as the Delete command,

Delete Alt+K Extra but operates on labeled audio
regions.
Same as the Split Cut

Split Cut Alt+Shift+X command, but operates on
labeled audio regions.
Same as the Split Delete

Split Delete Alt+Shift+K command, but operates on
Same as the Silence Audio

Silence Audio Alt+L Extra command, but operates on
Same as the Copy command,

Copy Alt+Shift+C but operates on labeled audio
regions.
Same as the Split command, b

Split Alt+I Extra operates on labeled audio
regions or points.
Same as the Join command, bu

operates on labeled audio
regions or points. You may nee
Join Alt+J Extra
to select the audio and use Edi
> Clip Boundaries > Join, to joi
all regions or points.
Same as the Detach at Silence

Detach at Silences Alt+Shift+J command, but operates on
Select Menu
Select Menu has commands that enable you make selections of tracks or parts of the tracks in your project.

All Ctrl+A Selects all of the audio in all of
the tracks.
Deselects all of the audio in all
None Ctrl+Shift+A Extra
of the tracks.
Tracks (unassigned) Tracks
For modifying, saving and

Region (unassigned)
restoring a selection.
For making a selection of a

Spectral (unassigned)
frequency range.
For modifying a selection, takin

Clip Boundaries (unassigned)
account of clips.
Selects from the position of the

Cursor to Stored Cursor Position (unassigned) cursor to the previously stored
cursor position
Stores the current cursor

Store Cursor Position (unassigned) position for use in a later
selection
Moves the edges of a selection

region (or the cursor position)
At Zero Crossings Z
slightly so they are at a rising
zero crossing point.
Select: Tracks
Tracks
Extends the current selection u

In All Tracks Ctrl+Shift+K and/or down into all tracks in th
project.
Extends the current selection u

and/or down into all sync-locke
In All Sync-Locked Tracks Ctrl+Shift+Y tracks in the currently selected
track group.
Select: Region
For modifying, saving and restoring a selection.

When Audacity is playing,
recording or paused, sets the le
boundary of a potential selectio
by moving the cursor to the
current position of the green
playback cursor (or red
recording cursor).
Otherwise, opens the "Set Left

Left at Playback Position [ Selection Boundary" dialog for
adjusting the time position of th
left-hand selection boundary. If
there is no selection, moving th
time digits backwards creates a
selection ending at the former
cursor position, and moving the
time digits forwards provides a
way to move the cursor forward
to an exact point.
When Audacity is playing,

recording or paused, sets the
right boundary of the selection,
thus drawing the selection from
the cursor position to the curren
position of the green playback
cursor (or red recording cursor)
Otherwise, opens the "Set Righ

Right at Playback Position ] Selection Boundary" dialog for
adjusting the time position of th
right-hand selection boundary.
there is no selection, moving th
time digits forwards creates a
selection starting at the former
cursor position, and moving the
time digits backwards provides
way to move the cursor
backwards to an exact point.
Selects a region in the selected

Track Start to Cursor Shift+J track(s) from the start of the trac
to the cursor position.
Selects a region in the selected

Cursor to Track End Shift+K track(s) from the cursor position
to the end of the track.
Track Start to End (unassigned) Selects a region in the selected
track(s) from the start of the trac
to the end of the track.
Stores the end points of a
Store Selection (unassigned)
selection for later reuse.
Retrieves the end points of a

Retrieve Selection (unassigned)
previously stored selection.
Select: Spectral
For making a selection of a frequency range.
Changes between selecting a

time range and selecting the la
selected spectral selection in
that time range. This command
toggles the spectral selection
Toggle Spectral Selection Q Extra
even if not in Spectrogram view
but you must be in Spectrogram
view to use the spectral
selection in one of the Spectral
edit effects.
When in Spectrogram view,

snaps the center frequency to
Next Higher Peak Frequency (unassigned) the next higher frequency peak
moving the spectral selection
upwards.
When in Spectrogram views

snaps the center frequency to
Next Lower Peak Frequency (unassigned) the next lower frequency peak,
moving the spectral selection
downwards.
Select: Clip Boundaries
For modifying a selection, taking account of clips.
Selects from the current cursor

Previous Clip Boundary to
(unassigned) position back to the right-hand
Cursor
edge of the previous clip.
Selects from the current cursor
Cursor to Next Clip Boundary (unassigned) position forward to the left-hand
edge of the next clip.
Moves the selection to the

Previous Clip on selected track Alt+,
previous clip.
Moves the selection to the next

Next Clip on selected Track Alt+.
clip.
Shift+Tab
Moves the selection to the

Previous Clip on focused Track (not in menu - cannot be
previous clip.
reassigned)
Tab
Moves the selection to the next

Next Clip on focused Track (not in menu - cannot be
clip.
reassigned)
View Menu
View Menu has commands that determine the amount of detail you see in all the tracks in the project
window. It also lets you show or hide Toolbars and some additional windows such as Undo History.
Zoom in/out on the horizontal

Zoom (unassigned) axis. Show more detail or show
a longer length of time.
Track Size (unassigned) Controls the sizes of tracks.
Move forward/backwards
Skip to (unassigned)
through the audio
Brings up the History window

which can then be left open
while using Audacity normally.
History... (unassigned)
History lists all undoable action
performed in the current projec
including importing.
Brings up the Karaoke window

Karaoke... (unassigned) which displays the labels in a
"bouncing ball" scrolling displa
Mixer Board is an alternative

view to the audio tracks in the
main tracks window. Analogou
Mixer Board... (unassigned)
to a hardware mixer board, eac
audio track is displayed in a
Track Strip.
Toolbars can be used to
determine which of the Audacit
toolbars are displayed. By
Toolbars (unassigned)
default all toolbars are shown
except Spectral Selection and
Scrub
Shows extra menus with many

Extra Menus (on/off) (unassigned)
extra less-used commands.
Option to show or not show

Show Clipping (on/off) (unassigned) audio that is too loud (in red) on
the wave form.
View: Zoom
Zoom in/out on the horizontal axis. Show more detail or show a longer length of time.
Zooms in on the horizontal axis

of the audio displaying more
Zoom In Ctrl+1
detail over a shorter length of
time.
Zooms to the default view whic

Zoom Normal Ctrl+2 displays about one inch per
second.
Zooms out displaying less deta

Zoom Out Ctrl+3
over a greater length of time.
Zooms in or out so that the

Zoom to Selection Ctrl+E selected audio fills the width of
the window.
Changes the zoom back and

Zoom Toggle Shift+Z
forth between two preset levels
Enable for left-click gestures in

Advanced Vertical Zooming (unassigned) the vertical scale to control
zooming.
View: Track Size
Controls the sizes of tracks.

Zooms out until the entire proje

Fit to Width Ctrl+F
just fits in the window.
Adjusts the height of all the

Fit to Height Ctrl+Shift+F tracks until they fit in the projec
window.
Collapses all tracks to take up

Collapse All Tracks Ctrl+Shift+C
the minimum amount of space.
Expands all collapsed tracks to

their original size before the las
Expand Collapsed Tracks Ctrl+Shift+X
collapse.
View: Skip to
Move forward/backwards through the audio
When there is a selection,

moves the cursor to the start of
Selection Start Ctrl+[ Extra the selection and removes the
selection.
When there is a selection,

moves the cursor to the end of
Selection End Ctrl+] Extra the selection and removes the
selection.
View: Toolbars
Toolbars can be used to determine which of the Audacity toolbars are displayed. By default all toolbars are
shown except Spectral Selection and Scrub
Using this command positions

all toolbars in default location
Reset Toolbars (unassigned)
and size as they were when
Audacity was first installed
Controls playback and recordin

and skips to start or end of
Transport Toolbar (unassigned) project when neither playing or
recording
Chooses various tools for
selection, volume adjustment,
Tools Toolbar (unassigned)
zooming and time-shifting of
audio
Displays recording levels and

Recording Meter Toolbar (unassigned) toggles input monitoring when
not recording
Playback Meter Toolbar (unassigned) Displays playback levels
Adjusts the recording and

playback volumes of the device
Mixer Toolbar (unassigned)
currently selected in Device
Toolbar
Cut, copy, paste, trim audio,

Edit Toolbar (unassigned) silence audio, undo, redo, zoom
tools
Plays audio at a slower or faste

Play-at-Speed Toolbar (unassigned) speed than normal, affecting
pitch
Controls playback and recordin

and skips to start or end of
Scrub Toolbar (unassigned)
project when neither playing or
recording
Selects audio host, recording

Device Toolbar (unassigned) device, number of recording
channels and playback device
Controls the sample rate of the

project, snapping to the
Selection Toolbar (unassigned) selection format and adjusts
cursor and region position by
keyboard input
Displays and lets you adjust th

current spectral (frequency)
Spectral Selection Toolbar (unassigned)
selection without having to be i
Spectrogram view
Transport Menu
Transport Menu commands let you play or stop, loop play, scrub play or record (including timed and sound
activated recordings).
These commands control

playback in Audacity. You can
Playing (unassigned)
Start, Stop or Pause playback o
the audio in your project.
These commands control

recording in Audacity. You can
Start, Stop or Pause recording
Recording (unassigned)
your project. You can either sta
a recording on your existing
track or an a new track.
Scrubbing is the action of

moving the mouse pointer right
or left so as to adjust the
position, speed or direction of
playback, listening to the audio
at the same time - a convenien
Scrubbing (unassigned)
way to quickly navigate the
waveform to find a particular
event of interest. Speed
changes are made by rotating
the mouse wheel while
scrubbing.
These commands let you move

the cursor to the start or end of
Cursor to (unassigned)
the selection, track or any
adjacent Clip that you may hav
These commands enable you t

Looping (unassigned)
control looping playback
Rescan for audio devices

connected to your computer, an
Rescan Audio Devices (unassigned) update the playback and
recording dropdown menus in
Device Toolbar
This submenu lets you manage

and set various options for
Transport Options (unassigned)
transport (playing and recordin
in Audacity
Transport: Playing
These commands control playback in Audacity. You can Start, Stop or Pause playback of the audio in your
project.
Starts and stops playback or

stops a recording (stopping doe
not change the restart position)
Therefore using any play or
record command after stopping
Play/Stop Space with "Play/Stop" will start

playback or recording from the
same Timeline position it last
started from. You can also
assign separate shortcuts for
Play and Stop.
Starts playback like "Play/Stop

but stopping playback sets the
restart position to the stop poin
When stopped, this command i
the same as "Play/Stop". When
Play/Stop and Set Cursor X playing, this command stops
playback and moves the curso
(or the start of the selection) to
the position where playback
stopped.
Plays the loop region only once

Play Once/Stop Shift+Space
when looping is enabled.
Temporarily pauses playing or

recording without losing your
Pause P
place.
Transport: Recording
These commands control recording in Audacity. You can Start, Stop or Pause recording in your project. You
can either start a recording on your existing track or an a new track.
Starts recording at the end of th

Record R
currently selected track(s).
Recording begins on a new

track at either the current curso
Record New Track Shift+R
location or at the beginning of
the current selection.
Brings up the Timer Record
Timer Record... Shift+T
dialog.
Re-record over audio, with a

Punch and Roll Record Shift+D pre-roll of audio that comes
before.
Temporarily pauses playing or

Pause P recording without losing your
place.
Transport: Scrubbing
Scrubbing is the action of moving the mouse pointer right or left so as to adjust the position, speed or
direction of playback, listening to the audio at the same time - a convenient way to quickly navigate the
waveform to find a particular event of interest. Speed changes are made by rotating the mouse wheel while
scrubbing.
Scrubbing is the action of

moving the mouse pointer right
or left so as to adjust the
Scrub (unassigned)
position, speed or direction of
playback, listening to the audio
at the same time.
Seeking is similar to Scrubbing

except that it is playback with
Seek (unassigned)
skips, similar to using the seek
button on a CD player.
Shows (or hides) the scrub rule

Scrub Ruler (unassigned)
which is just below the timeline
Transport: Cursor to
These commands let you move the cursor to the start or end of the selection, track or any adjacent Clip that
you may have
Moves the left edge of the

current selection to the center o
Selection Start (unassigned)
the screen, without changing th
zoom level.
Moves the right edge of the
current selection to the center o
Selection End (unassigned)
the screen, without changing th
zoom level.
Moves the cursor to the start of

Track Start J
the selected track.
Moves the cursor to the end of

Track End K
the selected track.
Moves the cursor position back

to the right-hand edge of the
Previous Clip Boundary (unassigned) previous clip
Moves the cursor position

Next Clip Boundary (unassigned) forward to the left-hand edge of
the next clip
Moves the cursor to the

Project Start Home
beginning of the project.
Moves the cursor to the end of

Project End End
the project.
Transport: Looping
Loop on/off L Toggles playback looping on/o
Clear Loop Alt+Shift+L Clears the looping region.
Sets the current selection range

Set Loop to Selection Shift+L
as the new looping region.
Sets the start of the looping

Set Loop In (unassigned)
region to the current selection.
Sets the end of the looping

Set Loop Out (unassigned)
region to the current selection.
Transport: Transport Options
This submenu lets you manage and set various options for transport (playing and recording) in Audacity
Sets the activation level above

Sound Activation Level... (unassigned) which Sound Activated
Recording will record.
Sound Activated Recording Toggles on and off the Sound
(unassigned)
(on/off) Activated Recording option.
You can change Audacity to

play and record with a fixed
Pinned Play/Record Head
(unassigned) head pinned to the Timeline.
(on/off)
You can adjust the position of
the fixed head by dragging it
Toggles on and off the Overdub

Overdub (on/off) (unassigned)
option.
Toggles on and off the Software

Software Playthrough (on/off) (unassigned)
Playthrough option.
Tracks Menu
Tracks Menu provides commands for creating and removing tracks, applying operations to selected tracks
such as mixing, resampling or converting from stereo to mono, and lets you add or edit labels.
Add New (unassigned) Adds a new track
Mixes down selected tracks to

Mix (unassigned)
mono or stereo tracks
Allows you to resample the

Resample... (unassigned) selected track(s) to a new
sample rate for use in the proje
Removes the selected track(s)

from the project. Even if only pa
Remove Tracks (unassigned)
of a track is selected, the entire
track is removed.
Mutes or unmutes audio tracks

Mute/Unmute (unassigned)
in the project
Pans left right or center audio

Pan (unassigned)
tracks in the project
Commands that provide an

automatic way of aligning
selected tracks with the cursor,
Align Tracks (unassigned)
the selection, or with the start o
the project.
Sorts all tracks in the project
from top to bottom in the projec
Sort Tracks (unassigned)
window, by Start Time or by
Name.
Ensures that length changes

occurring anywhere in a define
group of tracks also take place
Sync-Lock Tracks (on/off) (unassigned) in all audio or label tracks in tha
group.
Tracks: Add New
Adds a new track
Creates a new empty mono

Mono Track Ctrl+Shift+N Extra
audio track.
Adds an empty stero track to th

Stereo Track (unassigned)
project
Adds an empty label track to th

Label Track (unassigned)
project
Adds an empty time track to the

project. Time tracks are used to
Time Track (unassigned)
speed up and slow down audio
Tracks: Mix
Mixes down selected tracks to mono or stereo tracks
Converts the selected stereo

track(s) into the same number o
mono tracks, combining left and
Mix Stereo Down to Mono (unassigned)
right channels equally by
averaging the volume of both
channels.
Mixes down all selected tracks

to a single mono or stereo track
rendering to the waveform all
Mix and Render (unassigned) real-time transformations that
had been applied (such as trac
gain, panning, amplitude
envelopes or a change in proje
rate).
Same as Tracks > Mix and
Render except that the original
Mix and Render to New Track Ctrl+Shift+M Extra tracks are preserved rather tha
being replaced by the resulting
"Mix" track.
Tracks: Mute/Unmute
Mutes or unmutes audio tracks in the project
Mutes all the audio tracks in the

project as if you had used the
Mute All Tracks Ctrl+U
mute buttons from the Track
Control Panel on each track.
Unmutes all the audio tracks in

the project as if you had
Unmute All Tracks Ctrl+Shift+U released the mute buttons from
the Track Control Panel on eac
track.
Mute Tracks Ctrl+Alt+U Mutes the selected tracks.
Unmute Tracks Ctrl+Alt+Shift+U Unmutes the selected tracks.
Tracks: Pan
Pans left right or center audio tracks in the project
Pan selected audio to left

Left (unassigned)
speaker
Right (unassigned) Pan selected audio centrally.
Pan selected audio to right

Center (unassigned)
speaker.
T k Ali T k
Tracks: Align Tracks
Commands that provide an automatic way of aligning selected tracks with the cursor, the selection, or with
the start of the project.
Aligns the selected tracks one

after the other, based on their
Align End to End (unassigned)
top-to-bottom order in the proje
window.
Align the selected tracks so tha

Align Together (unassigned) they start at the same (average
start time.
Aligns the start of selected

Start to Zero (unassigned) tracks with the start of the
project.

tracks with the current cursor
Start to Cursor/Selection Start (unassigned)
position or with the start of the
current selection.

Start to Selection End (unassigned) tracks with the end of the curre
selection.
Aligns the end of selected track

with the current cursor position
End to Cursor/Selection Start (unassigned)
or with the start of the current
selection.
Aligns the end of selected track

End to Selection End (unassigned) with the end of the current
selection.
Toggles on/off the selection

Move Selection with Tracks moving with the realigned
(unassigned)
(on/off) tracks, or staying put.
Tracks: Sort Tracks
Sorts all tracks in the project from top to bottom in the project window, by Start Time or by Name.
By Start Time (unassigned) Sort tracks in order of start time

By Name (unassigned) Sort tracks in order by name
Generate Menu
Generate Menu lets you create audio containing tones, noise or silence.
Selecting this option from the

Effect Menu (or the Generate
Menu or Analyze Menu) takes
you to a dialog where you can
enable or disable particular
Effects, Generators and
Add / Remove Plug-ins... (unassigned) Analyzers in Audacity. Even if
you do not add any third-party
plug-ins, you can use this to
make the Effect menu shorter o
longer as required. For details
see Add / Remove Effects,
Generators and Analyzers.
Shows the list of available

Audacity built-in effects but onl
Built-in (unassigned)
if the user has effects "Grouped
by Type" in Effects Preferences

Nyquist effects but only if the
Nyquist (unassigned)
user has effects "Grouped by
Type" in Effects Preferences.
Generate: Built-in
Generates four different types o

tone waveforms like the Tone
Chirp... (unassigned) Generator, but additionally
allows setting of the starting an
ending amplitude and frequenc
Generates dual-tone multi-

frequency (DTMF) tones like
DTMF Tones... (unassigned)
those produced by the keypad
on telephones.
Generates 'white', 'pink' or

Noise... (unassigned)
'brown' noise.
Creates audio of zero amplitud
Silence... (unassigned) the only configurable setting
being duration.
Generates one of four different

tone waveforms: Sine, Square,
Tone... (unassigned) Sawtooth or Square (no alias),
and a frequency between 1 Hz
and half the current project rate
Generate: Nyquist
A synthesized pluck tone with

abrupt or gradual fade-out, and
Pluck... (unassigned)
selectable pitch corresponding
to a MIDI note.
Generates a track with regularl

spaced sounds at a specified
Rhythm Track... (unassigned)
tempo and number of beats pe
measure (bar).
Produces a realistic drum

Risset Drum... (unassigned)
sound.
Effect Menu
Audacity includes many built-in effects and also lets you use a wide range of plug-in effects.

Analyzers in Audacity. Even if
Add / Remove Plug-ins... (unassigned)
Repeats the last used effect at
Repeat Last Effect Ctrl+R its last used settings and witho
displaying any dialog.
Built-in (unassigned) no tip string.

LADSPA effects but only if the
LADSPA (unassigned)
user has effects "Grouped by
Type" in Effects Preferences.
Nyquist (unassigned) no tip string.
Effect: Built-in
Increases or decreases the

Amplify... (unassigned) volume of the audio you have
selected.
Reduces (ducks) the volume of

one or more tracks whenever th
volume of a specified "control"
Auto Duck... (unassigned) track reaches a particular level
Typically used to make a music
track softer whenever speech i
a commentary track is heard.
Increases or decreases the

lower frequencies and higher
frequencies of your audio
Bass and Treble... (unassigned)
independently; behaves just lik
the bass and treble controls on
stereo system.
Change the pitch of a selection

Change Pitch... (unassigned)
without changing its tempo.
Change the speed of a

Change Speed... (unassigned) selection, also changing its
pitch.
Change the tempo and length

Change Tempo... (unassigned) (duration) of a selection withou
changing its pitch.
Click Removal is designed to

Click Removal... (unassigned) remove clicks on audio tracks
and is especially suited to
declicking recordings made fro
vinyl records.
Compresses the dynamic
range by two alternative
methods. The default "RMS"
method makes the louder parts
softer, but leaves the quieter
audio alone. The alternative
"peaks" method makes the
Compressor... (unassigned) entire audio louder, but amplifie
the louder parts less than the
quieter parts. Make-up gain ca
be applied to either method,
making the result as loud as
possible without clipping, but
not changing the dynamic rang
further.
Use the Distortion effect to mak

the audio sound distorted. By
distorting the waveform the
frequency content is changed,
which will often make the soun
"crunchy" or "abrasive".
Technically this effect is a
Distortion... (unassigned)
waveshaper. The result of
waveshaping is equivalent to
applying non-linear amplificatio
to the audio waveform. Preset
shaping functions are provided
each of which produces a
different type of distortion.
Repeats the selected audio

again and again, normally softe
each time and normally not
blended into the original sound
until some time after it starts.
The delay time between each
Echo... (unassigned)
repeat is fixed, with no pause in
between each repeat. For a
more configurable echo effect
with a variable delay time and
pitch-changed echoes, see
Delay.
Applies a linear fade-in to the

selected audio - the rapidity of
the fade-in depends entirely on
Fade In (unassigned) the length of the selection it is
applied to. For a more
customizable logarithmic fade
use the Envelope Tool on the
Tools Toolbar.
Applies a linear fade-out to the
selected audio - the rapidity of
the fade-out depends entirely o
the length of the selection it is
Fade Out (unassigned) applied to. For a more
customizable logarithmic fade
use the Envelope Tool on the
Tools Toolbar.
Adjusts the volume levels of

Filter Curve... (unassigned)
particular frequencies
Adjusts the volume levels of

Graphic EQ... (unassigned)
particular frequencies
This effect flips the audio

samples upside-down. This
normally does not affect the
Invert (unassigned)
sound of the audio at all. It is
occasionally useful for vocal
removal.
Changes the perceived

Loudness Normalization... (unassigned)
loudness of the audio.
This effect is ideal for reducing

constant background noise suc
as fans, tape noise, or hums. It
Noise Reduction... (unassigned)
will not work very well for
removing talking or music in the
background. More details here
Use the Normalize effect to set

the maximum amplitude of a
track, equalize the amplitudes o
Normalize... (unassigned) the left and right channels of a
stereo track and optionally
remove any DC offset from the
track
Use Paulstretch only for an

extreme time-stretch or "stasis"
effect, This may be useful for
synthesizer pad sounds,
Paulstretch... (unassigned) identifying performance glitche
or just creating interesting aura
textures. Use Change Tempo o
Sliding Time Scale rather than
Paulstretch for tasks like slowin
down a song to a "practice"
tempo.
The name "Phaser" comes from
"Phase Shifter", because it
works by combining phase-
shifted signals with the original
Phaser... (unassigned)
signal. The movement of the
phase-shifted signals is
controlled using a Low
Frequency Oscillator (LFO).
Fix one particular short click,

Repair (unassigned) pop or other glitch no more tha
128 samples long.
Repeats the selection the

Repeat... (unassigned)
specified number of times.
A configurable stereo
reverberation effect with built-in
and user-added presets. It can
be used to add ambience (an
Reverb... (unassigned) impression of the space in whic
a sound occurs) to a mono
sound. Also use it to increase
reverberation in stereo audio
that sounds too "dry" or "close"
Reverses the selected audio;

after the effect the end of the
Reverse (unassigned)
audio will be heard first and the
beginning last.
This effect allows you to make

continuous change to the temp
Sliding Stretch... (unassigned) and/or pitch of a selection by
choosing initial and/or final
change values.
Automatically try to find and

Truncate Silence... (unassigned) eliminate audible silences. Do
not use this with faded audio.
Wahwah... (unassigned) Rapid tone quality variations,
like that guitar sound so popula
in the 1970's
Effect: Nyquist
enables you to control the shap

of the fade (non-linear fading) t
be applied by adjusting various
parameters; allows partial (that
Adjustable Fade... (unassigned)
is not from or to zero) fades up
down.
Clip Fix attempts to reconstruct

clipped regions by interpolating
Clip Fix... (unassigned)
the lost signal.
Use Crossfade Clips to apply a

simple crossfade to a selected
Crossfade Clips (unassigned) pair of clips in a single audio
track.
Use Crossfade Tracks to make

smooth transition between two
overlapping tracks one above
the other. Place the track to be
Crossfade Tracks... (unassigned) faded out above the track to be
faded in then select the
overlapping region in both trac
and apply the effect.
A configurable delay effect with

variable delay time and pitch
Delay... (unassigned)
shifting of the delays.
Passes frequencies above its

cutoff frequency and attenuates
High-Pass Filter... (unassigned) frequencies below its cutoff
frequency.
Limiter passes signals below a

specified input level unaffected
or gently reduced, while
preventing the peaks of stronge
signals from exceeding this
threshold. Mastering engineers
Limiter... (unassigned) often use this type of dynamic
range compression combined
with make-up gain to increase
the perceived loudness of an
audio recording during the aud
mastering process.
Passes frequencies below its

cutoff frequency and attenuates
Low-Pass Filter... (unassigned) frequencies above its cutoff
frequency.
Greatly attenuate ("notch out"),

narrow frequency band. This is
good way to remove mains hum
or a whistle confined to a
Notch Filter... (unassigned)
specific frequency with minima
damage to the remainder of the
audio.
When the selected track is in

spectrogram or spectrogram
log(f) view, applies a notch
filter, high pass filter or low
pass filter according to the
Spectral edit multi tool (unassigned)
spectral selection made. This
effect can also be used to
change the audio quality as an
alternative to using Equalizatio

log(f) view and the spectral
selection has a center frequenc
and an upper and lower
boundary, performs the specifie
band cut or band boost. This
Spectral edit parametric EQ... (unassigned)
can be used as an alternative t
Equalization or may also be
useful to repair damaged audio
by reducing frequency spikes o
boosting other frequencies to
mask spikes.
log(f) view, applies either a low
or high-frequency shelving filte
or both filters, according to the
spectral selection made. This
Spectral edit shelves... (unassigned) can be used as an alternative t
Equalization or may also be
useful to repair damaged audio
by reducing frequency spikes o
boosting other frequencies to
mask spikes.
Applies a more musical fade ou

to the selected audio, giving a
Studio Fade Out (unassigned)
more pleasing sounding result.
Modulates the volume of the

selection at the depth and rate
selected in the dialog. The sam
Tremolo... (unassigned)
as the tremolo effect familiar to
guitar and keyboard players.
Attempts to remove or isolate

center-panned audio from a
stereo track. Most "Remove"
Vocal Reduction and Isolation... (unassigned)
options in this effect preserve
the stereo image.
Synthesizes audio (usually a

voice) in the left channel of a
stereo track with a carrier wave
(typically white noise) in the rig
channel to produce a modified
Vocoder... (unassigned)
version of the left channel.
Vocoding a normal voice with
white noise will produce a robo
like voice for special effects.
Analyze Menu
The Analyze Menu contains tools for finding out about the characteristics of your audio, or labeling key
feature.

Analyzes a single mono or

stereo speech track to determin
the average RMS difference in
volume (contrast) between
foreground speech and
Contrast... Ctrl+Shift+T Extra
background music, audience
noise or similar. The purpose is
to determine if the speech will
be intelligible to the hard of
hearing.
Takes the selected audio (whic

is a set of sound pressure
Plot Spectrum... (unassigned) values at points in time) and
converts it to a graph of
frequencies against amplitude
Displays runs of clipped

samples in a Label Track, as a
screen-reader accessible
alternative to View > Show
Find Clipping... (unassigned)
Clipping. A run must include at
least one clipped sample, but
may include unclipped sample
too.
Nyquist (unassigned) no tip string.
Analyze: Nyquist
Attempts to place labels at bea

which are much louder than the
surrounding audio. It's a fairly
rough and ready tool, and will
not necessarily work well on a
Beat Finder... (unassigned)
typical modern pop music track
with compressed dynamic
range. If you do not get enough
beats detected, try reducing the
"Threshold Percentage" setting
Label Sounds is a tool which

can useful to label the different
Label Sounds... (unassigned)
songs or sections (or silences)
in a long recording.
Tools Menu
The Tools Menu contains customisable tools.

Creates a new macro or edits a

Macros... (unassigned)
existing macro.
Displays a menu with list of all

your Macros. Selecting any of
Apply Macro (unassigned) these Macros by clicking on it
will cause that Macro to be
applied to the current project.
A tool, mainly used in

Screenshot... (unassigned) documentation, to capture
screenshots of Audacity.
A tool for measuring the
Run Benchmark... (unassigned) performance of one part of
Audacity.
Brings up a dialog where you

can enter Nyquist commands.
Nyquist is a programming
language for generating,
Nyquist Prompt... (unassigned) processing and analyzing audi
For more information see
Nyquist Plug-ins Reference.
A Nyquist plug-in that simplifies

Nyquist Plug-in Installer... (unassigned) the installation of other Nyquist
plug-ins.
Places labels in a long track so

Regular Interval Labels... (unassigned) as to divide it into smaller,
equally sized segments.
Reads the values of successive

samples from the selected aud
Sample Data Export... (unassigned)
and prints this data to a plain
text, CSV or HTML file.
Reads numeric values from a

plain ASCII text file and creates
Sample Data Import... (unassigned)
a PCM sample for each numer
value read.
Tools: Apply Macro
Displays a menu with list of all your Macros. Selecting any of these Macros by clicking on it will cause that
Macro to be applied to the current project.
Displays a menu with list of all

your Macros which can be
Palette... (unassigned)
applied to the current project or
to audio files..
Fades in the first second and

Fade Ends (unassigned) fades out the last second of a
track.
MP3 Conversion (unassigned) Converts MP3.

Extra Menu
The Extra menu provides access to additional Commands that are not available in the normal default
Audacity menus.
Extra commands related to play

Transport (unassigned)
and record
Extra commands to select the

Tools (unassigned) tool, for example time-shift,
envelopes, multi-tool.
Extra commands related to

Mixer (unassigned)
volume

Edit (unassigned)
editing
Extra commands related to play

Play-at-Speed (unassigned)
at speed

Seek (unassigned)
seeking

Device (unassigned)
selecting a device

Selection (unassigned)
selecting.
Extra commands to set focus,

Focus (unassigned)
usually focus on one track
Extra commands to move the

Cursor (unassigned)
cursor
Extra commands to operate on

Track (unassigned)
track that has focus
These commands were

originally written for scripting
Audacity, e.g via a Python scrip
that uses mod-script-pipe. The
Scriptables I (unassigned) commands though are also
present in the menu, available
from macros, and available from
within Nyquist using (AUD-DO
"command")
Scriptables II (unassigned) Like Scriptables I, but these
ones are less commonly used
from the menu.
Toggle full screen mode with no
Full Screen (on/off) F11
title bar
Extra Transport
Extra commands related to play and record
Play (unassigned) Play (or stop) audio
Stop (unassigned) Stop audio
Plays for one second centered

on the current mouse pointer
Play One Second (unassigned) position (not from the current
cursor position). See this page
for an example.
Plays to or from the current

mouse pointer position to or
from the start or end of the
Play to Selection B
selection, depending on the
pointer position. See this page
for more details.
Plays a short period before the

start of the selected audio, the
Play Before Selection Start Shift+F5 Extra
period before shares the setting
of the cut preview.
Plays a short period after the

start of the selected audio, the
Play After Selection Start Shift+F6 Extra
period after shares the setting o
the cut preview.
Plays a short period before the

end of the selected audio, the
Play Before Selection End Shift+F7 Extra
period before shares the setting
of the cut preview.
Plays a short period after the

end of the selected audio, the
Play After Selection End Shift+F8 Extra
period after shares the setting o
the cut preview.
Plays a short period before and

Play Before and After Selection after the start of the selected
Ctrl+Shift+F5 Extra
Start audio, the periods before and
after share the setting of the cu
preview.
Plays a short period before and
after the end of the selected
Play Before and After Selection
Ctrl+Shift+F7 Extra audio, the periods before and
End
after share the setting of the cu
preview.
Plays audio excluding the

Play Cut Preview C
selection
Extra: Tools
Extra commands to select the tool, for example time-shift, envelopes, multi-tool.
Selection Tool F1 Chooses Selection tool.
Envelope Tool F2 Chooses Envelope tool.
Draw Tool F3 Chooses Draw tool.
Zoom Tool F4 Chooses Zoom tool.
Multi Tool F6 Chooses the Multi-Tool
Cycles backwards through the

tools, starting from the currently
selected tool: starting from
Previous Tool A Extra Selection, it would navigate to
Multi-tool to Time Shift to Zoom
to Draw to Envelope to
Selection.
Cycles forwards through the

tools, starting from the currently
selected tool: starting from
Next Tool D Extra Selection, it would navigate to
Envelope to Draw to Zoom to
Time Shift to Multi-tool to
Selection.
Extra: Mixer
Extra commands related to volume

Displays the Playback Volume

dialog. You can type a new
value for the playback volume
Adjust Playback Volume... (unassigned)
(between 0 and 1), or press Tab
then use the left and right arrow
keys to adjust the slider.
Each key press will increase th

Increase Playback Volume (unassigned)
playback volume by 0.1.
Each key press will decrease

Decrease Playback Volume (unassigned)
the playback volume by 0.1.
Displays the Recording Volume

value for the recording volume
Adjust Recording Volume... (unassigned)

Increase Recording Volume (unassigned)
recording volume by 0.1.

Decrease Recording Volume (unassigned)
the recording volume by 0.1.
Extra: Edit
Extra commands related to editing
Deletes the selection. When

focus is in Selection Toolbar,
Delete Key Backspace BACKSPACE is not a shortcut
but navigates back to the
previous digit and sets it to zero
Delete Key2 Delete Deletes the selection.
Moves the currently focused

audio track (or a separate clip i
Time Shift Left (unassigned) that track which contains the
editing cursor or selection
region) one screen pixel to left.
Moves the currently focused

audio track (or a separate clip i
Time Shift Right (unassigned) that track which contains the
editing cursor or selection
region) one screen pixel to righ
Extra: Play at speed
Extra commands related to play at speed
Play audio at a faster or slower

Normal Play-at-Speed (unassigned)
speed
Combines looped play and pla

Loop Play-at-Speed (unassigned)
at speed
Combines cut preview and play

Play Cut Preview-at-Speed (unassigned)
at speed
Displays the Playback Speed

value for the playback volume
Adjust Playback Speed... (unassigned)

Increase Playback Speed (unassigned)
playback speed by 0.1.

Decrease Playback Speed (unassigned)
the playback speed by 0.1.
Moves selection to the previous

Move to Previous Label Alt+Left
label
Move to Next Label Alt+Right Moves selection to the next lab
Extra: Seek
Extra commands related to seeking
Skips the playback cursor back

Short Seek Left During Playback Left
one second by default.
Short Seek Right During Skips the playback cursor

Right
Playback forward one second by default.
Long Seek Left During Playback Shift+Left Skips the playback cursor back
15 seconds by default.
Long Seek Right During Skips the playback cursor
Shift+Right
Playback forward 15 seconds by default.
Extra: Device
Extra commands related to selecting a device
Displays the Select recording

Device dialog for choosing the
recording device, but only if the
"Recording Device" dropdown
Change Recording Device... Shift+I Extra
menu in Device Toolbar has
entries for devices. Otherwise,
an recording error message wi
be displayed.
Displays the Select Playback

Device dialog for choosing the
playback device, but only if the
"Playback Device" dropdown
Change Playback Device... Shift+O Extra
menu in Device Toolbar has
entries for devices. Otherwise,
an error message will be
displayed.
Displays the Select Audio Hos

dialog for choosing the particul
Change Audio Host... Shift+H Extra interface with which Audacity
communicates with your chose
playback and recording device
Displays the Select Recording

Channels dialog for choosing
Change Recording Channels... Shift+N Extra the number of channels to be
recorded by the chosen
recording device.
Extra: Selection
Extra commands related to selecting.

Snap-To Off (unassigned) Equivalent to setting the Snap
To control in Selection Toolbar
"Off".
Equivalent to setting the Snap
Snap-To Nearest (unassigned) To control in Selection Toolbar
"Nearest".
Equivalent to setting the Snap

Snap-To Prior (unassigned) To control in Selection Toolbar
"Prior".
Select from cursor to start of

Selection to Start Shift+Home
project
Selection to End Shift+End Select from cursor to end of trac
Increases the size of the

selection by extending it to the
left. The amount of increase is
Selection Extend Left Shift+Left dependent on the zoom level. I
there is no selection one is
created starting at the cursor
position.
Increases the size of the

selection by extending it to the
right. The amount of increase is
Selection Extend Right Shift+Right dependent on the zoom level. I
there is no selection one is
created starting at the cursor
position.
Extend selection left a little. Th

Set (or Extend) Left Selection (unassigned) command only works during
Playback or Recording.
Extend selection right a little.

Set (or Extend) Right Selection (unassigned) This command only works
during Playback or Recording.
Decreases the size of the

selection by contracting it from
the right. The amount of
Selection Contract Left Ctrl+Shift+Right
decrease is dependent on the
zoom level. If there is no
selection no action is taken.
Decreases the size of the

selection by contracting it from
the left. The amount of decreas
Selection Contract Right Ctrl+Shift+Left
is dependent on the zoom leve
If there is no selection no action
is taken.
Extra: Focus
Extra commands to set focus, usually focus on one track
Move backward through

currently focused toolbar in
Upper Toolbar dock area, Track
Move Backward from Toolbars to Ctrl+Shift+F6 View and currently focused
Tracks toolbar in Lower Toolbar dock
area. Each use moves the
keyboard focus as indicated.
Move forward through currently

focused toolbar in Upper Toolb
dock area, Track View and
Move Forward from Toolbars to
Ctrl+F6 currently focused toolbar in
Tracks
Lower Toolbar dock area. Each
use moves the keyboard focus
as indicated.
Move Focus to Previous Track Up Focus one track up
Move Focus to Next Track Down Focus one track down
Move Focus to First Track Ctrl+Home Extra Focus on first track
Move Focus to Last Track Ctrl+End Extra Focus on last track
Move Focus to Previous and

Shift+Up Focus one track up and select
Select
Focus one track down and

Move Focus to Next and Select Shift+Down
select it
Toggle selectedness of the trac

Toggle Focused Track Return
that has focus
Toggle selectedness of the trac

Toggle Focused Track NUMPAD_ENTER
that has focus
Extra: Cursor
Extra commands to move the cursor

When not playing audio, moves
the editing cursor one screen
pixel to left. When a Snap To
option is chosen, moves the
cursor to the preceding unit of
time as determined by the
Cursor Left Left current selection format. If the
key is held down, the cursor
speed depends on the length o
the tracks. When playing audio
moves the playback cursor as
described at "Cursor Short Jum
Left"

the editing cursor one screen
pixel to right. When a Snap To
option is chosen, moves the
cursor to the following unit of
time as determined by the
Cursor Right Right current selection format. If the
key is held down, the cursor
speed depends on the length o
the tracks. When playing audio
moves the playback cursor as
described at "Cursor Short Jum
Right"

the editing cursor one second
left by default. When playing
audio, moves the playback
cursor one second left by
Cursor Short Jump Left ,
default. The default value can b
changed by adjusting the "Sho
Period" under "Seek Time whe
playing" in Playback
Preferences.

the editing cursor one second
right by default. When playing
cursor one second right by
Cursor Short Jump Right .
changed by adjusting the "Sho
Preferences.
the editing cursor 15 seconds
left by default. When playing
cursor 15 seconds left by
Cursor Long Jump Left Shift+,
changed by adjusting the "Long
Preferences.

the editing cursor 15 seconds
right by default. When playing
cursor 15 seconds right by
Cursor Long Jump Right Shift+.
changed by adjusting the "Long
Preferences.
Extra: Track
Extra commands to operate on a track that has focus
Brings up the Pan dialog for the

focused track where you can
enter a pan value, or use the
Change Pan on Focused
Shift+P Extra slider for finer control of pannin
Track...
than is available when using th
track pan slider.
Controls the pan slider on the

focused track. Each keypress
Pan Left on Focused Track Alt+Shift+Left Extra
changes the pan value by 10%
left.
Controls the pan slider on the

Pan Right on Focused Track Alt+Shift+Right Extra
changes the pan value by 10%
right.
Brings up the Gain dialog for th

focused track where you can
Change Gain on Focused Shift+G enter a gain value, or use the
Track... slider for finer control of gain
than is available when using th
track pan slider.
Controls the gain slider on the
Increase Gain on Focused Track Alt+Shift+Up Extra
increases the gain value by 1
dB.
Controls the gain slider on the

Decrease Gain on Focused focused track. Each keypress
Alt+Shift+Down Extra
Track decreases the gain value by 1
dB.
Opens the Audio Track

Dropdown Menu on the focuse
audio track or other track type.
the audio track dropdown, use
Up, and Down, arrow keys to
Open Menu on Focused Track... Shift+M navigate the menu and Enter, to
select a menu item. Use Right,
arrow to open the "Set Sample
Format" and "Set Rate" choice
or Left, arrow to leave those
choices.
Toggles the Mute button on the

Mute/Unmute Focused Track Shift+U
focused track.
Toggles the Solo button on the

Solo/Unsolo Focused Track Shift+S
focused track.
Close (remove) the focused

Close Focused Track Shift+C Extra
track only.
Moves the focused track up by

Move Focused Track Up (unassigned) one track and moves the focus
there.
Moves the focused track down

Move Focused Track Down (unassigned) by one track and moves the
focus there.
Moves the focused track up to

Move Focused Track to Top (unassigned) the top of the track table and
moves the focus there.
Moves the focused track down

Move Focused Track to Bottom (unassigned) the bottom of the track table an
moves the focus there.
Extra: Scriptables I
These commands were originally written for scripting Audacity, e.g via a Python script that uses mod-script-
pipe. The commands though are also present in the menu, available from macros, and available from within
Nyquist using (AUD-DO "command")
Modifies the temporal selection

Start and End are time.
Select Time... (unassigned) FromEnd allows selection from
the end, which is handy to fade
in and fade out a track.
Modifies what frequencies are

Select Frequencies... (unassigned) selected. High and Low are for
spectral selection.
Modifies which tracks are

selected. First and Last are trac
numbers. High and Low are for
spectral selection. The Mode
Select Tracks... (unassigned) parameter allows complex
selections, e.g adding or
removing tracks from the curren
selection.
Sets properties for a track or

channel (or both).Name is used
Set Track Status... (unassigned)
to set the name. It is not used in
choosing the track.

Set Track Audio... (unassigned) channel (or both). Can set pan,
gain, mute and solo.
Sets visual properties for a trac

or channel (or both).
SpectralPrefs=1 sets the track t
use general preferences,
SpectralPrefs=1 per track prefs
Set Track Visuals... (unassigned)
When using general
preferences, SetPreferences
can be used to change a
preference and so affect displa
of the track.
Get Preference... (unassigned) Gets a single preference setting
Sets a single preference setting

Some settings such as them
Set Preference... (unassigned)
changes require a reload (use
Reload=1), but this takes time
and slows down a script.
Modify a clip by stating the trac
or channel a time within it. Colo
and start position can be set. T
Set Clip... (unassigned)
to avoid overlapping clips, as
Audacity will allow it, but does
not like them.
Modify an envelope by
specifying a track or channel
and a time within it. You canno
Set Envelope... (unassigned)
yet delete individual envelope
points, but can delete the whole
envelope using Delete=1.
Modifies an existing label. You

Set Label... (unassigned)
must give it the label number.
Sets the project window to a

particular location and size. Ca
also change the caption - but
Set Project... (unassigned)
that is cosmetic and may be
overwritten again later by
Audacity.
Extra: Scriptables II
Like Scriptables I, but these ones are less commonly used from the menu.
Selects audio. Start and End a

time. First and Last are track
numbers. High and Low are for
spectral selection. FromEnd
allows selection from the end,
Select... (unassigned) which is handy to fade in and
fade out a track. The Mode
parameter allows complex
selections, e.g adding or
removing tracks from the curren
selection.

channel (or both). Setting one
channel of a stereo track can
lead to interesting results. That
most used when setting relative
sizing of the two channels.
SpectralPrefs=1 sets the track t
Set Track... (unassigned) use general preferences,
SpectralPrefs=1 per track prefs
When using general
preferences, SetPreferences
can be used to change a
preference and so affect displa
of the track. Name is used to se
the name. It is not used in
choosing the track.
Gets information in a list in one
Get Info... (unassigned)
of three formats.
Used in testing. Sends the Text

Message... (unassigned)
string back to you.
This is an extract from GetInfo

Help... (unassigned) Commands, with just one
command.
Imports from a file. The

automation command uses a
Import... (unassigned) text box to get the file name
rather than a normal file-open
dialog.
Exports to a named file. This

version of export has the full se
of export options. However, a
current limitation is that the
detailed option settings are
Export... (unassigned)
always stored to and taken from
saved preferences. The net
effect is that for a given format,
the most recently used options
for that format will be used.
Open Project... (unassigned) Opens a project.
Save Project... (unassigned) Saves a project.
Experimental command (called

Drag in scripting) that moves th
mouse. An Id can be used to
move the mouse into a button t
Move Mouse... (unassigned) get the hover effect. Window
names can be used instead. If
To is specified, the command
does a drag, otherwise just a
hover.
Compares selected range on
Compare Audio... (unassigned) two tracks. Reports on the
differences and similarities.
A version of Tools -> Screensh

with a more minimal GUI. One
Screenshot (short format)... (unassigned) the most useful options is
All_Tracks. The _Plus suffix
includes the timeline.
Help Menu
The Help Menu lets you find out more about the Audacity application and how to use it. It also includes
some diagnostic tools.
A brief version of help with som

Quick Help... (unassigned) of the most essential
information.
Opens the manual in the defau

Manual... (unassigned)
browser.
Diagnostics (unassigned) A set of diagnostic tools
Checks online to see if this is

Check for Updates... (unassigned)
the latest version of Audacity.
Brings a dialog with information

about Audacity, such as who
About Audacity... (unassigned) wrote it, what features are
enabled and the GNU GPL v2
license.
Help: Diagnostics
A set of diagnostic tools
Shows technical information

Audio Device Info... (unassigned) about your detected audio
device(s).
Shows technical information
MIDI Device Info... (unassigned) about your detected MIDI
device(s).
Launches the "Audacity Log"

window, the log is largely a
Show Log... (unassigned)
debugging aid, having
timestamps for each entry
Selecting this will generate a

Debug report which could be
Generate Support Data... (unassigned) useful in aiding the developers
to identify bugs in Audacity or i
third-party plug-ins
Lists any WAV or AIFF audio

files that your project depends
Check Dependencies... (unassigned)
on, and allows you to copy thes
files into the project
No Menu
These are commands which do not appear in any menu.
Moves focus to previous

Previous Window Alt+Shift+F6 Extra
window.
Next Window Alt+F6 Extra Moves focus to next window.
Repairing Audio Recordings

Noise reduction & removal
Removing background noise is core to most audio cleanup operations. Audacity has several tools to aid in
this.
Best Practice: While it's possible to rescue an otherwise unusable file with noise reduction
techniques, your recording will sound best if you take steps to ensure a noise-free environment
before recording.
Noise Reduction
The Noise Reduction effect works best to remove a constant source of noise, like the hiss of fans, the hum of
fridges, or whines, whistles and buzzes.
To use it, use the following steps:
1. Locate a section of your recording that's just your background noise, preferably a few seconds long, and
select it.
2. Go to Effects > Noise Reduction and press the "Get noise profile" button.
3. Select all the audio for which you want to reduce the noise.
4. Go to Effects > Noise Reduction again. You now can tweak the settings of the reduction to your liking.
Tip: While tuning the settings, use the "Residue" toggle to hear what sound will be removed.
5. Once you're satisfied with the result, click OK to apply it to the selected audio.
Note: If you used the Residue toggle before, make sure to switch it back to Reduce before pressing OK.
Tips:
If you set the sensitivity too low, or use a noise profile that doesn't properly represent the
noise throughout your track, you may experience artifacts (random bursts of very short
tones).
If you don't need to tweak the settings after setting the noise profile, you can press
Ctrl+R / Cmd+R to immediately apply the effect to your selection.
Noise Gate
The Noise Gate effect completely removes any sound quieter than a certain threshold while leaving sounds
louder completely unaffected. To use it
1. Select a part of the audio that's just background noise.

2. Go to Effects > Noise Gate... to open the effect.
3. Click Select Function: Analyse Noise Level and press OK. Audacity will now tell you where your
noise level lies and recommending a threshold.
4. Select the audio you want to apply the effect to.
5. Go back into Effects > Noise Gate..., set it back to Select Function: Gate, and enter the threshold level
from earlier.
6. Tweak the other parameters as sound best to you.
7. Press OK to apply the noise gate.
Best practice: Use the noise gate after applying noise reduction. This way, you can use less
aggressive noise reduction settings, which may grant you a cleaner end result.
Notch Filter
The notch filter removes a hum or whistle at a specific frequency. To use it:
1. Select the audio you want to apply the effect on
2. Go to Effects > Notch Filter to open the effect.
3. Enter the frequency you want to reduce, together with the Q-value (how many frequencies around the
main one you want it to affect - the higher the number, the less frequencies).
4. Press OK to apply the effect.
Tips:
The "Mains hum" of the electricity grid is 60Hz in north and middle America, and 50Hz in
most other countries.
Use Analyze > Plot Spectrum... to find the offending frequency if you're not sure where it is.
Sounds often have harmonics or overtones. They are at a multiple of the main frequency, so
for a 50Hz sound, you may need to apply the notch filter as well at 100Hz, 150Hz, and so on
to remove it fully.
Re-recording a section
Punch-in repair of recordings is an easy and fast way to fix short sections of a recording by re-recording it.
Fixing bad sections as they occur (Punch-and-roll recording)
Best Practice:
Make sure that Overdubbing is turned on in Transport > Transport Options.
Make sure that your latency settings are correct.
If your audio recording broke and you immediately noticed it (for example because you misspoke your script
or had to cough), it is possible to stop the recording and immediately fix the mistake by using Punch-and-roll
recording. To use it:
1. Record as normal until you make the mistake.

2. Stop the recording.
3. Choose a splicing point by clicking into the audio before the mistake happens. For spoken content, this
should be between words so you can drop in easier.
Note: All audio on the track after the splicing point will be deleted.
4. Start a Punch-and-roll recording with Transport > Recording > Punch and roll record ( Shift+D ).
This will playback a couple of seconds of your recording so you can find the right rhythm and tone as
before, and at the splicing point you set in step 3, it will switch to recording mode and make a crossfade.
5. From here on out you can continue recording as usual. If you make the same mistake again, you can
stop the recording and undo (Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z) and try again. If you make another mistake later on, you
can do another Punch and Roll recording by repeating the steps above.
Tip: You can change the amount of pre-roll audio and crossfade in the Preferences > Recording
in the Punch and Roll recording section.
Fixing a bad section afterwards

If your audio recording broke at one specific point in time (for example because an ambulance drove by), but
you only notice it after having recorded everything, it is possible to re-record this section using punch-in
repair.
Best Practice:
Make sure that Overdubbing is turned on and Software Playthrough is turned off. Both
settings can be found in Transport > Transport Options
Always create a backup of your project before editing it. For a continuous recording, this
typically is best done by Exporting audio .
To use it:
1. Select the bad part of the recording and silence it. You can do this by clicking the Silence Audio
Selection button (found next to the undo and cut/copy/paste buttons), or by pressing Ctrl+L
( Cmd+L )
2. Select a couple of seconds of audio before and after the bad part. With overdubbing turned on,
recording will playback the recording back to you and help you match the timing.
3. Do the re-recording on a new track. To do this, Shift-click the record button or press Shift+R . It will
automatically start recording from the beginning of your selection.
Related pages
To hide the cut a bit better, a crossfade may help: Making crossfades
If your new take is slightly longer or shorter than the gap left in the original recording, you can split the
clip: Splitting up clips
You can use a similar technique to continuously fix mistakes as they occur during a recording session
using Latency Compensation
Removing clicks & pops
Using the Click Removal effect

The click removal effect can automatically remove clicks across an entire track.
The Click Removal Effect Dialog
To use it:
1. Select the audio you want to remove the clicks from.

Tip:
2. Go to Effect > Click Removal

3. Set the threshold and max spike width. The default should work in most cases. You can preview the
effect to get a feel of how it'll affect the track.
4. Click OK to apply the effect.

Caution:
The Click Removal effect requires a somewhat large audio selection (4096 samples) to
function. It may not work when selecting single clicks.
If you have rapid soft clicks (such as the crackling of Vinyl), using Noise Reduction may
work better.
Repairing individual clicks

The Repair effect can be used to repair short clicks. To use it:
1. Select a short (max 128 samples) part of audio.

Tip: You can set the selection clocks in the bottom toolbar to display start and length of the selection,
and change the clocks to display samples rather than milliseconds.
2. Go to Effect > Repair.
Silencing the section

In most cases, having brief amounts of silence is preferable to loud clicks, so completely muting clicks is a
valid strategy if other methods fail. For this, simply select the click and press the Silence button
(Shortcut: Ctrl+L / Cmd+L ).
Audio Editing
Using realtime effects
Audacity 3.2 and onwards supports realtime effects
Downloading & installing realtime effects

While Audacity doesn't yet ship with realtime effects, you can download plugins for it. Currently supported
plugin formats are Audio Units (macOS only), VST3, LV2, and LADSPA. We have collected some plugins
which we know to work on plugins.audacityteam.org but you can find many more across the web. Once you
install the plugins, they should be detected by Audacity once you restart it, if not, see the installation
instructions.
Adding effects to a track
You can add realtime effects using the following steps:
1. Click the Effects button in the track or press e
2. Click Add effect and choose an available effect from the list.
Note: Realtime effects always apply to an entire track. Since they're calculated realtime, they
won't change the source waveform.
Changing effect settings
You can change the effect settings by clicking on the effect's name. This will open a settings window, often
with a graphical interface which looks nothing like Audacity itself. You still can interact with the main
Audacity window while the effect settings are open.
Bypassing an effect
You can press the blue power button next to an effect (or the entire effects stack) to bypass it, causing it to be
not applied to your audio.
Tip: If you want to completely remove an effect from the stack, press the triangle next to the
effect name and select "No Effect".
Applying an effect stack to the waveform

Once you're happy with the sound, you can apply the effect stack to the waveform by first selecting the track
and then going to Tracks > Mix > Mix and Render. Alternatively, the effect stack is always applied to the
waveform when exporting the audio.
Caution: When selecting several tracks at once, the Mix and Render option will mix all tracks
together.
Making audio loops

This page is an introduction to creating background beats and audio loops from a pre-existing audio file.
Audio loops are a type of music that plays a few bars on repeat over and over. They can be created by
taking a sample out of pre-existing content and looping it seamlessly.
1. Enable playback looping
To enable playback looping, simply click onto the loop button (1). When you do this, you'll note the blue
looping region appear in the timeline (2). You can move the region and it's in and out point individually by
dragging it.
Tip: You can always create a new region by dragging anywhere outside the existing region
within the timeline.
2. Finding the looping region
When making a loop out of music, you often will be able to see repetitions in the waveform as your source
material will probably contain some loop already (for example a drummer playing the same beat throughout
the song). You can use these to roughly find good looping regions and position your looping region above it.
Notes:
If you're having trouble finding a good region with a stereo track, you may want to convert it to
mono first: Tracks > Mix > Mix Stereo to Mono
When positioning your loop region, try to aim just before the peaks. Doing that may allow you
to skip finetuning altogether.
You can adjust the looping region even when playback is on.
Fine-tuning the loop and removing clicks
To make the loop seamless, you may need to zoom in some more, using Ctrl+Scroll ( Cmd+Scroll )
or the magnifying glass.
Best practice: Set your looping points at a zero crossing, where the waveform (blue line) crosses
0 (black line):
3. Turn your loop into a clip

Once your loop sounds right, you can select it's length in the waveform. A yellow line will appear when your
cursor is lined up with the loop region properly. Once you have made the selection, you now can simply
right-click > Split Clip ( Ctrl+I, Cmd+I ).
Once you have the clip, you can copy-paste it anywhere in your project.
Tip: If you want to use the clip on repeat, use Effect > Repeat.
See also:
Saving and exporting projects

Making crossfades
Crossfades blend the end of one song with the beginning of the next one. There are several methods to
achieve this in Audacity
Crossfading Clips
If you have two clips in one track you'd like to crossfade, you can use Crossfade Clips effect. To use it:
1. Have two clips in one track.
2. Select the region you'd like to apply the crossfade to. Try to select roughly the same amount of time in
both clips.
Note: Any empty space between the clips will be automatically removed and ignored in the crossfade.
3. Use Effects > Crossfade Clips to crossfade the clips.
Crossfading between Tracks

To crossfade between tracks, use the following steps:
1. Position the clips on the tracks so that they overlap in the range you want to crossfade:
2. Select the audio in the first clip in the overlapping region and choose Effects > Fade Out
3. Select the audio in the second clip in the overlapping region and choose Effects > Fade In
Speeding up and slowing down audio

Audacity has several methods available to change speed and tempo of audio.
Changing the speed while preserving pitch
Caution: Changing speed without affecting the pitch always leads to artefacts. Avoid repeatedly
applying these effects.
To change the speed while preserving the pitch, select the audio you want to apply the effect on and go to
Effect > Change Tempo
The "Change Tempo" Effect dialog
Drag the slider or enter some numbers to change how much you want to speed up or slow down your audio.
The controls are linked, so you just need to change the value you care about, the rest will update
accordingly.
For extreme slowdowns (10x slower to thousands of times slower), you may want to use Effect >
Paulstretch instead.
The "Paulstretch" Effect dialog
Note: Paulstretch is only capable of slowing down, so the stretch factor relates to how many
times you want to slow down your audio.
The time resolution decides on whether the algorithm will focus on frequencies and pitch at the
expense of rhythm (high time resolution), or whether it will focus on rhythm at the expense of pitch
(low time resolution). Generally. 0.25 is a good compromise for most music
Changing speed and pitch at the same time

To change speed and pitch at the same time, use Effect > Change Speed.
The "Change speed" effect dialog
Unlike Change Tempo, the Change Speed effect keeps the waveform mostly intact, so you can use this
method repeatedly without any major loss in quality.
Dynamically changing the speed over time

You can change the speed of an entire project over time using Time Tracks. To add one, go to Tracks > Add
New > Time Track. You only can have one time track per project.
A Time Track
Then click on the blue line and drag it upwards or downwards to change the speed at that time. Every time
you click, a new control point is added, allowing you to change the speed over time
A time track with control points
Tip: By default, the range goes from 90% to 110% speed. If you want to extend that, right-click
the vertical scale (going from 90-110) and select Range... to set a new range. The new range
may be between 10% and 1000%.
Changing playback speed

If you want to preview your audio at a faster or slower rate than normal, but without affecting the final
product, you can use the Play-at-Speed toolbar
To use it, drag the slider to the desired speed (between 0.01x and 3x) and then click the small play button
next to it to playback your audio at that speed. You can use the normal stop and pause controls to
stop/pause playback.
Mixing and panning tracks
Using the Track Controls

You can adjust volume and panning per track on the left-hand side of any track:
The Track Control Panel features a Volume Slider (+ to -)

and a Panning Slider (L to R)
Note: If you collapse a track or make it vertically smaller, Audacity will hide the pan and volume
sliders from view. To see them again, expand the track by dragging down on it's lower edge.
Using the Mixer Board

You can access the Mixer Board via View > Mixer Board.
This shows all track controls side-by-side, with a volume slider on the left per track, as well as per-track
volume meters.
By default, the icon for each track is the Audacity logo, but it can be changed if the track name contains the
following keywords:
Misc. instruments
acoustic piano, acoustic pno = acoustic piano

back vocal, back vox, bg = backing vocal
electric piano, electric pno, key = electronic keyboard
loop = loop track

sax = saxophone
synth = synthesizer
trumpet, horn = generic brass instrument
turntable = record player
vibraphone, vibes = vibraphone
vocal, vox = lead vocal
String instruments
acoustic guitar, acoustic gtr = acoustic guitar
electric bass, bass, bs = electric bass guitar
electric guitar, guitar, gtr = (standard) electric guitar

string, violin, cello = generic stringed instrument
Percussion
clap = handclaps
drums, dr = drum kit

kick = kick drum
perc = percussion
snare = snare drum
tambourine, tambo = tambourine
Rendering the mix

Once you have your changes to mixing, panning and other real-time effects final and want to apply them
onto the waveform itself, you can render the mix using Tracks > Mix > Mix and Render. This replaces all
selected tracks with the mix. If you have used many tracks and real time effects, this may considerably
improve performance.
Caution: When rendering, all tracks are added onto each other, which may cause clipping. If this
happens, undo the mix and lower the volume for all of your tracks.
Best Practice: If you have a several stereo tracks, but don't need a stereo-effect for them (ie. any
left/right panning), consider mixing down to mono using Tracks > Mix > Mix Stereo Down to
Mono. Exporting a mono track to a lossy format (like MP3) will let you have a higher quality at the
same bitrate, or let you use a lower bitrate (and thus lower file size) at the same bitrate.
Splitting a recording into separate tracks

Audacity helps you to split a long recording into separate songs for export as one audio file per song. You
can for example record an audio CD or LP and then export each song into a separate file.
Remove unwanted audio from the recording
Use the Selection tool to remove unnecessary audio (mostly silence) from the start of the recording.
1. Set Snap-To: Off in the Selection Toolbar
2. Click the Skip to Start button
3. Zoom in until you can see from the start of the track to the start of the music
4. Click and drag from the start of the music to the start of the track
5. Click on Edit > Delete
Similarly, remove unwanted audio from the end of the recording and from the middle (between sides 1 and 2
of the LP or cassette).
Later in this tutorial we mention that you can use the Analyze > Label Sounds... command to
identify spaces between the songs, so when you are editing the transition between side 1 and
side 2 be sure to leave 2 or 3 seconds of silence, similar to what you would find between songs.
Save your work! Click on File > Save Project > Save Project.
Label the songs
Mark the start of the first song
1. Click the Skip to Start button

2. Click on Edit > Labels > Add Label at Selection, or use shortcut Ctrl + B.
A new label is created in a new label track underneath the audio track. The contents of the label are
selected and ready for editing. If you need to play the track to decide where to place the split points, you
can use Add Label at Playback Position instead (directly underneath Add Label at Selection, or use
shortcut Ctrl + M (on Mac it is ⌘ + .).
3. Type the title of the first song
Mark the rest of the songs
1. Using the Selection tool, click near the beginning of the second song
2. Repeatedly click the Zoom In button until you can see just the first few seconds of the song
3. Click as closely as possible to the start of the song
4. Click on Edit > Labels > Add Label at Selection, or use shortcut Ctrl + B
5. Type the name of the song into the label
6. Repeatedly click the Zoom Out button until you can see the start of the third song
7. Continue in this manner adding a label to mark the start of each song
Label at the start of the second song in the audio track
You can save time by using Analyze > Label Sounds... to automatically label the regions to be
exported for the songs. This method thus lets you exclude some or all of the areas between
songs.
This tool depends on correctly detecting the "silences" between tracks and this depends on
setting their parameters appropriately for your track.
Maximize the volume of the recording
If you did the original recording properly and avoided clipping, the recording is probably not at the maximum
possible volume. In order for the LP or CD to be burned at maximum volume and thus match other LPs or
CDs in your collection we need to fix this.
1. Click on Select > All, or use shortcut Ctrl + A

2. Click on Effect > Normalize...
The default choice in this dialog is to amplify to a maximum of -1.0 dB. The maximum setting is 0 dB, but the
default setting of -1.0 dB provides a little headroom as some players can have playback problems with audio
at 0 dB.
Some consumer-level turntables, tape decks and/or amplifiers may well record stereo channels with a
stronger signal in one channel than the other, which you will probably want to correct. In that case, check the
box that says Normalize stereo channels independently.
One problem when copying records is that a loud click in one channel can cause Normalize to create an
unwanted change in the stereo balance. In that case you should consider removing the click before the
Normalize step, using Click Removal.
Export multiple files
The final step involves creating multiple audio files from the Audacity project.
1. Click on File > Export > Export Multiple....

2. Click the Choose... button and pick the place where your exported tracks will be saved.
3. Choose the export Format from the drop-down menu:
for CD burning choose 16-bit WAV if using Windows or Linux or AIFF if you are using a Mac
for loading into an MP3 player, choose MP3
for loading into Apple Music/iTunes/iPod you can export as WAV and use Apple Music/iTunes to
convert the WAVs to AAC or MP3.
4. Under Split Files Based On:

Labels should be checked
Include audio before first label should be unchecked, as there is no audio before the first
label
5. Under Name Files:
Using Label/Track Name should be checked.
6. Click the Export button.

7. Metadata Editor will appear for the first song. The Track Title and Track Number will be pre-filled from
the labels, but you can enter any additional information for that song that you wish (for example, Artist
Name and Album Title).
8. Click the OK button in the Metadata Editor (not the Save button).
9. Metadata Editor will appear for the next and the subsequent songs; as before, enter any additional
information and click "OK" for each window. When you click "OK" on the window for the last song, all the
files will export.
Backup
Backup your exported WAV or MP3 files - you do not want to lose all that valuable work and have to do it all
over again. Computer hard drives can fail, destroying all data.
Ideally use a dedicated drive (1+ TB external magnetic drives are convenient and economical), or upload to
an online (cloud) storage service to store the WAVs or MP3s. Better still is to make two copies on different
external devices and even better is to hold an online backup as well as the local copies.
You may want to create a taxonomic file structure - for example each album can be stored in its own folder
(named for the album) within a folder named for the artist (or, perhaps, composer for classical music) to make
searching and retrieval easier.
Manage Macros
Manage Macros allows you to edit, remove or rename existing Macros or add a new Macro. It also allows
you to apply Macros to you project or a set of files.
Any built-in, LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST or Audio Unit (Mac) effect shown in the Effect Menu can be added
to a Macro. You can also add plug-ins in any format that are shown in the Generate or Analyze Menus
(including Vamp analysis effects), the built-in Find Clipping analyzer and a number of export commands.
Macros may be applied to either the entirety of the current project or to a selection of files using the Tools >
Macros... command.
It is possible to use Noise Reduction in Macros but see Noise Reduction Tips for how the Noise Profile is
captured.
The full list of all Macro commands, with descriptions, is available at Scripting Reference.
Accessing Macros
You can access the Manage Macros dialog by using either:
The menu Tools > Macros..., or
The Expand button in the Macros Palette dialog.
Manage Macros dialog
Select Macro
Select Macro contains a list of already defined Macros. You can define the name of a new Macro and select
which Macro is active.
The left hand box in the dialog (labeled Select Macro) contains a list of already defined Macros. Until you
add a new Macro, it only has built-in MP3 Conversion and Fade Ends Macros.
Use left-click (or use the Up or Down keyboard arrows) to select the Macro you want to work on
New: Adds a new Macro to the list.

Remove: Remove the selected Macro from the list - grayed out when the Macros that ship as part of
Audacity are selected.
Rename...: Rename the selected Macro - grayed out when the Macros that ship as part of Audacity are
selected.
Restore: Resets any Audacity provided Macro to its default settings - grayed out when user-provided
Macros are selected.
Import...: Enables you to import a Macro from a TXT file.
Export: Exports the selected Macro to a TXT file.
Edit Steps in the Macro
Edit Steps lists the sequence of commands in order of first to last (End) for the Macro selected in the Select
Macro box to left.
The Macro can include a number of common Audacity functions and effects to be executed in any order
you specify.
To create an audio file as part of the Macro process you must include an "Export" command (such as
Export as WAV).
The Export command will use the settings you used the last time you used the same command from
the File > Export > Export... menu command, or default settings if you have never used that
command from the menu.
In many cases the parameters for each command in the Macro can be specified within the Manage
Macros dialog.
You can:
Add or remove commands for the selected Macro

Change the order in which the commands execute in the Macro
Edit the parameters for some effects in the Macro
Command
Insert: Insert a new command into the list

Edit...: Edit the parameters of the currently selected command
Delete: Delete the currently selected command in the list

Move Up: Move the currently selected command up in the list
Move Down: Move the currently selected command down in the list
Save: This button is only active when you have made edits to a Macro. It enables you to save those
changes.
You can also edit an existing command by double-clicking it, or using the Up or Down keyboard
arrow to select it and then pressing Space. The parameter settings dialog for that command will
be displayed.
Inserting a new command
A few commands are intentionally omitted from the Macro Manager (such as Close:) because they are
unsuitable for use in Macros.
To insert a new command in a Macro, left-click or use the Up or Down keyboard arrow to select an existing
command and then press Insert. The new command will be placed above this selected command.
The Select Command dialog appears, listing all the available commands. Double-click a command
from the list to insert it in the "Command" box, as shown in the image below after inserting "Normalize".
Alternatively, use the Up or Down keyboard arrow to select the command, then press Space.
Use the Select Command dialog to choose a command to be inserted into the macro
The full list of all commands, with descriptions, is available at Scripting Reference.
Some scriptable commands are particularly useful for Macros. See these pages for details:
Extra Menu: Scriptables I - most commonly useful scriptables.
Extra Menu: Scriptables II - less commonly useful scriptables, but also including Select and Set
Track, which combine functionality of several scriptables.
If the command has editable parameters, the Edit Parameters button will be active. Clicking this button
will bring up the dialog box for the effect where you can set the parameters as if you were applying the
standalone effect.
If you have previously created user presets for an effect you can use the Use Preset to select one for use
with that effect in the Macro.
Choose OK in the effect dialog to accept the parameters you entered, or Cancel to revert to the default
parameters.
Choose OK in the Select Command dialog to add the command to the Macro.
Macro Command Parameters
It is strongly recommended that you set parameters for the commands that you use in a Macro.
Otherwise Audacity will use the last-used parameter setting(s) when you ran the effect(s)
manually.
Also note carefully that settings used in Macros will not affect or change the last-used parameter settings for
any effect when next run manually.
Command parameters example: Set Track

Status
This example shows the Set Track Status command.
The tick boxes on the left determines whether a feature should be used. When not selected, that feature
does nothing.
The second tick box determines whether the feature is set to "on" or "off".
This shows:
1. The track name will not be changed

2. Track selectedness will be set to Not Selected
3. Track focus will be set to Focused
Commands that call Effects, Generators, Analyzers or Tools, use the same familiar graphical interface (GUI)
as appears when they are used from the normal top level menus.
Many of the other commands provide a simple GUI comprised of checkboxes and text entry boxes. Typical
examples can be seen in the Scriptables I and Scriptables II menus.
Selections in Macros applied to Project
Macros will work on pre-existing selections you make in your project prior to running the Macro. But the
selection can be over-ridden by your Macro itself as there are Macro commands available to effect
selections in the audio.
In particular All(Select All) will select the entire project

Select which is parameterizable (see the provided Fade Ends Macro for an example where the first and
last one seconds of the audio are selected for the fades).
If you want to select all tracks, maintaining your current time selection, use "Select: First=0
Last=100". It will not waste time twiddling its thumbs on the tracks that are not there.
Selections in Macros applied to Files
When applying a Macro to files there is no pre-existing selection so you will need to create a selection in the
Macro if your Macro requires audio to be selected to act on (and most Macros do).
Commands for Exporting audio files
There are four basic export commands available: Export as WAV, Export as MP3, Export as FLAC
and Export as Ogg.
See Macros Palette for details of naming and location of exported files.
Parameters for export formats cannot be set in Manage Macros. To configure export parameters
for the Macro, click File > Export > Export Audio... to access the Export Audio Dialog, click
Options, set the parameters, press OK then Cancel the export. An audio track must be on screen
in order to open the Export Audio Dialog.
Special Export command
There is also a special Export command Export2 which enables you to export to a specific target file and
format. When using Export2 you have to give the full file name (including path and filename extension).
Note carefully that the filename is not dynamically changeable when running the Macro, once set in the
Export2 parameters, so you may wish to create several Macros the Export2 each targeting different file
locations, names and filetype.
Example:
"C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\my file.flac" (this works)
Not: C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\my file.flac (the file name is not quoted)
Not: "my file.flac" (no path given)
Not: "C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\myfile" (no file extension)
The quote marks around the file pathing are supplied by Audacity once the Export2 command has been
edited in setting up or editing the Macro
When entering the pathing data in the edit parameters dialog for the command you do not put the quote
marks for example: C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\my file.flac
Deprecated Export commands
The following two commands are now deprecated and may well be removed in future versions of Audacity.
They were part of "CleanSpeech" (which has long been removed from Audacity).
The Export as MP3 56k before and Export as MP3 56k after commands can be used respectively to
export "before" and "after" MP3 files at 56 kbps bit rate at any point in the Macro processing. This allows
you to compare the result of one or more effects, or provide files for different purposes with and without a
particular effect.
The name of the MP3 exported by the "Export as MP3 56k before" command is prefixed by
"MasterBefore_" followed by the date and time. The name of the MP3 exported by the "Export as
MP3 56k after" command is prefixed by "MasterAfter_" followed by the date and time.
Comments in Macros
Comments be added to Macros to enable you to document what is happening in the Macro.
Add a comment to your macro using the Comment command and edit its parameters to type the text of your
comment.
Add a comment to your macros using the Comment command
The buttons
Shrink - reduced Macros Palette dialog
Use the Shrink button to show a reduced Macros Palette dialog with a simple list of the existing Macros,
enabling you to apply the Macros but not edit them.
This smaller version is useful for presets. It stays open after applying a macro, so it is a palette of custom
functions, and you can pick another and apply that.
Using the Expand button on this reduced dialog will return you to the full Manage Macros dialog.
For more details see the Macros Palette page.
Apply Macro to
Apply Macro to enables you to make a Macro operate on either your current open Project or a set of
selected external Files.
It is recommended not to process more than 500 files at a time
See Macros Palette for details of how these two buttons operate.
Close to exit the dialog
To dismiss the dialog simply click on the Close button.
If there any unsaved changes you will be asked if you want to save them or not.
Macros Examples
See the Macros Examples page for examples of using Macros.
Error: Batch command not recognized
This error may sometimes occur for one or more commands in a Macro when updating from a previous
Audacity version. The error may also occur if users sharing Macro have different Audacity versions or
different versions of the plug-ins used in the Macro. The error will occur if:
any command in the Macro uses a different text format than that recognized by the version of Audacity in
use
any plug-ins listed in the Macro are missing, in an incorrect location or are incompatible with the version
of Audacity in use.
To resolve these errors, ensure you have compatible versions of all required plug-ins and that the plug-ins
are installed correctly. If necessary, use the Manage Macros dialog to delete the command that fails then
insert a replacement command for the same effect from the Select Command dialog.
Macros Palette
You can apply any of the existing macros using the Macros Palette. To open it you can either:
Use the menu Tools > Apply Macros > Palette, or

Use the Shrink button in the Manage Macros dialog
Macros Palette showing several user-added Macros

as well as the as-shipped MP3 Conversion and Fade
Ends Macros
Once invoked, the Macros Palette window will remain on-screen, actively available, at all times
unless and until you dismiss it or close Audacity.
Select Macro
In the "Macro" list, left-click on a Macro (or use Up or Down keyboard arrow) to select the Macro you want
to apply.
Apply Macro to
Project
Use the Project button to apply the selected Macro to the current project.
The typical purpose of this option is effect automation - apply a sequence of effects to the project, using
effect parameters and an order of applying the effects that you have found to work well for the type of audio
you are processing. This saves time and provides consistency in your workflow.
The effects in the Macro are applied to the selected region of waveform in the selected audio tracks. Usually
the selected Macro would not include an export command so as to use the greater flexibility of the Export
Audio Dialog.
If an export command is included in the Macro, the entire project audio is exported irrespective of track or
region selection. Therefore if the project contains multiple audio tracks, they will be mixed together, unless
any of the tracks are muted on the Track Control Panel.
If the project has been Saved, then the exported files will be saved in a folder named macro-output.
The macro-output folder will be in the location specified in Directories Preferences.
If the audio in the project came from an imported file as its initial step (that is, it is a named project), the
macro-output folder will also be in the location specified in Directories Preferences.
If the project has not been saved and is un-named, the normal Export Audio dialog will appear enabling
you to choose the name and location of the exported file.
Macros will work on pre-existing selections you make in your project prior to running the Macro.
But the selection can be over-ridden by your Macro itself as there are macro commands available
to effect selections in the audio. In particular All(Select All) will select the entire project and
Select which is parameterizable (see the provided Fade Ends Macro for an example where the
first and last one seconds of the audio are selected for the fades).
Files...
The typical purpose of this option is batch processing - apply the Macro to multiple audio files so as to
apply one or more effects to them, and/or convert them to another file format. You can convert from any file
format supported by Audacity to WAV, MP3, OGG or FLAC.
Use the Files... button to apply the selected Macro to selected external audio files that are in a single
directory.
If you already have audio in the current project window, you must save and close that project using File >
Close before applying a Macro to files.
You cannot apply a Macro to multiple Audacity AUP3 project files, instead you need to use
Python scripting.
The selected Macro must include an Export step, otherwise the processed audio will not be
retained.
You cannot process multi-channel audio files (for example, 5.1 surround sound files) using Macros, even if
Import / Export Preferences has been set to "Use custom mix". Any multi-channel files you import will be
mixed down on export.
A standard File Open dialog box will appear. Choose a directory then you can select one or any number
of supported audio files in that directory, including older AUP project files (but not AUP3 project files).
You cannot select files outside that directory, and files in folders inside that directory will not be
processed.
It is convenient therefore to first put all the audio files you want to process into one folder before
applying the Macro.
After selecting the audio files you want to process, choose Open.
Each file will be imported into Audacity and processed, exported to the format you chose in the Macro,
then the processed audio will be removed so as to clear the temporary disk space that had been used.
The exported files will be saved in a folder named "macro-output" in the folder specified in the Macro
output field in Directories Preferences. The original files are not altered.
If you leave the entry for Macro output blank in Directories Preferences then Audacity will default to
creating a folder called "macro-output" in:
Windows: C:\Users\<your username>\Documents\Audacity
Mac: /Users/<your username>/Documents

Linux: /home/<your username>/Documents
When a Macro is applied to files, the only option is to import and process the entire file. Thus the
entire file will be exported unless an action or effect in the Macro (such as Cut or Truncate
Silence) removes some audio.
If modifying the audio before exporting, the Select Time function may be useful to select audio
to remove or modify.
Some optional Nyquist plug-ins have parameters to trim or extend audio by a specific length
and Nyquist can do calculations too, so it may be helpful to use Nyquist plug-ins from within a
macro.
It is recommended not to process more than 500 files at a time.
The buttons
Expand
Use the Expand to return to the full-size, full-function Manage Macros dialog.
The apply Macro buttons are also available on the Manage Macros dialog - so all Macro operations can be
made from that full dialog.
Cancel to exit the dialog
To dismiss the dialog simply click on the Cancel button
Otherwise the dialog will remain open on the screen, but allowing you to perform other Audacity functions.
Macros Examples
This page provides some examples of how the Macros feature in Audacity can be used.
Example 1: Loud MP3
A batch processing Macro to compress and normalize WAV files then convert them to MP3:
1. Insert Compressor to reduce the dynamic range of each WAV, also normalizing them to maximum
amplitude of 0 dB
2. Insert Export as MP3 to convert them to MP3 format

3. Click Apply Macro to: Files... to select the files on which to run the Macro.
4. Click OK to close the Manage Macros window
Macro example: Loud MP3
Alternatively you can choose Tools > Apply Macro..., select the Loud MP3 Macro then click
Apply Macro to: Files... where you can select the files on which to run the Macro
Example 2: NR&EQ
An effects automation Macro for the current project that applies noise reduction and equalization:
1. Insert Normalize with settings of:

1. Remove any DC offset
2. -10 dB (to allow for boosting frequencies later in the Macro without clipping)
2. Insert Noise Reduction
3. Insert Filter Curve EQ (to perform the frequency adjustment)
4. Insert another Normalize at different settings (without offset removal, setting a final amplitude of -1 dB)
5. Click OK to close the Manage Macros window
Macro example: Noise Reduction and Equalization
When later needed in your workflow, choose Tools > Apply Macro..., select the NR&EQ Macro then click
Apply Macro to: Project to apply the Macro to the selected track(s) in the current project window.
If a Noise Profile exists, that Noise Profile will be used. It is often best to capture a suitable
Noise Profile before running a Macro.
If a Noise Profile does not exist:

If the Macro is applied to the current project (as above), the current selection is used to
create the Noise Profile. Therefore, other effect commands in the Macro will also only
apply to that selection. If an export command is added, the entire file will be exported.
If the Macro is applied to files, the first file (all of it) is used to create the Noise Profile. It
may be useful to prepare a file containing a suitable Noise Profile and name it so that it is
alphabetically the first file of those to be run in the Macro.
Useful Commands
The Select command with 'Relative To=Selection' can be used to extend and contract a selection.
Command: "Select: RelativeTo=Selection Start=-1 End=1"

Description: This command expands a selection by two seconds
Command: "Select: RelativeTo=Selection Start=1 End=-1"

Description: This command contracts a selection by two seconds
Command: "Select: RelativeTo=Selection Start=1 End=1"

Description: This command moves a selection right by one second
Command: "SelTrackStartToEnd"
Description: This command (from Select > Region > Track Start to End) Selects all audio in all selected
tracks.
Command: "SelNextClip" and "SelPrevClip"

Description: These commands are useful with Clips
Extra Macros
Spectral Magickes Wacky-Macro
This Macro takes a single mono track, and converts it to a stereo track, with one channel a spectrogram and
the other a wave.
It is one example of how to creatively abuse the Macro system, since audacity is not set up to handle mixed
views on wave tracks.
Note the use of a TrackCount of 0.5 to select just one of two channels in a stereo track.
The TrackCount of 0 is used to unselect all tracks.
SelectAll:
Duplicate:
Select:"Mode=Set"
SetTrack:Pan="-1"
Select:"Mode=Set" Track="1"
SetTrack:Pan="1"
Select:Mode="Set" TrackCount="2"
MixAndRender:
Select:Mode="Set" TrackCount="0.5"
SetTrack:Display="Spectrogram"
Select:"Mode=Set" TrackCount="0"
Reparations Magicke Spell
With normal project rate of 44100Hz, this selects about 126 samples centered on the cursor, and applies the
'Repair' effect to it. 'Repair' can only handle up to 128 samples.
SelectTime:End="0.00143" RelativeTo="Selection Start" Start="-0.00143"

Repair:Use_Preset="<Factory Defaults>"
Isolating or removing vocals from a song

This page describes some methods to try to isolate vocals in stereo tracks.
Note: There is no reliable way of separating vocals. The methods described in the article depend
on the position of the vocal track in the stereo field.
Vocal Removal with vocals in the center and instruments spread

around them
Manual steps
1. Select Split Stereo to Mono from the stereo audio track dropdown menu
2. After splitting the stereo track you will end up with 2 mono tracks similar to this:
3. Invert one of the mono tracks by selecting it and then choosing Effect -> Invert
4. Play back the result.
This will remove everything panned in the center, not just vocals and returns a dual mono result
(both channels have the same audio). In some music this could mean removing instrumental parts.
Removal of the vocals can often be incomplete leaving artifacts behind; this is especially true
where there are backing vocals or where reverb (echo) has been applied as this spreads sound
sources and makes them very hard to extract from each other.
If the vocals are panned in the center of a stereo track this method can sometimes be effective by removing
what is common to both tracks (that is, the vocals), leaving behind what is different (that is, the
instrumentals).
Audacity includes the Vocal Reduction and Isolation effect which provides the Remove Vocals option that
you can use to try to remove vocals from a stereo track.
Remove Vocals option parameters
Vocal Reduction and Isolation also lets you specify the audio frequency range for vocals (by default 120 to
9000 Hz). This can help cure the common problem where center-panned bass or Hi-hat is also removed
when removing vocals.
Isolating Vocals
You can also use the Vocal Reduction and Isolation effect to attempt to isolate the vocals by choosing one of
the Isolate Vocals options from the Action dropdown menu in the dialog.
Select Isolate Vocals from the Action dropdown menu
Note that the end result may not be total vocal isolation or even satisfactory isolation of the vocals; it all
depends on how the original recording was engineered.
Using AI models to separate vocals
Note: This is an experimental feature not yet part of the normal Audacity installation.
To use AI models in Audacity, you first need to download the current alpha with this feature from
https://interactiveaudiolab.github.io/project/audacity
Once you have installed this version, you can download and apply AI models via Effects → Deep Learning
Effects.
Deep Learning Effects are computationally very intensive. Depending on the model used and
your computer, it can take several minutes to hours to apply the effect to a single song. It is highly
recommended to test out whether the model is satisfactory on a short section (less than 10
seconds) before applying it to an entire track.
Audio Analysis
Spectral analysis
Audacity has several powerful spectral analysis tools: Spectrogram View per track, Plot Spectrum, as well
as support for Plugins.
Spectrogram View
Each track in Audacity can be viewed in a Spectrogram view:
Spectrogram view of a track
To access it, click on the track menu dropdown and select Spectrogram.
The track menu also features Spectrogram settings, where you can tweak the scale, the colors, the used
algorithms and the window size.
The Track Menu dropdown
Tip: To view the waveform and the spectrogram at the same time, choose Multi-view instead.
Increasing Accuracy in Spectrogram View
You may notice that the spectrogram is somewhat blurry usually, where even if you have a precise
frequency, the spectrogram makes it look like a whole range of frequencies is being played. This is an
inherent mathematical tradeoff related to the window size:
Different window sizes in comparison
Depending on what you're after, you can change the window size to fit your analysis: Smaller window sizes
benefit time resolution, larger window sizes benefit frequency resolution.
Tip: If you change the algorithm from Frequencies to Reassignment, Audacity will attempt to
sharpen both time and frequency resolution using the method of reassignment. This works best
for signals that are separable in time and frequency with respect to the analysis window.
You can change both the window size and the algorithm in the spectrogram settings found in the Track
Menu dropdown.
Zooming in on specific frequencies
You can zoom vertically in Spectrogram View by right-clicking the frequency scale.
Additionally, while hovering over the frequency scale, you can
Ctrl+Scroll to zoom in/out on the frequency scale and
Shift+Scroll to scroll up/down while staying on the same zoom level.
Plot Spectrum
To use Plot Spectrum,
1. select the audio you're interested in analyzing
2. go to Analyze -> Plot Spectrum.
The Plot Spectrum Window
Options
Algorithm
Spectrum (default)
Plots the fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the data, with the FFT window size being determined by the
Size dropdown. The amplitudes are normalized such that a 0 dB sine (pure tone) will be (approximately)
0 dB on the graph.
Autocorrelation
These options measure to what extent the sound repeats itself.
This is done by taking two copies of the audio, and moving one forward by one sample. The two copies
are then multiplied together, and all the values added up. This is repeated for two samples difference
and so on, up to the number of samples in the size option. This gives a small result if the waveform is
random (for example, noise) and a large result if it is repetitive (like a musical note). By looking at the
peaks in the plot, the key frequencies present can be determined even if there is a lot of noise.
Cepstrum
The cepstrum of an audio signal is related to the spectrum, but presents the rate of change in the
different spectrum bands. It's particularly useful for properties of vocal tracks and is used, for example, in
software to identify speakers by their voice characteristics.
Function
Function offers choices like Rectangular, Hann, Hamming and others. We suggest you use the default Hann
for most situations.
Details
The fundamental principle at work here is that the way we observe our data changes what we see.
The "true spectrum" of your project would be computed over the entire project and would provide
very detailed frequency resolution but essentially no time resolution at all. In other words, this "true
spectrum" would offer an average frequency distribution over the entire project. If we select a short
interval of audio, the short-time spectrum has frequency resolution limited by the observation
window time AND the result is affected by the spectrum of the window itself. For general audio
analysis, the Rectangular window is least desirable, and the other options offer slightly different
effects
Exporting a spectrum for further analysis
Click the Export... button to export the current view as a tab-separated value text file.
Analyzer Plugins
Audacity supports the Vamp plugin format among others. Many of them can be found in the Vamp Plugin
Pack.
Audacity Plugins
Troubleshooting
Error codes
This page lists Audacity error codes and provides some troubleshooting steps on how to fix them.
If your issue isn't listed here, or the troubleshooting steps aren't working for you, feel free to ask in
our communities:
Forum
Discord
Error opening sound device

This error indicates a problem with the hardware used for playback, whether it is permissions, drivers,
connections, or if you ask the device to do something it cannot do. You can attempt the following steps to
resolve it.
Common troubleshooting steps
Error opening recording device

This error indicates a problem with the hardware used for recording, whether it is permissions, drivers,
connections, or if you ask the device to do something it cannot do. You can attempt the following steps to
resolve it.
Error code 11, error code 13, error code 101 and "Audacity failed
to read a file in C:"
These errors can occur when attempting to load a damaged .aup3 project file. Damaged project files can be
recovered as described in the following article.
Recovering corrupted projects
Error -9996 Invalid Device Error

This error indicates that the device that's being attempted to use is not valid, for example:
The device got unplugged
The device has a faulty or loose connection

The device itself is faulty or not a real audio device.
This error can also occur when you are trying to record a number of channels that is not supported in the
current configuration
You can attempt to fix this issue with the following methods:
Use a different USB port and USB cable. This will resolve the issue if the fault was in the cable.
Use a different audio host. Sometimes WASAPI works when MME doesn't, sometimes it's the other
way round.
Use a different number of channels. For example, some Realtek only work when recording in Mono,
while some others only work in Stereo when recording a (loopback) stream.
Error -9997 Invalid Sample Rate

This error can indicate an unsupported sample rate. Double-check that both your OS settings and the
Audacity project rate are set to a supported sample rate (usually 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz).
This error can also occur when you are trying to record a number of channels that is not supported in the
current configuration To fix this, you can do the following:
Use a different audio host. Sometimes WASAPI works when MME doesn't, sometimes it's the other
way round.
Use a different number of channels. For example, some Realtek only work when recording in Mono,
while some others only work in Stereo when recording a (loopback) stream.
Error -9999 Unanticipated Host Error

This error means "something is wrong" most commonly
A lost connection to a USB audio device
Missing microphone permissions from the operating system.
Your device is unable to playback other tracks while recording. Turning off Overdub via Transport ->
Transport Options may fix this.
You can try the Common troubleshooting steps , or attempt any of the other workarounds of this page.
Audacity did not recognize the type of this file

This error occurs when the file you're trying to open has no decoder available. You can attempt the following
things to fix it:
Install FFMPEG. FFMPEG allows you to open most kinds of media files. Read more:
Installing FFMPEG
Check if the file you're trying to open actually is what it says on the tin. For example, some lower-
quality programs name any audio file *.mp3 , regardless of whether it actually is an MP3 file. Read
more: Can't open an MP3 file
Check if your file is an actual audio file. Some files which are used to output audio in certain programs
don't actually contain sound themselves, but are instructions for for the program to make some sounds.
Try to see if the program used to create the file has an export button. If not, you can also try recording
desktop audio while playing back the file in another program. Read more:
Recording desktop audio
Check if you have accidentally created custom import rules. In Edit -> Preferences -> Extended
Import (on macOS: Audacity -> Preferences -> Extended Import), make sure that you have not created
any custom rules. If there are any rules, you can safely delete the rules.
Import the audio as RAW. This only works on uncompressed audio. You can do so via File -> Import -
> Import raw data...
unable to open, exception code 0xc0000005

This caused by a corrupted audacity.cfg file, such as when upgrading from Audacity 3.1.3 to Audacity 3.2.
You can solve this issue by upgrading to Audacity 3.2.1.
Installation exit codes
The setup program may return one of the following exit codes:
Exit code Definition

Setup was successfully run to completion or the /HELP or /? command line parameter
0
was used.
1 Setup failed to initialize.
The user clicked Cancel in the wizard before the actual installation started, or chose
2
“No” on the opening “This will install…” message box.
A fatal error occurred while preparing to move to the next installation phase (for
example, from displaying the pre-installation wizard pages to the actual installation
3
process). This should never happen except under the most unusual of circumstances,
such as running out of memory or Windows resources.
A fatal error occurred during the actual installation process.

4 Note: Errors that cause an Abort-Retry-Ignore box to be displayed are not fatal errors. I
the user chooses Abort at such a message box, exit code 5 will be returned.
The user clicked Cancel during the actual installation process, or chose Abort at an
5
Abort-Retry-Ignore box.
The Setup process was forcefully terminated by the debugger (Run | Terminate was
6
used in the Compiler IDE).
Before returning an exit code of 1, 3 or 4 an error message explaining the problem will normally be
displayed.
Future versions may return additional exit codes, so applications checking the exit code should be
programmed to handle unexpected exit codes gracefully. Any non-zero exit code indicates that Setup was
not run to completion.
Recovering corrupted projects

Using the Audacity Project Tools to recover corrupted projects
This article addresses the following error codes in Audacity:
Error code 11
Error code 13
Error code 101
"Audacity failed to read a file in C:" (or D:, E:, ...)
Make sure you use the latest version of Audacity. See Downloading & installing Audacity for more
information.
Sometimes, just opening the file in the latest version automatically recovers the project. If not, proceed with
the following steps:
First, download the latest version of the Audacity Project Tools:

Releases · audacity/audacity-project-tools
GitHub
After downloading, follow the instructions relevant to your system. Note: macOS is not supported yet.
Caution: Make sure you have plenty of space left on your computer. You will need roughly 4
times the size of your .aup3 for a successful recovery. If you have a 10GB file, you should have at
least 40GB available.
Windows
1. In your Downloads folder, create a new sub-folder "AudRepair".

2. Unzip the audacity-project-tools zip which you downloaded
3. Move the two .exe files from the unzipped folder into AudRepair.
4. Copy your defective .aup3 project file into the AudRepair folder.
5. Rename the file to broken.aup3 .
6. Press Windows-key + R , and type cmd . A (black) cmd screen will appear.
7. Navigate to your AudRepair folder by typing cd Downloads\AudRepair and pressing

Enter .
8. Type dir and press Enter . The following three files should be listed: audacity-
project-tools.exe , broken.aup3 , and sqlite3.exe
9. Type audacity-project-tools -drop_autosave broken.aup3 and press

Enter .
10. The message "Project requires Audacity 3.0.0" will appear.

11. When the command prompt ( C:\Users\(yourname)\Downloads\AudRepair\> )
reappears, type dir again.
12. If a broken.recovered.aup3 file appears, open it in Audacity.
If that file works as expected, go to File -> Save As... and save it to your usual location. The
recovery process is now over, you can continue working as normal.
If that file does not appear, or is still broken, continue with the following steps:
13. Type audacity-project-tools -recover_db -recover_project

broken.aup3 and press Enter .
14. The messages " Project requires Audacity 3.0.0 ", and " Using
'sqlite3.exe' for recovery " will appear. Later the message " Executing
query #xxxx.... " will appear as the rescued file is being recreated.
Note: This process can take quite a while depending on your specific machine. There is no
status (or % completion) indicator, so you just have to be patient.
You should plan 15-30 minutes per GB, though it may be faster if you have a fast PC.
Keep an eye on available disk space.
Due to a glitch, sometimes a single character can appear when the program is done, eg
" z ". If this happens, simply press Backspace.
15. When the process completes, your should be able to open the "broken.recovered.aup3" in
Audacity.
The message "File not saved properly" will appear the first time you open the recovered
project. This is normal and you can ignore this message.
If the messages " Invalid block xxxx: Block not found ", check to see if some
audio was silenced - typically near your most recent edits. Usually these messages are
spurious.
Linux
1. In your downloads folder, create a new sub-folder called "AudRepair".

2. Unzip the audacity-project-tools ZIP file that you downloaded
3. Move the unzipped files into AudRepair
4. Copy your defective .aup3 project file into AudRepair

5. Rename the .aup3 file to broken.aup3
6. Open the Terminal or Konsole program.
7. Navigate to the AudRepair folder by typing cd ~/Downloads/AudRepair and pressing
Enter
8. Type ls and press Enter . **** The following three files should be listed: audacity-
project-tools , broken.aup3 and sqlite3
9. Make the audacity project tools and sqlite3 executable by typing chmod +x audacity-
project-tools sqlite3 and pressing Enter .
10. Type ./audacity-project-tools -drop_autosave broken.aup3 and press
Enter .
11. The message "Project requires Audacity 3.0.0" will appear.
12. When the command prompt ( you@pc:~/Downloads/AudRepair$ ) reappears, type ls

again.
13. If a broken.recovered.aup3 file appears, open it in Audacity.
If that file works as expected, go to File -> Save As... and save it to your usual location. The
recovery process is now over, you can continue working as normal.
If that file does not appear, or is still broken, continue with the following steps:
14. Type ./audacity-project-tools -recover_db -recover_project
broken.aup3 and press Enter .
15. The messages " Project requires Audacity 3.0.0 ", and " Using 'sqlite3'
for recovery " will appear. Later the message " Executing query #xxxx.... "
will appear as the rescued file is being recreated.
Note: This process can take quite a while depending on your specific machine. There is no
status (or % completion) indicator, so you just have to be patient.
You should plan 15-30 minutes per GB, though it may be faster if you have a fast PC.
Keep an eye on available disk space.
Due to a glitch, sometimes a single character can appear when the program is done, eg
" z ". If this happens, simply press Backspace.
16. When the process completes, your should be able to open the "broken.recovered.aup3" in
Audacity.
The message "File not saved properly" will appear the first time you open the recovered
project. This is normal and you can ignore this message.
If the messages " Invalid block xxxx: Block not found ", check to see if some
audio was silenced - typically near your most recent edits. Usually these messages are
spurious.
Note:
There is no guarantee that all content will be able to be restored, or any at all.
Some additional commands for the Audacity Project Tools can be found on Github.
If a section of audio is missing, you may need to manually re-record it. See
Re-recording a section for more information.
Privacy permissions
Some operating systems may block access to the microphone for untrusted apps. You need to allow
microphone access for Audacity in order to record.
Windows
1. Open Settings
2. Go to Privacy or Privacy & Security

3. Go to Microphone
4. Toggle on Microphone Access, Allow apps to access your microphone, and, if
available, Let desktop apps access your microphone
MacOS
1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences then click Security & Privacy in
the left-hand menu and the click the Privacy tab.
2. Click Microphone in the left-hand menu.
3. Select the checkbox next to an application (Audacity) to allow it to access the microphone.
Linux
If you have installed Audacity as a Snap or Flatpak, you may need to go to the System settings >
Application settings
Enable the microphone

Your operating system may disable the microphone in general. You need to enable it in order to record.
Windows
1. Open the Sound control panel and select the Recording tab
2. Make sure that Show Disabled Devices is selected

3. Look for your microphone and Enable it
Enabling Microphone using Windows Sound control panel
After enabling your microphone use the Audacity Transport - Rescan Audio Devices option to
update the list of available devices.
MacOS
Linux
Update sound device drivers and firmware

It is recommended to update drivers for audio devices you are using. The way to do that depends on the
specific device but in general it is recommended to visit the manufacturer support website.
Some audio devices install a complementary application that provides options to check for firmware and
driver updates.
Using Windows Device Manager
Windows users can try to manually update drivers using Device Manager, before looking for drivers on the
Internet. This is easiest, but may not necessarily find the latest or most appropriate drivers.
Windows 10 / Windows 11: Right click the Start button and select Device Manager
Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista: Click Start > Control Panel then using the "Category" view,
click "Hardware and Sound", find "Devices and Printers" near the top of the screen then click on "Device
Manager" (the last item in the list underneath). "Icons" views have a direct link to Device Manager, as
does "Classic View" on Windows Vista only.
Then expand Sound, video and game controllers by clicking on the + sign, right-click over the sound
device and click Update driver.
Using Device Manager to manually update drivers for an audio device
After the update (even if more recent drivers were not found), you should right-click over the device again,
click Properties and then on the Driver tab to check the "Driver Provider". You don't want drivers from
Microsoft - in most cases these are only generic drivers, not specifically matched to your hardware. This
often leads to problems such as not being able to select the correct input, or recordings not being made
correctly. These must be replaced with drivers made by the manufacturer of your hardware, so they are
correctly matched to that hardware.
If you have now got updated non-Microsoft drivers, try them and see if your recording problem is solved.
Check physical connections

Use the Recording Meter Toolbar to check the audio level that Audacity is receiving from the selected
Recording Device. Click on the toolbar to Start/Stop monitoring the audio level.
Recording Meter Toolbar displaying the audio level for a microphone

If there is no level present on the meter you could check if your device provides some physical control to
mute or set the audio level
USB Sound Card with Microphone Mute and Level controls

USB Interface with Microphone and Instrument gain controls
If the controls on your device are properly set you should check the connections between the computer and
the recording device.
WASAPI and USB devices

Due to a Windows limitation, you cannot use WASAPI on a USB device while listening back on an onboard
audio card. Use MME or DirectSound instead, or use the USB device for both the input and output (if
possible).
Solving recording problems
Only the left channel is recording

Most microphones are mono microphones, so they by default record on the left channel only. To hear your
audio on both channels, make sure you record in mono.
Audacity is not detecting the audio device I just connected

If you connect an external audio device (such as a USB microphone or USB headset) to your computer
while Audacity is already running, it won't be detected automatically by Audacity.
To solve this, make sure the device is detected by the operating system, then select Transport > Rescan
Audio Devices from the Audacity Menu Bar. The new device should appear as an option on the Recording
or Playback device selection dropdown in the Device toolbar.
Audacity is not playing back what is being recorded

Enable the Software Playthrough option to listen what is being recorded. You will hear the audio through
the selected playback device.
You can turn Software Playthrough on and off in the Transport > Transport Options menu.
Note: you will hear what you are recording a noticeable time afterwards. This delay is called
latency. You can somewhat reduce this latency as described in Latency Compensation but it
cannot be fully removed if you're using Software Playthrough - you will need an audio interface
with realtime monitoring capabilities to completely remove latency when monitoring a recording.
If you want to listen to the input when not recording it first enable Software Playthrough and then click in
the Recording Meter Toolbar to turn on monitoring.
Software Playthrough can also be enabled In the Recording section of the Preferences window.
Check the Software playthrough of input box and click OK.
Using Software Playthrough when recording desktop audio is not recommended.
Why is there a delay or echo when listening to what I am

recording?
Software playthrough usually causes a delay (latency) of the live recording input due to the time it takes to
reach your headphones. To prevent this, turn software playthrough off. This can be done by choosing
Transport > Transport Options > Software Playthrough (on/off) and clicking it to remove the check (tick) mark.
To listen to the live recording input without playthrough latency requires hardware monitoring - that is; the
input signal must be routed directly through the audio device from the input to the output rather than being
passed through software from input to output.
Enabling hardware monitoring is not possible with all audio devices. In particular it can only be achieved
when the same device is used for input and output. For example, monitoring a USB microphone through
headphones that are plugged into a different audio device will always have latency. If hardware playthrough
is not available with your hardware it may be necessary to listen to the audio source directly (acoustically)
rather than through the computer.
For some typical examples of how to set up equipment to record without playthrough latency, see this
Tutorial about Recording overdubs.
Why do I get crackles, pops, or distortion when the recording is

loud?
If you hear crackles, pops, or distortion when the recording is loud, or if the waveform is clearly touching the
top and bottom edges of the track, you probably have clipping, which means that the signal has exceeded
the maximum allowed level.
Try lowering the recording level using the Audacity Mixer Toolbar or the slider in the operating system. You
can also check to see if you can lower the volume on the input source itself (such as the tape deck, record
player or microphone). Many sound cards and USB turntables or USB tape decks have an independent
volume control for the playback signal level See Recording with USB turntables or USB cassette decks for
When recording, try to aim for a maximum peak of around –6 dB in the Recording Meter so as to prevent the
meter's red clipping warning coming on. If the meters are set to linear, the equivalent level to aim for is 0.5.
Clicking and dragging on the meter's right edge lets you expand the meter to gauge levels more easily. After
recording, you can boost the level safely using the Amplify or Normalize effects.
Help with repairing clipped recordings: If there is only a small amount of clipping (just the tops
of a few isolated peaks), Effect > Clip Fix can be applied to just the clipped sections. This will
attempt to reconstruct the missing peaks by interpolating the lost signal. In other cases where
there is mild distortion throughout a recording, using Effect > Filter Curve EQ or Effect > Graphic
EQ to reduce the higher frequencies can help to mitigate the damage. Sometimes a bass cut will
help also by making the result sound less "muddy".
Vertical red lines in the recording

This is a visual indication that your recording has clipping. See the immediately previous question above.
The vertical red lines show where the clipping has occurred; these clipping indicators can be turned on and
off (Audacity default setting is "off") by selecting View > Show Clipping (on/off).
A waveform with clipping
Why is the Audacity recording slider grayed out on maximum?

The recording slider in Mixer Toolbar is purposely disabled if it cannot directly manipulate the operating
system's slider for the sound device, or if that device has no system slider. Turning down the Audacity slider
to prevent distortion would be inadequate unless it also turned down the system slider. It would only make
existing distortion quieter instead of removing it.
If the slider is disabled, check first in Device Toolbar that you are selecting the correct device. Audacity
should be able to control the recording level of most built-in sound devices subject to the device having
appropriate Sound Device Drivers.
If necessary look in the operating system mixer or in the audio interface's control panel for an input slider.
For Windows see Windows: accessing the Windows Sound controls. To locate the system mixer for Mac
and Linux see the help on our Wiki for Mac or Linux.
External recording devices such as USB turntables or tapedecks or interfaces may not have an operating
system slider, especially on Mac. For all cases where there is no system slider, try to adjust the playback
level on the recording device itself.
Latency Compensation
By default Audacity will compensate the latency present in your system by 130 milliseconds. Using this
procedure you can estimate and set the proper value for your system.
How to Fix Latency in Audacity (Updated Version)
This video explains how to compensate latency in Audacity
Note: Latency Compensation is only important for the following recording scenarios:
Overdubbing: recording a new audio track while listening to previously-recorded track(s).
You want what you play to be synchronized with the tracks you are listening to.
Punch and roll recording
Measuring latency in your system
There is an automated method available now, which is available at

https://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=125770
It's currently in beta, so please leave your feedback in the forum thread
Step 1: Adjust your Audacity preferences
1. Set your Devices Preferences
On Windows open the Edit menu and select Preferences... or press Ctrl + P in your keyboard. On
macOS open the Audacity menu and select Preferences... or press Cmd + P
Select Devices in the left pane of the Preferences window
Select the preferred Interface Host: MME or Windows WASAPI should work
Verify your preferred Playback Device is selected

Verify your preferred Recording Device is selected
Set the Latency compensation to 0 (zero) milliseconds
Click OK to save your preferences
Select Edit > Preferences... or press Ctrl + P to open Audacity Preferences and click on Devices
2. Set your Recording Preferences
Select Recording in the left pane of the Preferences window

Enable Overdub: Check Play other tracks while recording (overdub)
Make sure Software playthrough of input is not checked
Click OK to save your preferences
Select Edit > Preferences... or press Ctrl + P to open Audacity Preferences and click on Recording
3. Set your Selection preferences
At the bottom of the Audacity window you will find the Selection toolbar
Set Snap-To to Off

Select Start and Length of Selection as your selection format
Audacity Selection Toolbar
Step 2: Measuring the latency
Hardware Setup
To measure the latency you will need to record the audio from your playback device using your microphone.
To do this place your microphone next to your speakers/headphones
Place your microphone next to your speakers or headphones
Recording while playing a test track (Overdub)
Open the Generate menu and select the Rhythm Track... option. Set Number of Measures (bars) to 2
and set the Beat Sound to Ping (short). Click OK to generate the track.
Press Shift + R to record a new track. The rhythm track will be played back and recorded on a new
track.
Recording a new track while playing the previously generated track (Overdub)
Zoom in so you can see the clicks on the top track and its delayed version on the bottom track
Create a selection that goes from the start of one click to the next
You should see something like this:
Drag a selection to measure the latency
You can read the latency directly from the second panel of numbers. In this case it is 0.184 seconds or 184
milliseconds.
Click on Edit > Preferences, click on Devices tab and enter the negative of this number in the Latency
compensation box. In this case it would be -184. Press OK to save your preferences.
Set Latency compensation value according to the measured latency

Step 3: Checking the result
Delete the second track by clicking the close box in its Track Control Panel
Click in the Track Control Panel of the remaining track to select it
Press Shift + R to record a new track
After the recording is finished Audacity will apply the Latency compensation by pushing the newly-recorded
track back by the Latency compensation value.
Recording with latency compensation applied to the second track
Note: If you change any of your recording or playback devices (for example, if you change from
using the line input port on your computer to using a USB audio interface) or if you use the same
device but change the Audio Host in Device Toolbar, then you will need to do this test again. The
test you just did only applies for the specific inputs and outputs and host used during the test.
Solving other problems
Can't open an MP3 file

If you see an error when importing an MP3 file, it can have the following causes:
Your file isn't using the MP3 codec, but instead is using a codec associated with another file
extension (for example, the Advanced Audio Codec (aac) usually is found in .m4a files, and PCM Wave
is usually found in .wav files). A true MP3 file will show MPEG Audio, Version 1, Layer 3 .
To solve this error, you can use MediaInfo to find out what the actual codec used in the file, and change
the file extension accordingly (for example rename the audio.mp3 file to audio.m4a ).
Your file is partially broken (Huffman Data Overrun). This is a bug with Audacity versions 3.1.3 and
earlier, and you can fix it by installing the latest version of Audacity.
Your file is fully broken. If it can't be opened in Audacity, or anywhere else, your file might just be
broken. This itself may have several reasons:
If you just recently downloaded it from the internet, you may want to try downloading it again - in
case there was a transmission error.
If you just created it yourself, it might be that there was a write error. If possible try saving the file
again, re-installing the app that was used to create it, or using a different app to create it.
If you had the file on your computer for a long time and it worked in the past, it might be that your
hard drive is starting to fail.
No audio is coming through headphones

There can be several reasons for this. Some things to try:
If using a wired headphone, make sure that the wire is plugged in and that the plug is clean.
Make sure that the headphones are selected in the Audio Settings output.
Note: On some devices, the internal card - usually called something among the lines of "HD Audio" are
handling both internal speakers and headphones, depending on which is plugged in. You may need to
select this option anyway even if it says "Speaker" instead of "Headphones"
If you connected the headphones after starting Audacity, you may need to go to Transport -> Rescan
Audio Devices to make them show up in the Audio Setup list.
Missing features
This page lists features which got removed from Audacity, as well as their replacements.
Cut, Copy and Paste buttons

The Cut/Copy/Paste buttons have been removed in version 3.2.0. You can access the functionality in the
following ways instead:
Right-click the selected audio and choose Cut/Copy/Paste

In the Edit menu, choose Cut/Copy/Paste
Use shortcuts:
Ctrl+X is cut ( Cmd+X on macOS)
Ctrl+C is copy ( Cmd+C on macOS)
Ctrl+V is paste ( Cmd+V on macOS)

Device toolbar
Look of the device toolbar
The Device toolbar has been replaced by the Audio Setup button in version 3.2.0. However, you can re-
enable it via View -> Toolbars -> Device Toolbar.
Time Shift Tool

Audacity's Time Shift Tool has been removed in version 3.1.0. It got replaced by drag handles at the top of
every clip. You now can time-shift audio without having to switch into a special mode.
Zoom Tool
The Zoom Tool has been removed in version 3.2.0. All of it's functionality can be accessed via the Zoom
buttons, or via Ctrl+Scroll ( Cmd+Scroll )
Community
Contributing to Audacity
There are several ways to contribute to Audacity. All of them tremendously help out other Audacity users.
Making Tutorials and User Guides

Tutorials are an awesome way to help out Audacity users. So if you know how to use Audacity, you might be
just the right person to teach others! You can either write guides, or make videos.
Go to audacityteam.org/gitbook-access to get editor access to this site

Go to audacityteam.org/gitbook-plugins to get access to the Plugins site
Or check out Editing through GitHub to edit with a local text editor or on Github.com
Writing Tutorials and User Guides
Audacity welcomes contributions to both Audacity Support and Audacity Plugins , whether it's a
small spelling correction or an entirely new guide. If you're not sure what to start with, check out some good
first issues:
Contribute to audacity/audacity-support
GitHub
Gitbook works a bit like a wiki in that you can edit all pages freely, but unlike a wiki, it uses git's "everyone
has their own branch" principle. That is to say that the changes you make are independent of everyone
else's changes, and won't show up on the main (live) website until the branches are merged.
To some degree, this means that you can do whatever you want in your branch. That said, there's some
things which make things easier for everyone involved:
Best practice
1. Do one task per branch. Want to make a new guide on a new feature? Make a new branch.
Want to remove all instances of the oxford comma? Make another branch. You can click the
branch icon in the top bar to make new branches.
Doing so makes it easier to understand what your changes are exactly, and should one of
your changes be rejected, most of your other work won't get blocked by it.
2. Only submit complete pages. Your progress is saved automatically, so if you want to call it
for the day, simply close the page and continue the next day. If you accidentally hit "submit",
simply start editing again to convert your branch to a draft branch again.
3. Be aware of the others, to avoid duplicate work. You may connect with other editors in our
discord servers.
4. Follow the Style Guide , to give this entire site a somewhat uniform style.
When editing on Gitbook, you can edit existing pages, but you cannot create new ones. If you'd like to make
a page about a new topic, write to LWinterberg in the discord server. You also can hand in Markdown files or
Word documents to him directly to add. This restriction does not apply when Editing through GitHub ,
however, there are other technical oddities when editing through GitHub.
Making Video Tutorials

Video tutorials are highly appreciated as part of a guide. You can upload them to YouTube (or
Vimeo/Dailymotion/...) and embed them in your guides, or in other people's guides, like this:
Trailer
(example video)
We have some requirements for which video tutorials are accepted into Audacity Support pages (see the
Style Guide Video Tutorials for more info)
Style Guide
These are the rules designed to give the entire user guide a somewhat unified style. You may apply them
with some freedom.
General
The goal of the user guide is to provide explanations on how to perform various tasks in Audacity.
Features vs tasks
Documenting features seems like the obvious thing to do: Audacity has various menus, so better have a list
of what every option in that menu does. However, this leads to the situation where some pages are
completely unfindable as a reader already needs to know where certain options are in the menu in order to
find out what the page would be called. For example, the feature containing the slider for the recording and
playback volumes is called Mixer Toolbar. But nobody except the people most intimately familiar with
Audacity know it's called that!
To combat this, try to write your guides as a way towards a goal, or a task. The above example, instead of
naming the page after the feature, name it after the task it does, so:
Tasks aren't necessarily tied to individual features. For example, Noise reduction & removal can talk
about several tools as once as they all are means towards a common goal.
If a feature has many different modes or options that are unrelated to the task you're describing, avoid
making long lists of what all the feature can do. Focus on the task-related ones instead.
If a feature has several ways to access it, use the most accessible option. For example, for an "how to play
audio" article, simply mention the big green play button and the shortcut Space . Don't also mention
Transport > Playing > Play/Stop.
There are some exceptions to this, especially when documenting more "advanced" features like Macros
which need extensive guiding about how to operate it. Instead of a linear "go here, then here and there, and
then you're done", split them up into sub-tasks (for macros: creating macros, editing macros, etc.) and keep
these unrelated tasks on one page. Avoid breaking it down to the point where you are explaining individual
buttons (don't say "the cancel button cancels the effect without applying it")
Rule of thumb: If a feature is easy to use, but hard to find, document it like a task, ie answering
the question "how do I do x". If a feature is hard to use, document how to use the feature as a
series of sub-tasks if possible.
Target audience
Audacity's user base consists largely of casual users. As such, you can't expect the readers of your guide
to understand even fairly common audio terms (for example: compressor or loudness vs volume), unless it's
directly connected to the topic you're writing about.
For example, if you write a guide about compressing and expanding audio, you don't need to hold yourself
up on explaining what a compressor is, since the only people who'll ever end up reading that guide are
people who already know about that. However, if you were to mention a compressor on a page about
general audio editing, you would need to explain what a compressor is good for.
That said: If it's possible to describe a feature without needing to resort to lingo, use it even if it's slightly less
accurate. For example, "punch-in repair" would be the accurate term for Re-recording a section , but
also is way harder to understand and thus to find.
Scope
While there's a lot of things you can write about in relation to Audacity, keep in mind that this site is focused
on user guides (or how-to guides, or tutorials - they all have the same idea). We want to minimize work on
contributors while maximizing impact, so guides should be kept as general as possible. Only use qualifiers
such as "for podcasters" or "for musicians" if their use case shares almost no resemblance to what everyone
else would be doing anyway.
Caution: The following topics are out of scope:
Audio-related content beyond Audacity, like: "how to build a quiet recording booth"
Reviews and recommendations of software/plugins/...
Technical documentation about the internals of Audacity.
Writing style
You can address the reader directly ("you"). You should remain impartial in the process though, so no "I" or
"my".
The overall tone should be friendly but not patronizing, and the language should have a healthy
middleground between casual and technical.
Page titles
Titles should reflect the task you're trying to teach. For example, if you're teaching how to add reverb, the title
should be "Adding reverb"
The title should be concise (try keeping it below 60 characters).
Page titles should be written in sentence case. So generally, the first is capitalized while everything else is
not, except proper nouns and acronyms ("Audacity", "FFMPEG").
Note: When the title explicitly refers to an option within Audacity itself, use the spelling found
inside Audacity. So for example, "Using the Noise Reduction effect" would have "noise
reduction" capitalized, but "Reducing noise in Audacity" would not.
Introductions
Underneath the title is a field for page descriptions. These descriptions are the first thing users see of the
article when looking at Google, or seeing an embed to it somewhere.
As such, they should give a good summary of what the page is going to be: In a few words, how will a goal
be achieved? What features will be used?
Instructions
Instructions should be written in a step-by-step list where useful. For example:
1. Do This
2. then that
3. then a third thing
If you need to interrupt the steps for explanations, you can either do
1. Do this
2. then that (shift+enter)
Note: This is an explanation on a new line
3. then a third thing
Instructions for different Operating Systems
If instructions are different depending on the operating system or other factors, you can use tabs, like this:
Windows
Windows Instructions
macOS
MacOS instructions
Linux
Linux instructions
Tabs aren't part of standard Markdown, so they probably won't show up properly if you're using github or a
local editor. They'll show up just fine on Gitbook though.
Note: Tabs are quite big blocks, visually speaking. When using them, make sure that what you're
showcasing is worth this space. For example, if you're just saying that undo is Ctrl+z on Windows
and Linux, you can just put brackets behind it for the mac instructions - "press Ctrl+z (Cmd+z)"
Technical explanations, asides, and manual backups
If a task has a main way of working, but may benefit from additional context, you can use the Expandable
block:
Further information
You can use various other things in here.
Note that you cannot embed other blocks inside Expandables. You are limited to Paragraphs,
Headings (h1, h2, h3), lists (bullet points, numbers, checkboxes) and code blocks. Images are
possible, but only as inline (ie inside a paragraph).
Images
You can take screenshots using the clipping tool or tools like ShareX. ShareX has the advantage that it has
built-in tools like arrows, step-by-step bubbles and labels which can help you visualize several steps at
once.
With images, there always is a tradeoff between easy maintainability, clarity and context. So crop them as
much as possible without losing important context, and use them in a way that makes updating them as
painless as possible.
Info boxes
Gitbook offers 4 types of info boxes.
Info: Use these for information which is useful to know, but not necessary to fulfill the task. These
boxes should be started with
Info:, Note: or Tip: for general additional information
Shortcut: Key + Combination for shortcuts
Warning: Use these for information where things might go wrong and the user might get
undesired results. These boxes should be started with
Caution: or Warning: depending on which feels more appropriate in terms of urgency
Danger: Use these for super important information only, where ignoring the danger box would
lead the user to irreparable damages (lost data, broken audio, ...). These boxes should be started
with
Danger: for super important info
NEVER or DON'T if you need to go straight into the warning, where "danger" would look silly.
Success: Use these for things the reader should do. These should be started with
Best practice: or Do: for best practices
Checklist: if you want to provide a checklist
These info boxes aren't part of standard markdown, so if you're not using gitbook itself, but edit through
Github or a local editor, they will look a bit silly in your preview (but show up correctly here).
Video Tutorials
If an image is worth a thousand words, a video tutorial can be worth a million: At it's best, it can tell the entire
story the written guide would make in a way that always has all necessary context and requires no lengthy
description of where to find things.
However, video tutorials can go out-of-date incredibly quickly and then cause a lot of confusion among
viewers.
Because of this, a video tutorial must follow these rules to be added to an Audacity Support page:
The video must clearly state what version of Audacity it's referring to in the beginning.
The video must be in the language of the Audacity Support page it's meant to be embedded in. Right
now, that's English only.
The video must be a dedicated Audacity tutorial or how-to guide.

The video must refer to Audacity Support as the place to get up-to-date help from.
The video must not contain a sponsorship read, and it is preferred to have the video completely ad-free.
The video should be licensed Creative Commons-Attribution (see YouTube help). This way, if your
video goes out of date, other people can update only the part of your video that goes out of date.
The video and the Audacity Support page it's supposed to be embedded in should match the steps they
take. If the video tutorials goes on a tangent unrelated to the initial task, the written guide may omit the
tangent and instead place the contents of the tangent in a "See also" section.
Best Practices for Videos
The following points are considered best practice for video tutorials:
Start with the purpose and version number and then go straight into the content: "To do XYZ in Audacity
4.2.0, first go to..."
Use a script which you follow when making your video. This will automatically eliminate the following
two points, and also get you a long way towards making subtitles.
Avoid going off-topic, eg "hey guys, and welcome back to another video! my sister's aunt's nephew
requested I make a tutorial so he can cook his eggs using Audacity to which I said..."
Go through your tutorial linearly step-by-step, and avoid jumping back to earlier sections much later in
the video. For example, if you are in Step 9 already, jumping back with a "oh yeah, I forgot to add that in
Step 3, you need to also do..." is majorly confusing.
Add subtitles to your videos. Not only do they make your tutorial more accessible to deaf people, they
also are useful to people who have trouble understanding your dialect or accent, or who want to auto-
translate the subtitles into their own language.
Use chapters on YouTube to mark major steps in your video. They work by putting the following in your
video description:
0:00 Intro
0:30
0:45 Step
Step 1.
2. Clicking here
Sliding there
1:00 Step 3. Cha-cha-cha
(note: the first timestamp must be 0:00)
About this document

This is a living document. It contains the best practices, as determined by the community. Feel free to
discuss additions and changes on the discussions page, or in the discord.
Editing through GitHub
Any page of both support.audacityteam.org and plugins.audacityteam.org can be edited either on Gitbook
(see Writing Tutorials and User Guides for instructions) or using Markdown syntax on GitHub.
Note: Various formatting options available in Gitbook cannot be previewed on GitHub and most
local Markdown editors. Be aware of the differences between
Gitbook-hosted pages (plugins/support.audacityteam.org)
Github-flavored markdown renderers and
Raw Markdown.
The reverse isn't true however: All Github-flavored markdown is supported in Gitbook.
Editing through Github.com

A link for GitHub is shown either on the right-hand side or in an overflow menu of any page:
Once you are on GitHub, you will see a pencil in the top right of the file.
On a technical level, this will create a "fork" of the page, found on your Github
profile, with a new branch called "patch-#" in which you are editing. As long as you
are within this branch, you can do whatever you want with out stepping on anyone's
toes.
You now can make your changes to the page.
Best Practice: Frequently switch between the Code and Preview tabs in GitHub to get a general
sense of what your edit will look like.
Also, if you haven't already, now is a great time to familiarize yourself with the Style Guide .
Once you are done, press Propose Changes
On a technical level, this creates a commit in your "patch-#" branch. A branch can
hold as many commits as you like, so if you want to do multiple changes, you can
exit the flow after clicking "propose changes" and edit another file instead.
This brings you to a page where you can review your changes. If you are satisfied, click Create Pull
Request.
Clicking this button creates a form...
... in which you can give an overview of your changes to the team.
After you click "create pull request", it will show up on https://github.com/audacity/audacity-support/pulls and
await review by an Audacity team member.
Editing through a local editor

You can edit Markdown in any text editor. More advanced editors like VSCode may show useful shortcuts
and visualizations for easier and faster editing, but in principle, even the simplest text editors like Windows
Notepad can be used to create them.
Caution: Avoid using office suites like Microsoft Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs to edit
Markdown. They tend to use very different formatting options, which don't transfer to plain text. As
a rule of thumb, if it doesn't save in .txt or .md, it's not the right app to use as a Markdown editor.
To get started, first clone the repository, either using git clone
https://github.com/audacity/audacity-support.git by clicking the code button on
https://github.com/audacity/audacity-support and opening it in GitHub Desktop
Note: You will need to use some form of Git to make a pull request, so just downloading the ZIP
will not work.
Once it's cloned, you'll find the files of support.audacityteam.org in the main branch, and the files of
plugins.audacityteam.org in the plugins branch. Any additional branches have been split off from the
main branch to preserve documentation for previous versions of Audacity.
Example of switching branches in the GitHub Desktop client

Example of switching branches in VSCode
Further information on using git with VScode can be found in the VSCode docs.
Technical notes
Outside from the syntax requirements, there are some more technical things you need to be aware of:
The sidebar menu is handled through SUMMARY.md, not the file structure itself. If you want the page
you created to show up in the sidebar, you will need to update this file accordingly. That said: Try to
match the structure of SUMMARY.md with the folder structure.
While you technically can work directly in your fork's main/plugins branch, it is highly recommended to
make a new branch based on upstream/main or upstream/plugins instead for your changes.
This way, you can always fast-forward merge the latest changes into your fork.
When updating your fork's side-branches to the latest state of main, rebase it if possible.
Gitbook Markdown syntax

A page showing the Markdown for all the basic and fancy options there are. Also compares it to Github's
Markdown. This block is the page description.
Contrast this page to:
raw markdown: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/audacity/audacity-

support/main/community/contributing/tutorials/gitbook-markdown-syntax.md
Github's markdown renderer: https://github.com/audacity/audacity-

support/blob/main/community/contributing/tutorials/gitbook-markdown-syntax.md
Heading 1
(shows up in the outline)
Heading 2
(also shows up in the outline)
Heading 3
(does not show up in the outline)
Headings can be used anywhere, including inside other blocks.
Inline text formatting options

Bold,
Italics,
Code ,
Strikethrough,
Link,
internal link,
anchor link,
page link: Style Guide ,
page anchor link: Inline text formatting options ,
colored text,
colored background,
both colored,
LaTeX: f(x) = x ∗ e2piiξx
These can be used anywhere.
Lists
Unordered
List
1. Ordered
2. List
Task
List
List with
1. sub-items
2. can have
changing list styles
...
Lists can be used anywhere, including inside other blocks. They can only include inline content and other
(nested) lists.
Infoboxes, quotes and code blocks

Infoboxes:
Hint
Caution
Danger
Success
A quote block
// a code block
code blocks <b style="some_css: 23px;" class="and other things"> also supports syntax highligh
These blocks can be used inside of Tabs. The code block can also be used in Expandables, but cannot
have other blocks inside it. The quote block and infobox can have headings, inline content and lists inside it.
Images and files

Inline image:
Image block:
supports captions
Attached file:
transport toolbar.png 2KB

Image
supports captions
Embeds
Audacity 3.1 - A Significant Audio Editing Improvement
YouTube embed
Home
Audacity ®
Arbitrary website without player

example embed of a gist
Very cool.
example.md
hosted with ❤ by GitHub view raw
gist embed
Rick Astley
Never Gonna Give You Up
soundcloud embed
Embeds cannot be used inside of other blocks except the Tabs block, nor can other blocks be placed inside
them.
Tables
checkbox column text column, center-aligned number column
text 123
text 456
text 789
select-option column files column Ratings column
option a ZoomIn.png
option b transport toolbar.png
ZoomIn.png
option c option b option a transport toolbar.png
Trim.png
Select-option and files columns appear empty in Markdown. Avoid using them.
Tables cannot be used inside other blocks except the Tabs block, nor can other blocks be placed inside
them. Inline content works inside of text columns only.
Tabs
First Tab
content of first tab
Second Tab
content of second tab
Third tab
content of third tab
Tabs cannot be used inside other blocks. Tabs can have most other blocks inside them, except of other tabs,
expandables, and API blocks.
Expandable (Details block)

Expandable title
Expandable content
Expandables cannot be inside other blocks. Expandables can have headings, lists, code blocks, and inline
content inside them.
Drawings
also supports captions
A Gitbook-specific drawing thing, generating SVGs. Likely useless when using Markdown.
LaTeX
f(x) = x ∗ e2piiξx
Cannot be placed inside of other blocks except the Tabs block. That said, an inline variant is available
which can go pretty much anywhere.
Web API methods
GET https://example.com
/example
API title
shows itself up in the outline. Example of all available parameters follows:
Parameters
Path
id String
Description
Query
id* String
Description
Header
id String
Description
Cookie
id String
Description
Body
id String
Description
Responses
200: OK
Description
404: Not Found

Description
500: Internal Server Error

Description
Cannot be used inside other blocks. Can only contain plain text. Unfortunately very tailored towards web
APIs only.
TODO
Pages under this section are just stubs. Feel free to work on them. Check out the Style Guide and
Making Tutorials and User Guides for more info
Adding realtime effects
ASIO in Audacity
Due to licensing restrictions Audacity cannot be distributed with built-in support for ASIO. However You can
build Audacity for your personal use and include ASIO support.
Audacity can record and playback audio on your Windows PC using one of the following three alternative
interfaces:
MME
Windows DirectSound
Windows WASAPI
ASIO (Audio Stream Input / Output) is an additional proprietary interface to record and playback audio in
Microsoft Windows. ASIO bypasses the Windows audio mixing components to provide lower latency direct
communication between computer audio software and hardware. Most audio recording interfaces
manufacturers provide a driver to support ASIO.
ASIO supports 24-bit sampling which is only otherwise available using Windows WASAPI or WDM-KS
(Windows Driver Model Kernel Streaming). 24-bit sampling allows greater dynamic range, lower
theoretical noise floor and greater resolution at lower audible volumes.
An unmixed ASIO output is "bit identical" to the original source.

Multiple physical input and output channels of the hardware are accessed over one single device.
Windows DirectSound interface protocol support multi-channel recording on some sound devices, but not
the very low latencies that are possible on ASIO.
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/asio_audio_interface.html
https://gist.github.com/SteveALee/da24c2be633340b8791066dd98eb5d0b
Synchronizing Tracks
Synchronizing with claps
https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Rhythm_Track
Keeping Tracks Synchronized
https://alphamanual.audacityteam.org/man/Sync-Locked_Track_Groups
Using Macros to Automate Frequent Tasks

A Macro is a sequence of pre-configured commands (mainly effects) in a set order that can be applied
automatically to projects or audio files.
What are the main uses for Macros?
Macros in Audacity can be used for:
Batch processing: Apply one or more effects to multiple audio files and export the processed audio into
a new file.
To use this select the Apply Macro to: Files... button in the Macros Palette or the Manage Macros
dialog.
For more detail on batch processing please see this page.
Effects automation: where the selected audio in the track or tracks in the current project is subjected to
the same prescribed sequence of effects, and optionally, a file exported from the entire audio.
Macros can contain Select commands to make their own selections as the Macro runs
Effect presets: where selected, commonly used, effects are stored with your preferred settings for quick
re-use.
How to access Macros
You can manage and apply Macros using the Tools Menu:
Tools > Macros... to manage Macros: to create, edit and test them
Tools > Apply Macro > Palette... for a toolbox of Macros
Tools > Apply Macro > named Macro to apply one named Macro
There are some examples of Macros and tips on using them.
Manage Macros
Use Tools > Macros... if you need to create a new Macro or to edit an existing Macro.
The left side pane displays existing macros and the right pane list the steps for the selected macro
Macros Palette dialog
Use the Shrink button to show a reduced Macros Palette dialog which lists the existing Macros.
This dialog is also available directly via Tools > Apply Macro > Palette...
Macros Palette showing several user-added Macros

as well as the as-shipped MP3 Conversion and Fade
Ends Macros
Click Expand on the Macros Palette to return to the full Manage Macros dialog.
Apply Macro to
Both the Manage Macros dialog and the Macro Palette dialog have Apply Macro to buttons:
Project applies the selected Macro to the current project.

Files... applies the selected Macro to selected external audio files that are in a single directory.
It is recommended not to process more than 500 files at a time.
For more details see the Macros Palette page.

Commands that call Effects, Generators, Analyzers or Tools, use the same familiar graphical interface (GUI)
as appears when they are used from the normal top level menus.
Many of the other commands provide a simple GUI comprised of checkboxes and text entry boxes. Typical
examples can be seen in the Scriptables I and Scriptables II menus.
It is strongly recommended that you set parameters for the commands that you use in a Macro.
Otherwise Audacity will use the last-used parameter setting(s) when you ran the effect(s)
manually.
Also note carefully that settings used in Macros will not affect or change the last-used parameter
settings for any effect when next run manually.
Basically to paraphrase: "What happens in Macros stays in Macros".
Please see Manage Macros for more details.
Sharing a Macro
You can export a Macro as a TXT file using the Export button in Manage Macros and send it to another user,
or copy it to another computer for use there
You can import another user's Macro, or a copied macro of your own, into your Macros folder by using the
Import button in Manage Macros.
You can also edit Exported Macros with a text editor and Import them back in if required.
Where Macros are stored
Each Macro is automatically saved as a separate text file with TXT extension in the Macros folder in
Audacity's folder for application data:
Windows: Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\audacity\Macros
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/Macros

Linux: ~/.audacity-data/Macros
In order to see the Macros folder on Windows, macOS or GNU/Linux, you must show hidden files
and folders or type the folder location into your file manager's address bar.
Windows: In the tree on the left of Explorer, double-click "Users" then double-click your
username, then on the right, double-click the AppData or Application Data folder and
navigate through that. If necessary, show hidden files and folders on Windows or type
%appdata%\audacity\Macros or shell:appdata\audacity\Macros into the Explorer address
bar then press Enter on your keyboard.
macOS: Open Finder, use the Go menu, choose Go to Folder and type
~/Library/Application Support/audacity/Macros, or set Finder to show your User Library
folder.
Macros Examples
See the Macros Examples page for examples of using Macros
Using looping Playback
Mastering for Audio Books
From https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audiobook_Mastering
How to use Audacity
🔊 How to use Audacity to Record & Edit Audio | Beginners Tutorial
TODO
Working with Tracks
(this probably is a category on its own, but let's write it on this page for now)
Making new tracks
Use case: spoken word with music in the background

Mute & Solo
Moving clips & Sync lock

Splitting a recording into several tracks
Answering user questions

Answering user questions is the most direct way of helping users. It also will net you the most "thank you"s
If you know Audacity well, but don't want to write tutorials, you can try helping users out directly. The most
active community in this regard probably is the Audacity Forum, but you'll also find users in our Discord
community and on the audacity subreddit.
Tools
There is a tool available to recover broken projects:
GitHub - audacity/audacity-project-tools
GitHub
Translating Audacity
Translating Audacity is the best way to get involved right in Audacity's UI without having to code.
Audacity is translated into multiple languages by volunteers across the world. If you want to contribute to
translation please join the audacity-translation mailing list and read the instructions below.
Using Transifex to translate Audacity
Before joining the Audacity project in Transifex please subscribe to the audacity-translation
mailing list and check the status of the translation you would like to contribute to with others
members of the list.
You can find and join the Audacity project at https://explore.transifex.com/klyok/audacity/
Click the JOIN THIS PROJECT button on the right side.
Select the language you would like to contribute to from the dropdown.
Click Join Project (if the language is Available to join) or Request Language if the language you want
to contribute to is not available yet.
Select the language you want to translate Audacity to and click Join Project or Request Language
Once you have been approved as a translator you will receive a notification by email. After that you will see
the project in your Dashboard and you can start to contribute.
Audacity Project Dashboard in Transifex
Click Translate at the top right side
Select Audacity from the Resource Overview panel to start editing
Select the string to translate and type the corresponding translation
Click Save Translation and select the next string to translate.
Use the Transifex Editor to translate strings
Translate Audacity using a standalone application

Audacity uses GitHub and you can explore the available translations at
https://github.com/audacity/audacity/tree/master/locale
Each language translation is stored in a PO file. For example it.po is the Italian translation and ko.po is the
Korean translation.
To download a PO file from GitHub click on the link for the .po file for your language. On the page
you come to, right-click the Raw button and then select then Save target or Save link as. Select
the location to place the PO file.
Use the wxWidgets languageinfo.cpp file as a reference to the list of translated languages.
These are some programs you can use to edit PO files:
poEdit for Windows, macOS and Linux
Lokalize for KDE4
Virtaal for Windows and macOS (beta version)
GNU gettext
The following instructions use poEdit 3.1.1 to illustrate the process of translation
If there is no translation PO file for your language create a new one using the following steps:
Download the audacity.pot file from Audacity GitHub

Open poEdit and select Create new... (Create new translation from POT Template)
Select the audacity.pot file and click on Open

poEdit will ask you about the Translation Language. Select the language from the dropdown and click
OK.
Select Translation > Properties... and verify that the Character option is set to UTF-8 otherwise poEdit
will not save any translations with non-English characters.
Translate each one of the entries using the Translation textbox

Select File > Save to save as a PO file. Select a destination folder and type a name for the file. Click on
Save. poEdit will save a .po file plus a .mo file for use in Audacity.
Update an existing translation of Audacity
The following instructions use poEdit 3.1.1 to illustrate the process of translation
If you want to update an existing translation
Download the PO file for your language, for example it.po or open a previously translated PO file from
your computer.
Download the audacity.pot file from Audacity GitHub

Open poEdit and select Browse files (Open and edit translation files)
Select the existing PO file for your language and click on Open
Select Translation > Update from POT file... and look for the audacity.pot file you downloaded
previously. This will update your PO file with the latest strings from the downloaded POT file.
Translate each one of the entries using the Translation textbox
Select File > Save to save as a PO file. Select a destination folder and type a name for the file. Click on
Save. poEdit will save a .po file plus a .mo file for use in Audacity.
Submitting a translation
To submit a translation, please send the completed .po file to the audacity-translation mailing list. A
member of Audacity Team will commit the file and send a message to the list confirming this.
Test a translation in Audacity
1. You can get an up-to-date alpha version of Audacity, NOT suitable for production use, but good for
checking translations on, in the nightly version: https://audacityteam.org/nightly. From there, you’ll find
there are choices of builds for different platforms. Download the right one for your platform.
2. On Windows, open the “Languages” directory inside the unzipped Audacity folder, then open the
directory with the same name as your .po file.
On Mac OS X, right-click or control-click over Audacity.app > Show Package Contents then open the
relevant LPROJ directory inside the “Resources” directory.
On GNU/Linux, open the relevant “locale” directory in usr/share/ or usr/local/share.
3. If creating a new translation, create a new directory for your language using the correct language code
from the wxWidgets languageinfo.cpp file. For example, the code for Punjabi is “pa”, so on Windows,
create “Audacity\Languages\pa”.
4. Rename the saved .mo file to “Audacity.mo”, and paste it into the directory you opened or created.
5. Open Audacity and in Preferences > Interface, choose your language and click OK. You should now
see your translations.
Further information
Please read Translating Audacity for more tips on translating the Audacity source code, and to learn
how the Audacity software is translated.
wxWidgets i18n
Developing Audacity
Audacity is being developed on Github. All information necessary to contributing code can be found there,
such as building instructions or bugs to fix.
Testing the latest features
Testing Audacity is one of the best ways to find bugs.
You can download the latest nightly from https://audacityteam.org/nightly.
When you do find something that breaks, make sure to file a bug!
Audacity comes with some tools to aid you with testing.
Tools
Macros
See https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/macros.html - these can make it easier for you to do repeated

tasks.
Journaling
Journaling is a feature that records all your actions and lets you replay them.
1. start Audacity in journaling mode, <<TODO: HOW??>> do a certain task, and then close Audacity again.
This will generate a journal file, which you can find in <<WHERE>>.
2. Copy the journal file to a new folder (eg: QA-tests) and name it so that you can easily find it again.
3. Launch Audacity from the command line, like this:
Windows
audacity.exe -j QA-tests\yourtest.txt
macOS
audacity -j QA-tests/yourtest.txt
Linux
audacity -j QA-tests/yourtest.txt
Plugins
We're starting a list of plugins that can be used in Audacity.
Audacity Plugins
If you'd like to contribute make a gitbook account and then go to https://www.audacityteam.org/gitbook-

plugins to get access to the Plugin space.
Alternatively, you can also make a pull request to the plugins branch on audacity support on Github.
Requirements for Plugins
Plugins must work in the current version of Audacity.

Paid plugins are not allowed at this point.
Requirements for Entries

Generally, a plugin entry should look like this:
###################################################
Name of Plugin
A short description of what the plugin is good for.
Example Domain
Download page
Details
Additional info, such as developer name, license and copyright info, a short "how to use" section
or link to the documentation page, or a screenshot of the plugin - preferably of it working withing
Audacity.
#####################################################
Note: When editing through pull requests on Github, note that Gitbook uses additional formatting
tags than available in standard-markdown, so your preview might not match what'll be shown to
users eventually.
Credits & License
These help articles have been created by the following people:
Leo Wattenberg
(add your name here if you're editing some pages!)
License
Contents on this page are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution license. This does not
necessarily apply to embedded videos.
Contributors of the old Manual
manual.audacityteam.org has been made possible by a tremendous amount of effort from the following
people:
Gale Andrews
Richard Ash
David Bailes
Christian Brochec
Matt Brubeck
John Colket
James Crook
Steve Daulton
Scott Granneman
Greg Kozikowski
Leland Lucius
Dominic Mazzoni
Edgar Musgrove
Tony Oetzmann
Alexandre Prokoudine
Peter Sampson
Martyn Shaw
Vidyashankar Vella
Bill Wharrie
Leo Wattenberg
Translators:
Carmelo Battaglia (Italian)

Leo Clijsen (Dutch)
Olivier Humbert (French)
André Leu (French)
Thomas De Rocker (Dutch)

Daniel Winzen (German)
Some of their efforts have been ported over to this site.

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Audacity Support

Quick links to get started:

Downloading & installing Audacity

Noise reduction & removal

Downloading through the Microsoft Store

Audacity is available from the Microsoft Store.

Select the language to use during the installation

In the Welcome page click Next.

Select the folder to install Audacity

Verify your choices and click Install

Verify your choices and click Install

Wait a few seconds until the setup process completes.

Information on how to make suggestions or report bugs

Click Finish to close the installer and Launch Audacity

Click Finish to close the installer

Head to the download page: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/mac/

If prompted, click Save.

Launch Audacity.app from /Applications or from your chosen location.

Once the program has opened press "OK" to start editing!

1. Head to the download page: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/linux/

chmod +x <path to your Audacity.AppImage>

You can download and install FFMPEG as follows:

2. Extract and run the installer (for example,

5. Finish the installation

Or by compiling it from source as described here:

How to manually locate FFMPEG in Audacity 3.2

3. If the following message appears, Audacity has automatically identified FFMPEG:

You can click No as Audacity already knows where to find FFMPEG.

2. When you have finished downloading, double-click the

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/

brew install ffmpeg

Compiling other versions

You can download or compile FFMPEG yourself as described here:

1. Go to Audacity > Preferences > Libraries

3. If a "Success" message appears, Audacity has successfully found FFMPEG.

Debian, Ubuntu, Pop_OS!, Mint sudo apt install ffmpeg lam

First install the RPM Fusion repository

Arch, Manjaro sudo pacman -Syu ffmpeg lam

Caution: Audacity supports FFMPEG's libavformat in version 55 (all Audacity

1. Go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries

3. If a "Success" message appears, Audacity has successfully found the library.

Recording your voice & microphone

If you have a USB mic, plug it into a USB port.

2. Select your Microphone

3. Test your Settings

Audacity will display the microphone level in the recording meter

Solving recording problems

Setting recording levels and playback levels

Activate the recording level meter before starting to record

Recording desktop audio

1. Select the loopback device

Select the loopback device to record desktop audio

Caution: Soundflower is not compatible with Apple Silicon-based machines

Click the Microphone icon to start monitoring the recording level

4. Open PulseAudio Volume Control and choose the Recording tab.

2. Check if everything is set up correctly

The waveform of a song

Removing sections of a song

Once you have a selection, press Delete or Backspace to delete it.

Moving sections of audio (clips)

A clip handle bar. double-click to rename, Click and drag to move

Resizing and trimming clips

1. Select the audio you want to apply the effect to.