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  Audacity 2.0.6-alpha Development Manual This online Manual is only for the latest 2.0.6-alpha development code. The online Manual for the current 2.0.5 release is here. Click here for legacy 1.2 documentation.
 * Use Help > Manual (in web browser) in the current 2.0.5 release to access an installed copy of the Manual.
 * You can download and install the 2.0.5 Manual if the Manual is not installed.

  Help Resources Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)  -  most common questions are answered in the FAQ Search the Wiki for tips and tricks  Visit the Forum for technical help  Using Help Resources

Using Audacity 



Quick Help

 * Getting Started - Recording, Importing, Editing, Exporting...

Understanding Audacity

 * Foundations
 * Managing Audacity Projects - Audacity's internal workspace
 * Audacity Setup and Configuration
 * Digital Audio Fundamentals
 * Audio Tracks and The Waveform Display
 * Playing and Recording
 * Importing audio
 * Exporting audio files - For use in other programs
 * Editing
 * Selecting Audio
 * Clips - individual sections within an audio track
 * Splitting and Joining Stereo Tracks
 * Sync-Locked Track Groups
 * Zooming
 * Effects, Generators  and  Analyzers
 * Mixing Audio Tracks
 * Undo, Redo and History



Tutorials

 * Editing an Audio File - Import the file, edit and export it
 * Your First Recording - Record microphone or guitar
 * Mixing Voice with Background Music - For podcasts
 * Recording Multi-track Overdubs - Record over other tracks
 * 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

Help with Advanced Topics

 * Accessibility - Audacity for the visually impaired
 * Splitting a recording into separate tracks using labels
 * Burning Audio CDs and Importing Audio CDs
 * Latency when recording overdubs
 * Chains - for batch processing and effects automation
 * Crash Recovery
 * Customizing Audacity and  Simplifying Menus
 * Scripting

Reference <div id="container_ref" style="width:100%; background:#DFEAF9; margin:0px; border: 0px">

<div id="top_ref" style="width:100%; clear:both; text-align:center; background:#DFEAF9"> <div id="header_ref" style="text-align:center; padding:0px; background:#DFEAF9; border:0px solid #999; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:10px; margin-right:0px; margin-left:0px">

<h3 style="text-align:center">Guide to the Project Window

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More Details for the Project Window
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Toolbars Overview - including how to arrange Toolbars Additional Menus on Mac: <div id="indent_menu" style="width:95%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:-3px; padding-left:20px; border: 0px"> Audacity Window

Additional Track types: <div id="indent_tracks" style="width:95%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:-3px; padding-left:20px; border: 0px"> Label Tracks Time Tracks Note Tracks

More Details for Importing and Exporting: <div id="indent_lame" style="width:90%; margin-top:-4px; margin-bottom:-3px; padding-left:30px; text-indent:-10px; border: 0px"> LAME MP3 export and FFmpeg import/export libraries for more formats <div id="indent_ondemand" style="width:100%; margin-top:-4px; margin-bottom:-3px; padding-left:20px; border: 0px"> On-Demand Loading of uncompressed files <div id="indent_io" style="width:100%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:-3px; padding-left:20px; border: 0px"> Metadata Editor

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Preferences - changing your settings
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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. Preferences settings can be reset to default at any time. <div id="ref_bottom" style="clear:both">

<h2 style="text-align:center; font-size:1.8em; margin:2px 0px; padding:6px; background:#041ca3; color:#ffffff">Index, Glossary and More <div id="container_misc" style="width:100%; background:#DFEAF9; margin:0px; border: 0px"> <div id="left_misc" style="width:50%; background:#DFEAF9; margin:0px; padding:6px; float:left">
 * Index
 * Glossary of Terms - digital audio terms and file formats
 * Credits

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 * Audacity License
 * Information for Developers - join our developer community
 * Information for the Media - Audacity and free, open software

<hr style="margin-bottom:10px"> Links: Most links are to other pages in this Manual. Bold italicized links are to a description in our Glossary. Other <font color="#36b">italicised links are to pages external to this Manual, mostly to our main web site or Wiki. We are not responsible for the content of any other external sites.

Screenshots: Unless otherwise stated, screenshots in this Manual are of Audacity running under its default settings on the Microsoft Windows 7&reg; operating system. Representative images of Audacity running on Mac OS X and Linux are also included.

Copyright: Unless otherwise noted, all pages in this Manual are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. In essence, you are free to (1) copy, distribute and transmit the work (2) to adapt the work, under condition you must attribute the work to the authors (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from us.