Audacity Manual Contents

Welcome, Audacity manual editors!

There are some important editor notes on the discussion page. Also see the extensive welcome message for new editors.

Audacity 2.0.1 alpha development Manual

This online Manual is only for 2.0.1 alpha.

• It relates to the current 2.0.1 alpha development code.
• Use Help > Manual (in web browser) in Audacity 2.0.0 to access the installed Manual for that version.
• You can download and install the 2.0.0 Manual if the Manual is not installed.

This Manual does not relate to Audacity 1.2.5/1.2.6 or any previous 1.3 versions of Audacity.

• A few pages have translations to other languages. Click the country flags at the top of the page.
• Otherwise, click here for help in other languages.
• Translators are urgently required to translate this Manual to other languages. To get started on translating, please write to our feedback address for an account on this Wiki.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - most common questions are answered in the FAQ

Using Audacity

Quick Where and How

• Getting Started - Recording, Importing, Editing, Exporting...
• Finding the correct effect including generators and analyzers
• More help - Search the Wiki , ask on the Forum

Understanding Audacity

• Foundations
  • Digital Audio
  • What is an Audacity Project?
  • Audacity Setup and Configuration
  • Playing and Recording
  • Audio Tracks
  • The Waveform Display
• Editing
  • Selecting Audio
  • Clips - separate audio regions within a track
  • Splitting and Joining Stereo Tracks
  • Sync-Lock Tracks
  • Zooming
  • Undo, Redo and History
  • Mixing Audio Tracks

Tutorials

• Editing an Audio File - Import the file, edit and export it
• Your First Recording - Connect and record microphone or guitar
• Mixing Voice with Background Music - For podcasts
• Recording Multi-track Overdubs - more complex recording
• Copying tapes, LPs and other media to CD or computer
• Recording streaming audio playing on the computer
• Vocal Removal and Isolation
• Making Ringtones - for your cellphone
• Example Workflows - Some sample workflows

Help with Advanced Topics

• Accessibility (Audacity for the visually impaired)
• Audio CDs
• Batch Processing
• Crash Recovery
• Customization
• Latency when recording
• Recording Quality
• Scripting
• Simplifying Audacity

Reference

Guide to the Project Window

1 Menu Bar   2 Transport Toolbar   3 Tools Toolbar   4 Meter Toolbar   5 Mixer Toolbar   6 Edit Toolbar  
7 Transcription Toolbar 8 Device Toolbar   9 Timeline   10 Track Control Panel   11 Audio Track   12 Selection Toolbar
Hover over and click on the image to learn more.
Skip image map and go to the More Details section

More Details for the Project Window

• Mac users have two more menus:
  • Audacity
  • Window

• Arranging Toolbars

• As well as the Audio Tracks shown in the image there are:
  • Label Tracks
  • Time Tracks
  • Note Tracks

• Details for importing and exporting:
  • LAME MP3 export and FFmpeg import/export libraries for more formats
    
  • On-Demand Loading of uncompressed files
  • Importing
  • Exporting
  • Metadata Editor

Preferences - changing your settings

Preferences are at the bottom of the Edit menu (or in the Audacity menu on Mac).

Many settings can be changed including keyboard shortcuts and the interface language.

Devices

Interface

Projects

Warnings

Playback

Tracks

Libraries

Effects

Recording

Import/Export

Spectrograms

Keyboard

Quality

Extended Import

Directories

Mouse

Preferences settings can be reset to default at any time.

Index, Glossary and More

• Index
• Glossary of Terms - digital audio terms and file formats
• Credits

• Audacity License
• Information for Developers - join our developer community

• Information for the Media - Audacity and free, open software