FAQ:Opening and Saving Files
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 open your project in another program or burn it to CD, firstly open the .aup file in Audacity if you have already saved one (if you saved it recently it will be in the File > Recent Files menu). Then use the Export commands further down the File menu to save the audio in a standard format like WAV or AIFF.
To learn more about working with Audacity projects, please see our File Management Tips on the Audacity Wiki.
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 touch the .au files yourself, or move or rename the _data folder. Simply open the .aup file, then Audacity will load the .au files in the correct sequence automatically.
To learn more about working with Audacity projects, please see our File Management Tips on the Audacity Wiki.
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