File Export Dialog

When you click Export ... on the File Menu, you get the Audacity file export dialogue. File:FileExportDialogue.png

This allows you not only to choose where you want to save your exported file, but what format and settings to use.

File Formats

Assuming that they are enabled, you can choose between 5 different formats:

WAV, AIFF and other uncompressed types

This option covers all the uncompressed audio formats that audacity can export. You can choose between them by clicking on the Options button.

MP3 Files

Export your file to the MP3 format using the LAME MP3 encoder.

Ogg Vorbis Files

Export your file to the Ogg Vorbis format, a high-quality compressed audio format.

FLAC Files

Export your file to the FLAC format. FLAC is a lossless way to reduce the size of uncompressed audio files by about a half without any quality loss.

MP2 Files

Export your file to the MP2 format used for DVD sound tracks and in radio broadcasting.

(external program)

This option lets you send audio directly from audacity to an external application which can process or encode the audio before writing it to a file. This is a way to export to other formats which audacity does not support natively.

Options

This button brings up an Options dialogue which allows various settings specific to the file format being exported to be adjusted. This changes if you change the format selector, so you should always select the format you wish to export before clicking on the Options button. For details of what options are available, see the file format specific pages listed above.