# How to use Audacity

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## How to use Audacity

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

■ Return to the Reference Manual
■ Tutorials for Audacity
■ Searching the Manual

Many of the images in this section are made with the Classic theme (the Light theme prior to Audacity 3.6)

and RMS display turned on, so may vary slightly from what you see on your screen in Audacity 3.6

## How To Use Audacity

### Quick Help

- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - most common questions are answered in the FAQ
- Getting Started - Recording, Importing, Editing, Exporting...
- Audacity Tour Guide - quick tour of selected features of Audacity
- Audacity Setup and Configuration
- Changing language
- Connecting audio equipment - Microphones, instruments, USB devices...
- Effects, Generators and Analyzers
- Crash Recovery

### Playing and Recording

- Playing and Recording
  - Playback
  - Recording
- Monitoring
- Quick-Play
- Looping
- Scrubbing
- Timer Recording
- Punch and Roll Recording

### Importing and Exporting Audio Files

- Importing audio and Exporting audio files - For use in other applications
- LOF Files for Importing sets of audio files
- Metadata Editor - when exporting
- LAME MP3 export - only required for Linux

### Editing with Audacity

- Selecting audio
  - Navigating and identifying audio for editing
  - Boundary Snap Guides
  - Track focus
- Audio Alignment
- Copy and Paste a section of audio
- Clips - individual sections within an Audio Track
- Splitting and Joining Stereo Tracks
- Zooming Overview and Vertical Zooming
- Creating a Crossfade
- Mixing Audio Tracks
- Undo, Redo and History
- Spectral Selection and Editing

### Help with Advanced Topics

- Macros - for batch processing and effects automation
  - Scripting Reference - list of commands for use in Macros
- Mixer - analogous to a hardware mixer board
- Accessibility - Audacity for the visually impaired
- Sync-Locked Track Groups
- Portable Audacity
- Multi-channel Recording - recording more than two separate channels of audio
- Creating Nyquist plugins
- Scripting - allows Audacity to be driven by an external Perl or other script that supports named pipes. Currently you must compile Audacity to use this feature

## Further guidance in the Muse Audacity Support website

### Installing and updating Audacity

- Installing and updating Audacity
- Resetting Audacity to default settings
- FFmpeg import/export libraries for more import/export audio formats
- Themes - learn how to select your preferred Audacity look and feel
- Installing plugins - you can download and install plugins to add extra functionality to Audacity

### Help with Other Topics

- Importing audio files - import existing audio files (like WAV or MP3) for editing
- Exporting audio files - For use in other applications
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Using realtime effects
- Macros - for batch processing and effects automation
- Latency compensation - when recording overdubs or using Punch and Roll

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