FAQ:Opening and Saving Files
|< Index of Frequently Asked Questions
Contents
- 1 How do I open an Audacity project (AUP file) in another program?
- 2 Why does Audacity create a folder full of .au files when I save a project?
- 3 Audacity crashed! Can I recover any unsaved data?
- 4 Can Audacity import or export formats like WMA, AC3 or iTunes files (M4A/MP4)?
- 5 Why can’t I play MIDI files?
- 6 How do I import a track from an audio CD?
- 7 How do I save my recording on an audio CD?
- 8 How can I split a long recording into multiple files or CD tracks?
- 9 Why does Audacity warn about the name or nothing happens when I export?
How do I open an Audacity project (AUP file) in another program?
Audacity project files are saved in a special format that only Audacity can open. To use an Audacity project in another program or burn it to CD, first open the AUP file in Audacity (if you saved it recently it will be in the File > Recent Files menu). Then use the Export commands in the File menu to save the audio in a standard format like WAV or AIFF which may be used by other programs.
To learn more about working with Audacity projects, please see Audacity Projects.
Why does Audacity create a folder full of .au files when I save a project?
Audacity breaks long tracks into small pieces so it can edit them more efficiently. When you save an AUP project file, Audacity stores all the pieces in a _data folder that has the same name as the AUP file. For example, "song.aup" will open the pieces inside the "song_data" folder.
You should not edit the .au files yourself nor move or rename the _data folder. Open the AUP file and Audacity will load the .au files in the correct sequence automatically.
To learn more about working with Audacity projects, please see Audacity Projects.
See also:
Audacity crashed! Can I recover any unsaved data?
In the event of a crash while Audacity has unsaved data (such as a recording that has not yet been saved as a project, or an existing project with unsaved changes), Audacity will attempt to recover that data on next launch of Audacity. See Recovery for fuller details.
Can Audacity import or export formats like WMA, AC3 or iTunes files (M4A/MP4)?
Audacity as shipped can import or export the following audio formats:
- Uncompressed audio formats: most WAV and AIFF files including all PCM variants
- Compressed audio formats: Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and MP2
You can install the optional FFmpeg library to import and export a much larger range of audio formats including AC3, AMR(NB), M4A, MP4 and WMA (on Mac only, Audacity can import unprotected M4A, MP4 and MOV files without FFmpeg). Audio files that are DRM-protected to work only in particular software cannot be imported. FFmpeg will also import audio from most video files or DVDs that are not DRM-protected.
You can export to iTunes by exporting to any location on your computer then add the file to the iTunes library.
See Importing Audio and the File Export Dialog for more help with importing and exporting.
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Why can’t I play MIDI files?
MIDI files are essentially nothing more than a bare set of instructions describing how to play a series of musical notes. They are thus very different to audio files like WAV which are an actual recording of a piece of music.
For now, Audacity cannot play MIDI files or convert them directly to audio files. You can import MIDI files for visual comparison with audio files, and can perform simple cut-and-paste edits on MIDI files then export as a new MIDI. You can read more about working with MIDI files on this Wiki page.
How do I import a track from an audio CD?
Audacity cannot import a track directly from an audio CD. You must use a separate program like CDex or iTunes® to extract CD tracks into a format that Audacity can read, like WAV or AIFF.
On Mac OS X computers, CD tracks appear in Finder as AIFF files so can be imported directly into Audacity. For more help on importing audio from CD tracks on both Windows and OS X, see our Wiki help page on How to import CDs.
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How do I save my recording on an audio CD?
After making a recording or editing a file in Audacity, follow these steps to save your work on an audio CD:
- Use the “WAV” or “AIFF” options in the File Export Dialog's "Save as type" dropdown menu to save your Audacity recording in a sound file.
- Use any CD-burning software (iTunes® or Nero, for example) to burn this file to a CD. If you burn in a program that is also a media player, like iTunes® or Windows Media Player, you may need to drag the files for burning into a playlist or library. If in doubt, see the program's help files.
To make a disc you can play in normal CD players, make sure to create a “music” or “audio” CD (not a “data” CD). Use CD-R discs, because some players cannot read CD-RW. You can burn only 74 minutes to an audio CD in most cases, but possibly up to 80 minutes depending on the CD-R. This is a limitation of the audio CD format.
Some CD software will burn only 16-bit, 44.1KHz stereo sound files. If your CD recording software won't open your sound file, export the file again after choosing the following settings in Audacity:
- At the bottom of the Audacity window, set the Project Rate to 44100 Hz.
- If your project does not already contain a stereo track, choose “New Stereo Track” from the Project menu. (This will make Audacity export your recording as a stereo file.)
For helpful tips on CD burning with Windows Media Player or iTunes®, and help on burning longer “data” CDs, see this tutorial in the manual Burning music files to a CD and How to burn CDs on the Audacity Wiki.
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How can I split a long recording into multiple files or CD tracks?
Follow these steps to create a separate audio file for each song or segment of a long recording. This is particularly useful if you are creating an audio CD, since after burning each file to CD there will be a separate CD track for each song which you can skip to in the CD player.
- Click to place the cursor at the start of the first song.
- Choose . If you wish, you can type the name of the song in the label.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each song.
- When you are finished, choose . When you click the "Export" button, Audacity will save each song as a separate file, using the format and location you choose.
Alternatively, Audacity can attempt to detect the silences between tracks and label them automatically. See the full instructions at Splitting a recording into separate tracks.
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Why does Audacity warn about the name or nothing happens when I export?
If you export a file that has a period in the file name (for example, "92.3 FM capture" ), Audacity will warn you, rather than automatically add the appropriate extension for your chosen audio format. This gives you the flexibility to add a custom extension for a particular file type. For example, to export an AAC file with the .m4b audio book extension, you would add ".m4b" (without quotes) to the end of the file name then answer "Yes" to the warning.
If you need a period in the file name of a standard file type like WAV or MP3, answer "No" to any warning, then add another period followed by the file type at the end of the name. Otherwise, you may not be able to play the file on your computer. For example, to export a file whose full name with extension is "92.3 FM capture.wav", type that name out in full when you export the file:92.3 FM capture.wav
and not just "92.3 FM capture".Audacity may also warn you (or not respond correctly) if you type a file name that includes characters that are forbidden by the operating system.
| Forbidden Characters: | |
| On Windows, all of the following | \ / : * ? " < > | |
| On Mac OS X, colon only | : |
| On Linux, forward slash only | / |
Apart from operating system restrictions, Audacity has full support for typable Unicode characters. However, if you want to send your exported file to someone else or make it available on the internet, only use A to Z characters, numbers and underscores ( _ ) to make sure your file will be compatible.
