FAQ:Installation, Startup and Plug-ins
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Contents
- 1 How do I install and update Audacity?
- 2 What should I do if I have problems downloading or installing Audacity?
- 3 What should I do if I get errors building Audacity?
- 4 Windows: Do I have to uninstall a previous version first before installing a new version?
- 5 Windows: How can I fix "Entry Point Not Found" when first launching Audacity on Windows XP?
- 6 Windows: How can I make Audacity launch when I double-click a WAV or other audio file?
- 7 Windows: How do I uninstall Audacity?
- 8 Mac OS X: Why do I see "unidentified developer", "Mac App Store" or "damaged" messages when I launch Audacity?
- 9 How can I solve Audacity not appearing or crashing on launch, or crashing after I add a plug-in?
- 10 How do I reset my Audacity configuration settings?
- 11 How do I download and install the LAME MP3 encoder?
- 12 How do I download and install the FFmpeg Import/Export Library?
- 13 How do I install Nyquist plug-ins?
- 14 How do I install VST plug-ins?
- 15 Why do some VST plug-ins not work or display incorrectly?
- 16 What are LADSPA, LV2 or VAMP plug-ins and how do I install them?
- 17 Installing plug-ins on Linux
How do I install and update Audacity?
- Installing and updating Audacity on Windows
- Installing and updating Audacity on Mac OS X
- Installing Audacity on Linux
What should I do if I have problems downloading or installing Audacity?
If you can't download Audacity from our official download page http://audacityteam.org/download/ please check at http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ to see if the problem is with your connection. If the downloaded setup file is corrupt, it's a very good idea to clear the download list or cache in your browser or download manager then try downloading again.
If problems persist, please let us know at our feedback address.
What should I do if I get errors building Audacity?
Audacity provides ready-built installer programs for Windows and Mac, but Audacity can also be built from source code on any platform. With a little knowledge, building is a great way to customize Audacity! For help, please see the Wiki documentation for Windows, Mac and Linux.
If you still cannot build Audacity, please ask on the Compiling Audacity board on the Forum.
- Please tell us whether you are building from a release tarball or Audacity HEAD.
- On Windows, please give all the instances of "ERROR" in the Visual Studio output window (including Linker errors).
- For Mac and Linux, please provide the last lines of the configure or make output that fail.
- For Linux, also tell us which distribution and release you are using (for example, Ubuntu 11.10 or Fedora 16).
Windows: Do I have to uninstall a previous version first before installing a new version?
If you install a new Audacity version after installing a previous one, the installer will offer to install to the same directory as the previous installation. If the previous installation was Audacity 1.2 or 2.x, the installation directory is normally Program Files\Audacity (or Program Files(x86)\Audacity on 64-bit Windows). As long as you don't change the installation directory, Audacity will install over the previous 1.2 or 2.x version, and any extra plug-ins you added to the "Plug-Ins" folder will still be available.If the previous version was 1.3.x, please uninstall 1.3 before installing the current 2.x version. After uninstalling 1.3, any extra plug-ins you added to that version will remain, and you can move them to the "Plug-Ins" folder of the new installation.
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Otherwise there is no need to upgrade LAME or FFmpeg unless this is indicated in the Release Notes for the new version of Audacity. |
Windows: How can I fix "Entry Point Not Found" when first launching Audacity on Windows XP?
This error occurs if you are running less than the latest "Service Pack" of updates for your Windows XP system.
- To run on Windows XP 32-bit, Audacity requires the latest Service Pack 3.
- To run on Windows XP 64-bit, Audacity requires the latest Service Pack 2.
To check if you have 32-bit or 64-bit XP, click Start, then Run, then type "winmsd.exe" (without quotes) and click OK. In "System Summary", the "Processor" item will start with x86 for a 32-bit system or IA-64 or AMD64 for a 64-bit system.
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Please note that Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft so even with the latest Service Pack it will be unpatched against any new security vulnerabilities that appear. Consider if you can update to the much more secure Windows 7 or Windows 8. If this is not practicable, you could try installing a Linux operating system instead. Most versions of Linux are free and all are very secure.
If you remain with Windows XP, ensure you have a good third-party anti-virus application, though be aware that this will not give you complete protection if previously unknown security threats emerge. For extra protection, install the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) from Microsoft on your XP system. This application is quite easy to use. |
Windows: How can I make Audacity launch when I double-click a WAV or other audio file?
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, click the Windows Start button, then Control Panel, then "Programs". Under "Default Programs", click "Make a file type always open in a specific program". Choose ".wav", ".mp3" or your chosen extension, then click "Change program..." and browse for Audacity to associate it with that file type.
Another method is to use the Windows Start button, type "Run" (without quotes), press ENTER, then type %windir%\system32\control.exe /name Microsoft.DefaultPrograms /page pageFileAssoc and press ENTER.
On any version of Windows you can instead set the default association of a file type with Audacity by right-clicking over any file of that type, choosing "Open with" then "Choose default program...".
Windows: How do I uninstall Audacity?
Audacity can be uninstalled by choosing "Add/Remove Programs" or "Uninstall a program" in the Windows Control Panel. Select "Audacity" from the list and follow the instructions which will launch the Audacity uninstall program. Make sure you quit Audacity before uninstalling, or you will receive errors that some files could not be removed.
If the Control Panel cannot uninstall Audacity, open the folder in which you installed Audacity and double-click "unins000.exe" (this file might have other numbers in the name). This requires "unins000.dat" (or similar) to be present in the installation folder.
If you still cannot uninstall Audacity, download the installer again. Install Audacity to the same location you installed it to before (which happens by default). This will replace the uninstall files with good copies, then you can run the uninstaller again.
Uninstallation leaves your Audacity settings intact, in case you want to install Audacity again at some time in the future. If you want to remove your settings as well, delete Audacity's folder for application data whose location is given here.
See also: How do I reset my Audacity configuration settings?
Mac OS X: Why do I see "unidentified developer", "Mac App Store" or "damaged" messages when I launch Audacity?
On OS X 10.7.5 and later, the Apple Gatekeeper feature controls launching of applications downloaded from the internet. If Gatekeeper won't launch Audacity because it is "from an unidentified developer" or "not downloaded from the Mac App Store", right-click or control-click on the Audacity application in Finder, choose "Open", then in the dialog box that appears, choose "Open". You should then be able to launch Audacity normally on subsequent occasions.
Occasionally, you may see an error message that "Audacity is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash." If this message persists when you right-click or control-click over Audacity, open . Under the header "Allow applications downloaded from:", choose "Anywhere". Audacity should now launch. It would now be advisable to change the "Anywhere" preference back to a more restrictive setting.
How can I solve Audacity not appearing or crashing on launch, or crashing after I add a plug-in?
Incompatible audio device or audio drivers
If the Audacity hang or crash occurs after you added or enabled a new audio device, try removing or disabling that device (or updating its drivers) then restart Audacity. If the problem occurred after a driver update, try rolling back to the previous set of drivers. On Windows, you can revert driver changes caused by Windows Update.
If the entire computer crashes, reboots or displays a blue screen message when you launch Audacity, this is almost always due to a bad or mismatched audio driver (or due to a system driver conflicting with your sound device). See how to inspect the computer's memory dump or test its memory to diagnose crashes.
LADSPA, LV2, VST or Audio Unit plug-ins
A hang or crash could occur after you use the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog to add new LADSPA, LV2, VST or Audio Unit (Mac OS X) effects. The crash or hang could occur immediately after pressing OK in the dialog, when using an effect, when exiting Audacity or when restarting it next time.
If Audacity crashes immediately after you enable one or more effects in the Plug-in Manager dialog, the effect(s) that crashed should be disabled next time you launch Audacity. They will be relisted in Plug-in Manager as "New" rather than "Disabled". If Audacity crashes when an effect is launched from the Effect Menu or applied to the audio, you can restart Audacity then try disabling the effect in the Plug-in Manager. This effect will then not be available in Effect Menu.
Sometimes it may not be obvious which effects to disable to solve a hang or crash. You might be able to identify offending effects from Audacity.zip if there is an Audacity Debug report. You can also try Windows Event Viewer (or more easily on Windows Vista and later, type "Reliability" without quotes in the Search box to open Reliability Monitor). To view Mac OS X reports, open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app then look at the System Diagnostic Reports.
Should it remain unclear which effects are responsible, it may be useful to reset Audacity to load only the enabled effects that it had on first installation. To do this, go to Audacity's folder for application data as follows:
- Windows XP: Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Audacity\ (or type %appdata% in Explorer)
- Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8: Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Audacity\ (or type %appdata% in Explorer)
- OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/ (use Go > Go to Folder in Finder)
- Linux: ~/.audacity-data/ .
In that folder, delete the pluginregistry.cfg and pluginsettings.cfg files and restart Audacity. Then you can use the Plug-in Manager dialog to selectively enable effects to find the possible culprit.
Resetting Audacity Preferences
The Audacity window could also fail to appear due to some Audacity configuration problem. To solve this, try resetting the Audacity Preferences.
Viruses and anti-virus scanning
Conflicts with other applications such as security or anti-virus applications can occasionally cause Audacity not to launch. Try turning off some of the more advanced behavior detection settings in the security application, or add an exception to its settings to make Audacity a trusted application. Conversely if you have not run a virus scan for a while, update your security application to the latest virus definitions and perform a thorough scan in case a newly acquired virus is the problem.
How do I reset my Audacity configuration settings?
Uninstalling Audacity does not automatically repair or reset your configuration settings in Audacity Preferences. If you are trying to fix a problem with Audacity, take one of the following actions.
- Quit Audacity and reset Preferences using the audacity.cfg settings file. There is then no need to uninstall and re-install.
- Alternatively, Windows users may run the installer and in the "Select Additional Tasks" screen, put a check in the "Reset Preferences" box. Complete the installation. On launching Audacity, a dialog will appear where you can confirm if you want to reset preferences just this once, or not.
See also:
- Windows: How do I uninstall Audacity?
- How can I solve Audacity not appearing or crashing on launch, or crashing after I add a plug-in?
How do I download and install the LAME MP3 encoder?
- Windows: See the LAME installation section on the Installing Audacity on Windows.
- Mac OS X: See the LAME installation section on the Installing Audacity on Mac OS X.
- Linux/Unix: See the LAME installation section on the Installing Audacity on Linux.
How do I download and install the FFmpeg Import/Export Library?
Because of software patents, Audacity cannot include the FFmpeg software or distribute it from its own websites. Instead, following the links below to instructions to download and install the free and recommended FFmpeg third-party library.
- Windows: See the FFmpeg installation section on the Installing Audacity on Windows.
- Mac OS X: See the FFmpeg installation section on the Installing Audacity on Mac OS X.
- GNU/Linux: See the FFmpeg installation section on the Installing Audacity on Linux.
How do I install Nyquist plug-ins?
Nyquist plug-ins provide most of the optional effects underneath the divider in the Effect menu. They are also used to provide some of Audacity's built-in audio generators and analysis tools. A wide range of additional Nyquist effect, generation and analysis plug-ins can be obtained from Download Nyquist Plug-ins on our Wiki.
To add a new Nyquist plug-in, put it in the Audacity "Plug-Ins" folder.
- On Windows and OS X the "Plug-Ins" folder is in the directory where Audacity resides - usually C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) on Windows or the "Applications" folder on OS X.
- On Linux, the "plug-ins" folder is in usr/share/audacity if you installed an Audacity package supplied by your distribution, or usr/local/share/audacity if you compiled Audacity from source code. Optionally a "plug-ins" folder can be created in the home directory thus: ~/.audacity-files/plug-ins (you can also call the folder "plugins").
To load the new effects into Audacity so they are available in the menu, use the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog.
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Some Nyquist plug-ins could crash while processing very long audio selections (typically an hour or more). This is due to the plug-in using a large amount of memory and is a known issue in Audacity's current Nyquist implementation. Try using the plug-in on shorter selections instead. |
How do I install VST plug-ins?
Audacity supports almost all VST effect plug-ins on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux including "shell" VST's that host multiple VST effects.
To install new VST effects, place them in the "Plug-Ins" folder inside the Audacity installation folder. On Windows, this is usually under Program Files (or Program Files (x86) on 64-bit Windows). On Mac OS X, it is usually in the "/Applications" folder. On Linux, you must add a "plug-ins" folder to /usr/bin/ (if you installed a packaged version of Audacity) or to /usr/local/bin (if you installed a self-compiled version of Audacity). VST effects will also be found if they are added to (or already exist in) various system or user locations.
You can install new VST effects into Audacity by using the menu item. This opens the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog where you can select and enable the new effects then click to load them. Next time you launch Audacity the enabled effect(s) will be cached and you won't need to re-enable them.
See also: Why do some VST plug-ins not work or display incorrectly?
Why do some VST plug-ins not work or display incorrectly?
Audacity will by default display VST effect plug-ins with a full graphical interface where the plug-in supplies this.
VST instruments (VSTi) (such as synths) and real-time VST effects (that change the audio data while it's being written) are not yet supported. These will not load even if you enable or re-enable them in the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog. VST 3 plug-ins are not supported.
If any plug-in displays incorrectly, you can use the Manage button 
in the effect's dialog then choose Options... to open the
VST Effect Options for that effect. Then remove the checkmark from the "Enable graphical interface" checkbox 
Enable graphical interface and click . When you reopen the effect it will display a simpler tabular interface.
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If you experience a problem with a specific VST effect plug-in in Audacity, please contact us.
See also: How do I install VST plug-ins?
What are LADSPA, LV2 or VAMP plug-ins and how do I install them?
LV2 is a more advanced evolution of the LADSPA plug-in architecture which was originally developed on Linux. Audacity supports both LV2 and LADSPA effects on Windows and Mac OS X as well as GNU/Linux. You can download and install a set of over 90 LADSPA plug-ins for all operating systems. See Adding a LADSPA plug-in for where to install LADSPA plug-ins. You can then choose which LADSPA plug-ins to enable in the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog.
There are not yet many pre-compiled LV2 plug-ins for Windows and Mac OS X, though it may be possible to compile some Linux LV2 plug-ins for other operating systems. To add a new LV2 effect, place its complete ".lv2" folder (not the files alone) at the top level of any of the LV2 search locations then enable it in the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog.
VAMP plug-ins are usually for analyzing audio so will appear under Audacity's Analyze Menu. You can do interesting things like attempt to track beats, note pitches, chords or frequencies. Any VAMP plug-ins whose output is suitable for a label track should work in Audacity on Windows, Mac OS X or GNU/Linux. To add a new VAMP analysis tool, add the plug-in's DLL, DYLIB or SO file and any supplied category or RDF files to any of the VAMP search locations then enable the tool in the Plug-in Manager: Effects, Generators and Analyzers dialog.
Installing plug-ins on Linux
Audacity on GNU/Linux supports a large number of Nyquist, LADSPA, LV2 and VAMP effects. VST effects are now supported in Audacity on Linux and can be installed as described at VST Effects. However native Linux VST effects are quite rare. Consequently, if a specific VST effect is required on Linux, it may be necessary to employ workarounds such as running Audacity for Windows in a virtual machine.
Audacity supports 64-bit effects in VST, LADSPA and VAMP format on 64-bit Linux systems (conversely, 32-bit plug-ins in those formats will not load into Audacity on 64-bit Linux).
Individual Nyquist and LADSPA plug-ins can be installed by putting the plug-ins into the Audacity "Plug-Ins" folder:
- /usr/share/audacity/plug-ins if Audacity was installed from a repository package
- /usr/local/share/audacity/plug-ins if you compiled Audacity from source code.
These locations are usually set as read-only, so the plug-ins will need to be copied as root (for example, by issuing an appropriate root command in the terminal, or by using the terminal to open a file manager application with root permissions).
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Updating the repository package of Audacity may remove plug-ins that are not part of the package. To solve that problem you can:
The dot in the folder name .audacity-data and .audacity-files indicates that it is a hidden folder, but the "Plug-Ins" subfolder in either folder is accessible without root permissions and will not be modified by installing a new Audacity package. |
Audacity installed from a repository package or compiled from source should automatically find LADSPA plug-ins installed in /usr/lib/ladspa. This may not be the case if you are compiling older source code. If necessary you can set an environment variable to indicate to Audacity where LADSPA plug-ins are installed. For Debian-based distributions this can be done by entering the following code at the command prompt (change <user> to your account username):
| export LADSPA_PATH=$LADSPA_PATH:/home/<user>/.ladspa:/usr/local/lib/ladspa:/usr/lib/ladspa |
If you wish this path to be set each time you boot, the LADSPA_PATH environment variable may be added to ~/.profile or this file may be created if it does not exist. An example of how to add the LADSPA_PATH environment variable:
| LADSPA_PATH=$LADSPA_PATH:/home/<user>/.ladspa:/usr/local/lib/ladspa:/usr/lib/ladspa export LADSPA_PATH |
For OpenSuse 64, LADSPA plug-ins may be found in /usr/lib64/ladspa. This path can be set by adding the following line to your /etc/environment file:
| LADSPA_PATH=/usr/lib64/ladspa |
LV2 and VAMP plug-ins cannot be placed in the Audacity "Plug-Ins" folder or your .audacity-files folder. LV2 plug-ins should be installed by placing the complete .lv2 folder (not the individual files in that folder) in the root of ~/.lv2, /usr/local/lib/lv2, /usr/local/lib64/lv2, /usr/lib/lv2 or /usr/lib64/lv2. Alternatively the environment variable may be set as in this example:
| export LV2_PATH=$HOME/.lv2:/usr/local/lib/lv2:/usr/lib/lv2 |
VAMP plug-ins may be installed in $HOME/vamp, $HOME/.vamp, /usr/local/lib/vamp or /usr/lib/vamp. Alternatively the VAMP_PATH environment variable may be set to any of those specified VAMP installation directories. VAMP plug-ins will normally be placed in the Analyze Menu of Audacity.
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After installing effects, go to the Add / Remove Plug-ins dialog to enable them in Audacity. |
