Extra Menu: Transport

The Extra > Transport menu provides playback commands that are not available in the default Audacity menus.

The commands in this sub-menu honor the "mix" as defined by the status of the Mute and Solo buttons in the tracks' Track Control Panels - and for most of them the "mix" can be dynamically altered while playback takes place.

The Exception is Play Cut Preview, this command honors the "mix" at start of play but the mix cannot be altered dynamically as the Cut Preview is playing.

Play  

Play (or stop) audio

Stop  

Stop audio

Play One Second  1   ^Extra

Plays 1 second of audio at the current mouse position

Play to Selection  B

Plays from current mouse position to selection

For the following six commands, the amount of audio that is played before, after, or surrounding the selection edge, is set by the Cut Preview setting in Playback Preferences.

Play Before Selection Start  Shift + F5   ^Extra

Plays a short period before the start of the selected audio.

Play After Selection Start  Shift + F6   ^Extra

Plays a short period after the end of the selected audio.

Play Before Selection End  Shift + F7   ^Extra

Plays a short period before the end of the selected audio.

Play After Selection End  Shift + F8   ^Extra

Plays a short period after the end of the selected audio

Play Before and After Selection Start  Ctrl + Shift + F5   ^Extra

Plays a short period before and after the start of the selected audio.

Play Before and After Selection End  Ctrl + Shift + F7   ^Extra

Plays a short period before and after the end of the selected audio.

Play Cut Preview  C

Plays audio excluding the selection. The amount of audio that is played before and after the section is set by the Cut Preview setting in Playback Preferences.

Scrubbing commands

The following two commands are there primarily so that you can know what their default shortcut keys are, and so you can change them in Shortcuts Preferences if required.

The menu commands are null and do nothing, only the shortcuts are designed to work.

See Scrubbing and Seeking for more details

Scrub Backwards  U

While the U shortcut is held down, Audacity will scrub backwards.

Scrub Forwards  I

While the I shortcut is held down, Audacity will scrub forwards.

After pressing one of the two keys playback continues until the key is released. Playback starts from the cursor position or the start of a time selection if there is one. Scrubbing is not limited by any selection that may be present. If one of the keyboard scrubbing keys is being held down, and the other keyboard scrubbing key is pressed scrubbing immediately changes direction, and does not stop when the original key is released.