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Portable Audacity Changelog

What's new in Portable Audacity 3.5.1

Apr 25, 2024
  • This is a hotfix release. It fixes the following bugs:
  • #6322 Fixed a crash on launch on macOS 11 and older.
  • #6324 Fixed the update notification looking for alpha versions instead of release versions.
  • #6321 Fixed a freeze when using macros on multiple files.

New in Portable Audacity 3.5.0 (Apr 22, 2024)

  • Major changes:
  • Cloud project saving
  • We've introduced a new cloud-saving feature that allows you to save your Audacity projects to audio.com. This allows you to work from any device, share & collaborate with others and restore previous versions if something went wrong.
  • Automatic tempo detection
  • Audacity can now automatically detect the tempo of imported loops, and adjust them to be in tempo.
  • Tempo detection is done via both audio analysis and metadata checking. If you want to prepare your loop for automatic tempo detection without relying on audio analysis, both acidizer tempo tags or simply writing "123 bpm" anywhere into the filename work.
  • Automatic tempo detection can be turned off via Preferences -> Import/Export.
  • Pitch shifting
  • You now can non-destructively change the pitch of a clip by holding Alt and pressing the Up and Down arrow keys. Alternatively, you can click on the overflow menu (...) and select "Pitch and speed...". When changing the pitch this way, an arrow in the UI indicates how much you've shifted it.
  • Other changes:
  • Additions:
  • Added an option to skip plugin scanning to Preferences -> Effects.
  • Added an overflow menu, as well as speed and pitch indicators to clips.
  • Added subtitle formats for labels. Export to WebVTT and SubRip and import of SubRip files is now supported. (Thanks, Pokechu22 and Larry Bordowitz!)
  • Changes:
  • Reworked the plugin manager.
  • Improved accessibility. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • When zooming in vertically (Ctrl+scroll on the vertical scale), the zeroline now remains centered. Moving the vertical zoom off-center still is possible via Shift+scroll on the vertical scale.
  • Changed the look of the selection adjust cursors (previously pointing fingers on Windows and macOS, now look like >| everywhere).
  • Changed the timeline options button from a green triangle to a settings gear. From it, you can switch between Beats & Measures or hh:mm:ss timeline rulers, set various preferences regarding to looping, as well as playhead behaviors: "Scroll view to playhead" (previously: "Update display while playing") and "Continuous scrolling" (previously: Pinned Play Head).
  • Improved BSD support. (Thanks, Brad Smith!)
  • macOS: Changed the Audacity.app icon on macOS to fit new design guidelines.
  • Reordered some menus.
  • Moved OK/Cancel buttons of effects to the bottom.
  • Removals:
  • There have been a number of removals of niche features to simplify the app. This should make the app a bit less overwhelming to use, and also will speed up future development as fewer things need to be considered.
  • Removed the read-only mouse preferences page.
  • Removed Printing options.
  • Removed Screenshot tool. To make a screenshot, use Win+Shift+S (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+4 (Mac) instead.
  • Removed Karaoke view.
  • Removed the "solo=none" preference.
  • Removed timeline tooltips preference.
  • Removed "dragging selection edges" preference.
  • Removed some warning dialogs and associated preferences.
  • Removed "scrolling left of zero" preference.
  • Replaced "Advanced Vertical Zooming" with new always-on behavior.
  • Removed some vertical zoom presets.
  • Removed EQ XML to TXT converter, which was needed for the Audacity 2.3 -> 2.4 transition. It is now a plugin instead, downloadable at https://plugins.audacityteam.org/additional-resources/eq-curves/eq-xml-to-txt-converter.
  • Removed the "Vocal reduction and isolation" effect. As a replacement on Windows and Linux, the Intel OpenVINO plugins work better and on a wider array of content, including mono tracks. The old effect still can be downloaded from https://plugins.audacityteam.org/nyquist-plugins/effect-plugins/filters-and-eq#vocal-reduction-and-isolation
  • Bugfixes:
  • Fixed a number of dialogs that were able to grow too large to fit on the screen.
  • 2133 Fixed the playback cursor sometimes desynchronizing with actual playback. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 3723 #5615 Fixed the GetInfo scripting command.
  • 5283 Fixed "Reset configuration" command breaking modules preference page.
  • 5389 Fixed stereo tracks randomly splitting into mono.
  • 5500 The Export Audio -> (external program) option remembers the command line argument again.
  • 5670 #3903 Fixed the Compressor effect sometimes corrupting audio. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 5580 #4952 Fixed Timer Record sometimes failing to export. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 5681 Fixed incorrect level measurements for mono tracks in Noise Gate effect. (Thanks, Steve Daulton!)
  • 5750 When exporting multiple files, the mono/stereo setting is now honored properly.
  • 5848 Fixed some effects failing when language is set to German, Korean, Dutch, Slovenian, or Turkish.
  • 5868 #1548 Fixed 8 and 9 inputs not working on keyboard inputs which have AltGr+8/9 mean [ and ]. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 5858 Fixed Audacity crashing when making a stereo track using keyboard. (Thanks, Joe Souza!)
  • 5976 Fixed the "Set default" button not working in the metadata editor. (Thanks, dg-no-9!)
  • 5977 Linux: Fixed a memory leak in Wayland by explicitly running on X11. (Thanks, Takahashi, Naoki!)

New in Portable Audacity 3.5.0 Beta 3 (Apr 1, 2024)

  • Audio previews for the projects are generated only on demand
  • Bug fixes

New in Portable Audacity 3.5.0 Beta 2 (Mar 7, 2024)

  • compared to Beta 1:
  • Tweaked the Cloud flow and fixed some bugs related to it
  • Added a "Share audio" menu item in the file menu
  • Changed the timeline options button from a green triangle to a settings gear. From it, you can switch between Beats & Measures or hh:mm:ss timeline rulers, set various preferences regarding to looping, as well as playhead behaviors: "Scroll view to playhead" (previously: "Update display while playing") and "Continuous scrolling" (previously: Pinned Play Head).

New in Portable Audacity 3.5.0 Beta (Mar 1, 2024)

  • Major changes:
  • Cloud project saving
  • We've introduced a new cloud-saving feature that allows you to save your Audacity projects to audio.com. This allows you to work from any device, share & collaborate with others and restore previous versions if something went wrong.
  • Automatic tempo detection
  • Audacity can now automatically detect the tempo of imported loops, and adjust them to be in tempo.
  • Tempo detection is done via both audio analysis and metadata checking. If you want to prepare your loop for automatic tempo detection without relying on audio analysis, both acidizer tempo tags or simply writing "123 bpm" anywhere into the filename work.
  • Automatic tempo detection can be turned off via Preferences -> Import/Export.
  • Pitch shifting
  • You now can non-destructively change the pitch of a clip by holding Alt and pressing the Up and Down arrow keys. Alternatively, you can click on the overflow menu (...) and select "Pitch and speed...". When changing the pitch this way, an arrow in the UI indicates how much you've shifted it.
  • Other changes:
  • Changes:
  • Added an option to skip plugin scanning to Preferences -> Effects.
  • Improved accessibility. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • When zooming in vertically (Ctrl+scroll on the vertical scale), the zeroline now remains centered. Moving the vertical zoom off-center still is possible via Shift+scroll on the vertical scale.
  • Changed the look of the selection adjust cursors (previously pointing fingers on Windows and macOS, now look like >| everywhere).
  • Changed the timeline options button from a green triangle to a settings gear. From it, you can switch between Beats & Measures or hh:mm:ss timeline rulers, set various preferences regarding to looping, as well as playhead behaviors: "Scroll view to playhead" (previously: "Update display while playing") and "Continuous scrolling" (previously: Pinned Play Head).
  • Improved BSD support. (Thanks, Brad Smith!)
  • macOS: Changed the Audacity.app icon on macOS to fit new design guidelines.
  • Added an overflow menu, as well as speed and pitch indicators to clips.
  • Reordered some menus.
  • Removals:
  • There have been a number of removals of niche features to simplify the app. This should make the app a bit less overwhelming to use, and also will speed up future development as fewer things need to be considered.
  • Removed the read-only mouse preferences page.
  • Removed Printing options.
  • Removed Screenshot tool. To make a screenshot, use Win+Shift+S (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+4 (Mac) instead.
  • Removed Karaoke view.
  • Removed the "solo=none" preference.
  • Removed timeline tooltips preference.
  • Removed "dragging selection edges" preference.
  • Removed some warning dialogs and associated preferences.
  • Removed "scrolling left of zero" preference.
  • Replaced "Advanced Vertical Zooming" with new always-on behavior.
  • Removed some vertical zoom presets.
  • Removed EQ XML to TXT converter, which was needed for the Audacity 2.3 -> 2.4 transition. It is now a plugin instead, downloadable at https://plugins.audacityteam.org/additional-resources/eq-curves/eq-xml-to-txt-converter.
  • Bugfixes:
  • Fixed a number of dialogs that were able to grow too large to fit on the screen.
  • 2133 Fixed the playback cursor sometimes desynchronizing with actual playback. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 3723 #5615 Fixed the GetInfo scripting command.
  • 5283 Fixed "Reset configuration" command breaking modules preference page.
  • 5389 Fixed stereo tracks randomly splitting into mono.
  • 5500 The Export Audio -> (external program) option remembers the command line argument again.
  • 5670 #3903 Fixed the Compressor effect sometimes corrupting audio. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 5580 #4952 Fixed Timer Record sometimes failing to export. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 5681 Fixed incorrect level measurements for mono tracks in Noise Gate effect. (Thanks, Steve Daulton!)
  • 5750 When exporting multiple files, the mono/stereo setting is now honored properly.
  • 5848 Fixed some effects failing when language is set to German, Korean, Dutch, Slovenian, or Turkish.
  • 5868 #1548 Fixed 8 and 9 inputs not working on keyboard inputs which have AltGr+8/9 mean [ and ]. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
  • 5858 Fixed Audacity crashing when making a stereo track using keyboard. (Thanks, Joe Souza!)
  • 5976 Fixed the "Set default" button not working in the metadata editor. (Thanks, dg-no-9!)
  • 5977 Linux: Fixed a memory leak in Wayland by explicitly running on X11. (Thanks, Takahashi, Naoki!)

New in Portable Audacity 3.4.2 (Nov 17, 2023)

  • Fix a crash when opening projects with zero-length clips.
  • When exporting a file, the sample rate of the tracks is now considered, and last-used sample rate is remembered.
  • Copy-pasting now pastes into audio again by default. This can be changed via Preferences -> Track Behavior -> Always paste audio as new clips.
  • Mix and render now also resets the gain for the resulting track.
  • Fix clips shifting to the right when effects are applied to them.
  • Fix clicks occurring when overdubbing a project with muted tracks.
  • Fix files being exported without a file extension in rare cases.
  • Show all sample rates possible for MP2 exports.
  • Fix pasting into labels.
  • Fix a crash when clearing loops.
  • Fix copying when "select all audio if selection required" is enabled.
  • Fix GTK detection and compilation for wxWidgets 3.2.4.
  • Fix Nyquist-related crashes.
  • Fix EQs in macros.
  • Fix a crash when closing Audacity.
  • Fix builds on armhf.

New in Portable Audacity 3.4.1 (Nov 9, 2023)

  • Fix 24-bit recording.
  • Fix a crash with .aup importing.
  • Fix crossfading of clips and tracks.
  • Exporting multiple files honors sample rate settings again.
  • Fix crashes related to external program exports.
  • Fix BSD and ARM builds.
  • Ctrl+J is now a standard shortcut for joining clips.
  • Stereo tracks no longer randomly split into mono.
  • When exporting a file, the file extension is now always added (except for custom FFmpeg and external program exports).
  • Fix a crash when exporting Opus with older CPUs that don't support AVX.

New in Portable Audacity 3.4.0 (Nov 2, 2023)

  • Other changes:
  • For MP3, Audacity now always uses Joint Stereo mode, which always delivers the best possible quality.
  • ​
  • The spectrogram colors are now perceptually uniform, and the colormap has gotten a name: Roseus. It also can be used for dataviz outside of Audacity, see
  • Simplified pasting logic:
  • Simplified stereo tracks. Left and right channels now always have synchronized clip starts and ends, and the same sample rate in both channels.
  • Added cursors trimming and stretching left and right, and changed the I-beam cursor to be less similar to either
  • When importing audio, the project sample rate no longer changes
  • New defaults: The Time Signature toolbar now gets shown, the solo button is set to multi-track mode, time tracks have a wider starting range
  • ​
  • Unsquished the Audacity logo found in some places of the app
  • ​
  • Clicking on the border of two clips no longer merges them
  • ​
  • Built-in Opus support.
  • Libraries:
  • ​ implements a time stretching algorithm originating in
  • . It currently is one of the highest-quality time stretching algorithms for music on the market.
  • Audacity now uses Conan 2.
  • Continued extracting code into libraries and modules.
  • Bug fixes:
  • --nogap metadata no longer is ignored
  • fixed a crash with LV2 plugins (thanks jfroyall!)
  • fixed some crashes related to macros
  • fixed a crash when pasting in certain configurations
  • Accessibility: GUI can be disabled again for VST2 plugins (thanks, David Bailes!)
  • Accessibility: Restored window control IDs, improving NVDA compatibility (thanks again, David Bailes!)
  • fixed a crash on launch on OSX 10.9 (thanks, René Bertin!)
  • Overdubbing on Windows no longer fails with WASAPI with default Recording device.

New in Portable Audacity 3.4.0 Beta 1 (Oct 23, 2023)

  • Major changes:
  • Music workflows
  • Audacity now features several music related features, such as switching between hh:mm:ss time and Beats & Measures, and time-stretching clips to align them to a song's tempo.
  • Time stretching
  • Hold Alt (macOS: Option) while hovering over the top third of a clip edge to stretch it.
  • New exporter
  • Audacity now features a new export window with easier access to options such as sample rate and custom mapping (for 5.1 or 7.1 audio). Additionally, the "Browse" button uses the native file browser now!
  • Other changes:
  • For MP3, Audacity now always uses Joint Stereo mode, which always delivers the best possible quality.
  • 4720 Simplified pasting logic.
  • Simplified stereo tracks. Left and right channels now always have synchronized clip starts and ends, and the same sample rate in both channels.
  • 5014 Added cursors trimming and stretching left and right, and changed the I-beam cursor to be less similar to either.
  • 4448 When importing audio, the project sample rate no longer changes.
  • 5204 The spectrogram colors are now perceptually uniform, and the colormap has gotten a name: Roseus. It also can be used for dataviz outside of Audacity, see https://github.com/dofuuz/roseus for more info! (Thanks, Myungchul Keum)
  • New defaults: The Time Signature toolbar now gets shown, the solo button is set to multi-track mode, time tracks have a wider starting range.
  • 5291 Unsquished the Audacity logo found in some places of the app.
  • 2330 Clicking on the border of two clips no longer merges them.
  • 2530 Overdubbing on Windows fails with WASAPI with default Recording device.
  • 443 Built-in Opus support.
  • Libraries:
  • lib-time-and-pitch implements a time stretching algorithm originating in Staffpad.
  • Audacity now uses Conan 2.
  • Continued extracting code into libraries and modules, especially in the context of importing and exporting.
  • Bug fixes:
  • 3778 --nogap metadata no longer is ignored.
  • 4410 fixed a crash with LV2 plugins (thanks jfroyall!).
  • 2471 #4798 fixed some crashes related to macros.
  • 4769 fixed a crash when pasting in certain configurations.
  • 4677 Accessibility: GUI can be disabled again for VST2 plugins (thanks, David Bailes!).
  • 4988 Accessibility: Restored window control IDs, improving NVDA compatibility (thanks again, David Bailes!).
  • 4872 fixed a crash on launch on OSX 10.9 (thanks, René Bertin!).

New in Portable Audacity 3.3.3 (Jun 8, 2023)

  • Fixed EQ not scaling properly when resizing the window.
  • Fixed the audio.com upload flow.

New in Portable Audacity 3.3.2 (May 6, 2023)

  • This is a hotfix release. It fixes the following bugs:
  • Linux AppImage fails to start.
  • Issues with selection and time toolbars on Linux packages.
  • Missing duration input in generators on Linux packages.
  • Potentialy extreme memory usage with Jack host.
  • Anonymous upload to audio.com is disabled.

New in Portable Audacity 3.3.1 (Apr 28, 2023)

  • This is a hotfix release. It fixes the following bugs:
  • #4600 Fixed cut lines massively inflating project size.
  • #4612 Fixed custom project sample rates being uneditable.
  • #4604 Fixed crash reporting being disabled.
  • #4234 Audacity now shows an error if the upload to audio.com exceeds file size limits.
  • #4114 Fixed an error in calculating channels when uploading to audio.com.

New in Portable Audacity 3.3.0 (Apr 24, 2023)

  • Changes:
  • Some of the built-in effects are now realtime capable (Bass & Treble, Distortion, Phaser, Reverb and Wahwah).
  • #4352 Added a new effect: Shelf Filter.
  • Added an initial (beta) version of Beats and Bars.
  • #4414 Reworked the bottom toolbar dock:
  • Project Sample Rate is now found in Audio Setup -> Audio Settings (formerly known as Project Rate).
  • The Snapping Toolbar (formerly known as Snap-To) is now independent of the Selection Toolbar.
  • Added a new Time Signature Toolbar (beta). It is hidden by default.
  • #4212 Improved Zooming behavior slightly (more to come in the future).
  • #4393 Added a new ruler, Linear (dB). This ruler goes from 0 dBFS to -∞ dBFS and better reflects the volume as shown in the recording/playback meters.
  • #3820 When copying clips between projects, you now can choose between whether to copy smart clips or just the visible portion.
  • #4133 Added a delete button to the Cut/Copy/Paste toolbar.
  • Bugfixes:
  • #1584 Audacity no longer dithers tracks unnecessarily.
  • #2427 Linux playback now handles output latency better (less stutters).
  • #3796 The EQ effect no longer resets clip names.
  • #3801 Audacity no longer crashes when trying to load projects with plugins that since have been deleted.
  • #4417 Resampling a track no longer trims it.
  • Libraries:
  • FFmpeg 6 (avformat 60) is now supported.
  • Moved from Breakpad to Crashpad.
  • Extracted various libraries from within Audacity.

New in Portable Audacity 3.3.0 Beta 1 (Apr 15, 2023)

  • Changes:
  • Some of the built-in effects are now realtime capable (Bass & Treble, Distortion, Phaser, Reverb and Wahwah).
  • 4352 Added a new effect: Shelf Filter.
  • Added an initial (beta) version of Beats and Bars.
  • 4414 Reworked the bottom toolbar dock:
  • Project Sample Rate is now found in Audio Setup -> Audio Settings (formerly known as Project Rate).
  • The Snapping Toolbar (formerly known as Snap-To) is now independent of the Selection Toolbar.
  • Added a new Time Signature Toolbar (beta). It is hidden by default.
  • 4212 Improved Zooming behavior slightly (more to come in the future).
  • 4393 Added a new ruler, Linear (dB). This ruler goes from 0 dBFS to -8 dBFS and better reflects the volume as shown in the recording/playback meters.
  • 3820 When copying clips between projects, you now can choose between whether to copy smart clips or just the visible portion.
  • 4133 Added a delete button to the Cut/Copy/Paste toolbar.
  • Bugfixes:
  • 1584 Audacity no longer dithers tracks unnecessarily.
  • 2427 Linux playback now handles output latency better (less stutters).
  • 3796 The EQ effect no longer resets clip names.
  • 3801 Audacity no longer crashes when trying to load projects with plugins that since have been deleted.
  • 4417 Resampling a track no longer trims it.
  • Libraries:
  • FFmpeg 6 (avformat 60) is now supported.
  • Moved from Breakpad to Crashpad.
  • Extracted various libraries from within Audacity.

New in Portable Audacity 3.2.5 (Mar 1, 2023)

  • Fixes authorization flow for the audio.com sharing service.

New in Portable Audacity 3.2.4 (Jan 31, 2023)

  • This is a hotfix release. It fixes the following bug:
  • Fixed the meters not retaining size

New in Portable Audacity 3.2.3 (Dec 27, 2022)

  • This is a patch release for Audacity 3.2. It adds ability to share audio publicly and fixes some bugs:
  • #3884 Audio can now be shared publicly on audio.com
  • #4040 Fixed the screenshot tool
  • #4019 Selecting audio no longer marks the project as changed
  • #3693 A new toolbar with cut/copy/paste buttons has been added
  • #3216 Plain UI for VST3 plugins no longer show MIDI CC parameters
  • #2620 The effects sidebar no longer can fill the entire screen

New in Portable Audacity 3.2.2 (Dec 6, 2022)

  • 2850 VST2 effects are now realtime capable.
  • Additional plugins have been added to plugins.audacityteam.org
  • 3696 Improved accessibility of the meters
  • 3769 Fixed a crash when editing some macro parameters
  • 3792 Fixed some play commands getting stuck in play mode
  • 3670 Audacity no longer quietly discards changes in realtime effects but instead asks if you want to save before quitting
  • 3838 Plugin scanning now lets you skip individual plugins if scanning gets stuck on them
  • 3980 Plugin scanning no longer produces "Audacity crashed" windows when a plugin fails validation,
  • and no longer shows the plugins in the macOS dock during validation
  • 3883 Fixed an issue with labels losing focus on macOS Ventura
  • Fixed various plugin-specific issues

New in Portable Audacity 3.2.1 (Oct 5, 2022)

  • Fixed Audacity crashing on startup on some systems.
  • Fixed a crash when applying Waves Berzerk Distortion Mono to a mono track
  • Fixed a freeze when very quickly starting and stopping playback.
  • macOS: Homebrew FFmpeg installs are now found automatically
  • macOS: Fixed Melda VST Plugin UI
  • Building with VST3 support is now possible without Conan.

New in Portable Audacity 3.2.0 (Sep 23, 2022)

  • Prominent changes:
  • Added a new Effects button to the tracks menu, allowing you to place realtime effects.
  • Further information can be found can be found on https://support.audacityteam.org/audio-editing/using-realtime-effects
  • Merged the mixer bar with the meter bars.
  • Added a new Audio Setup button, replacing the Device Toolbar by default. The device toolbar can be re-added via the View > Toolbars menu.
  • The Effects menu has gotten a new sorting. Other sorting and grouping options can be found in the Effects preferences.
  • Updated the icons.
  • Added a quick audio sharing feature.
  • More info can be found on https://support.audacityteam.org/basics/sharing-audio-online
  • Plugin changes:
  • You can find plugins on https://plugins.audacityteam.org
  • VST3 effects are now supported.
  • The following plugin formats are now realtime capable: VST3, LV2, LADSPA, Audio Units.
  • Plugins now automatically get scanned, tested and enabled when Audacity starts.
  • System changes:
  • Apple Silicon (arm64) is now supported on macOS
  • Note: When using an arm64 Audacity, you must use arm64 versions of FFMPEG and plugins. Plugins for x86-64 (Intel macs) will not load.
  • For the time being, Audacity will continue to download x86-64 versions by default to avoid these incompatibilities,
  • but you can download an arm64 version from Github releases: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/releases
  • FFMPEG 5.0 (avformat 59) is now supported, in addition to avformat 55, 57 and 58
  • Added support for Wavpack
  • On Linux, Audacity can now be compiled without JACK present.
  • Audacity now uses XDG directories on Linux.
  • Note: If you are upgrading from a previous version, Audacity will keep using the ~/.audacity-data and ~/.audacity folders until you delete them.
  • Switched from mad to mpg123 as MP3 importer
  • License update:
  • Audacity binaries are now licensed under the GNU General Public License, Version 3.
  • Most code files remain GPLv2-or-later, but VST3 support required this license update.
  • More information can be found in the announcement post: #2142
  • Removals:
  • Removed the Zoom Tool. You can use the zoom buttons or Ctrl+Scroll (macOS: Cmd+Scroll) to zoom instead.
  • The Audacity Manual HTML pages are no longer included in the installation.
  • If you require offline access of the manual, you can download it here: https://github.com/audacity/audacity-manual/releases
  • You also can download PDFs of https://support.audacityteam.org straight from its sidebar (or the three-dot button on mobile devices).
  • Fixed bugs:
  • 3079 Fixed Audacity sometimes not being able to import MP3 files (or reporting Huffman Data Overruns)
  • 2590 Fixed rare data loss bug when placing labels during recording
  • 2272 Fixed clip titles being able to disappear off-screen when editing them
  • 2162 Fixed Punch and Roll not paying tracks in sync
  • 1889 Fixed clip titles changing name when applying some effects
  • 1624 During batch processing, Audacity will no longer stop to ask for a sample rate when an unsupported one is chosen, but choose the nearest supported one instead.
  • 2265 Fixed mod-script-pipe not being installed on Linux
  • 3571 Fixed GTK packaging in Appimages. This fixes various issues with icons, dropdowns and similar things not appearing properly.
  • 3634 Improved M4A/AAC support. Previously the target bitrate was not honored at all,
  • now it can be set between 98 and 160 kbit/s (mono) or 196 and 320 kbit/s (stereo). The UI does not yet reflect these limits.

New in Portable Audacity 3.1.3 (Dec 23, 2021)

  • Improved performance. Loading in projects especially should now be up to 50x faster compared to 3.1.0. #2121 #2087 #2065 #2267
  • Added snap guides when resizing clips #2066
  • Added new shortcuts for looping: Shift+L for "Set Loop to Selection", Shift+Alt+L for "Clear Looping Region" #2209
  • Added a new selection region indicator in the timeline (identical in function as the one found pre-3.1, but with updated visuals)​ #206
  • Changed error messages to look less like a crash report #2178
  • Re-added the Quick Play indicator (green triangle and line) that got lost during 3.1.0 development #2122
  • Fixed Play-at-speed not updating the playback speed dynamically #2149
  • Fixed looping regions being created unintentionally when attempting to use Timeline Quick Play #2182
  • Fixed looping sometimes playing the wrong audio #2103
  • Fixed a bug that could cause data-loss when joining multiple clips #2226
  • Fixed scrub preview visibility #2294
  • Fixed a bug when trying to locate FFMPEG manually #2282
  • Fixed a glitch with Loop Playback #2314
  • Fixed a crash and a macOS-specific bug when renaming sync-locked clips using a dialog box. #2199, #2198
  • Fixed a crash when releasing a clip handle #2147
  • Fixed a freeze when closing Audacity with the logging window open #2114
  • Fixed a crash when loading a saved project using certain compilers #2216
  • Fixed a crash on paste after running macros #2021
  • Fixed a crash when cancelling a nyquist prompt #2239

New in Portable Audacity 3.1.2 (Nov 16, 2021)

  • Fixed UTF8 support in clip titles #2135
  • Fixed data loss on joining clips #2123
  • Fixed a crash with exporting resampled tracks #2136
  • Fixed a crash when opening projects with very small double values #2128

New in Portable Audacity 3.1.1 (Nov 11, 2021)

  • Fixed FFMPEG imports only importing the left channel #2046
  • Improved Audacity's performance when many clips are present
  • Fixed a crash with detach at silences #2072
  • Fixed clip name corruption when applying effects to adjacent clips #1889
  • Fixed a crash with the time shift commands #2061
  • Fixed custom themes not working #2043

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.4 (Aug 24, 2021)

  • This is a hotfix release that fixes a bug with envelope points, which could multiply uncontrollably and cause Audacity to crash. In particular:
  • #1476: Envelope points are multiplied when using Filter Curve EQ or Graphic EQ
  • #1477: Filter Curve EQ will crash if there is an envelope point outside of the selection
  • This fix re-introduces an earlier, but way less destructive bug:
  • bugzilla 208 / #1500: Some effects delete Envelope Control Points, or do not move them when timeline changes
  • Other than that, this release is identical to Version 3.0.3.

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.3 (Jul 26, 2021)

  • Key improvements:
  • Windows version is now 64-bit
  • (Note: 32-bit plug-ins will not work on 64-bit Audacity)
  • Improved default spectrogram colors
  • We now provide an official binary for Linux in the form of an AppImage
  • Update checking: Audacity can now check to see if there is a newer version available
  • Error reporting: this is a new dialog where users can choose to send us the details of a serious error
  • Multiple bugs fixed

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.2 (Apr 19, 2021)

  • Bug fixes and new macro output preference.

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.2 RC 2 (Apr 14, 2021)

  • Improvements:
  • More information to help Audacity developers is now provided with most error reports.
  • Manage Macros dialog is now clearer about how to save and close the dialog, thanks to changes in buttons.
  • In MP3 export we removed a legacy option for a slower encoding that is no better than the faster one.

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.2 RC 2 (Apr 14, 2021)

  • Improvements:
  • More information to help Audacity developers is now provided with most error reports.
  • Manage Macros dialog is now clearer about how to save and close the dialog, thanks to changes in buttons.
  • In MP3 export we removed a legacy option for a slower encoding that is no better than the faster one.

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.2 RC 1 (Apr 12, 2021)

  • Accessibility:
  • Less of Audacity is properly accessible to visually impaired users than we would like. Currently the best supported platform for accessibility is Windows. We lost a lot of custom accessibility programming when we had to move to a more recent version of the wxWidgets library.
  • Internationalization:
  • Audacity is only partially translated in many languages. We also have some issues, for example, with Right-To-Left Languages.
  • Selected Bugzilla-Tracked Bugs:
  • "Failed to open the project database"
  • Enh: De-clutter Plug-in Manager
  • Faux recovery offered on launch (very moonphase)

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.1 RC 1 (Apr 8, 2021)

  • Improvements:
  • More information to help Audacity developers is now provided with most error reports.
  • Manage Macros dialog is now clearer about how to save and close the dialog, thanks to changes in buttons.
  • In MP3 export we removed a legacy option for a slower encoding that is no better than the faster one.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Over 30 bugs in 3.0.0 fixed, including
  • 2676 - Export: Incorrect handling over 0 dB
  • 2692 - Mac: VI users get trapped in radio buttons of Keyboard Preferences
  • 2694 - Coloring of tracks in Mixer Board are awry
  • 2696 - Metadata Editor: changed size is not remembered/restored on next use
  • 2697 - Linux: AUP3 projects use incorrect char size on "differently"
  • configured wxWidgets
  • 2698 - Noise Gate fails silently if "hold" is non-zero
  • 2699 - Windows: Cannot edit labels with emoji in them correctly
  • 2701 - Progress dialog interferes with scripting
  • 2703 - Mac: EGAT preview dialog is hidden behind the EGAT dialog
  • 2704 - Mac: Stop button in EGATs with Preview does nor stop the preview
  • 2706 - Win: Vocal Reduction and Isolation most options fail
  • 2707 - Opened projects not being removed from "audacity.cfg"
  • 2708 - Nyquist effects fail silently with One hour plus stereo
  • 2709 - Mac: Missing sub-menu check marks in French
  • 2710 - Compressor with audio before T=0 crashes Audacity
  • 2714 - (Japanese & Korean) "Unable to parse project information"
  • 2716 - Cleared "Recent Files" are restored on next launch
  • 2718 - Failed to execute a project file command (on server)
  • 2720 - Cannot open project that's in a read only folder - error message vague
  • 2722 - Noise Gate fails on a one hour stereo selection
  • Some Known Issues in 3.0.1:
  • We have two significant bugs we would like help in tracking down:
  • Audacity may occasionally report "Failed to open the project database". We don't think this is causing people to lose data.
  • Audacity may offer to 'recover' a project at start up, when there is nothing to recover.

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.0 (Mar 17, 2021)

  • New Features:
  • MP3 exports and imports without padding:
  • Audacity now supports LAME's gapless playback info, allowing MP3s to be exported and imported without additional padding.
  • Other applications that support the LAME tag, for example audio player applications, will be able to read MP3 files exported by Audacity without the padding.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • In less than a month we have fixed a further 41 bugs in this maintenance release.
  • Key P1 bugs fixed:
  • Crash when importing (or editing) to a disk with insufficient disk space available
  • WAV Export runs 6 to 7 times slower than on 2.3.3
  • Macros with Nyquist effects don't apply saved parameters
  • Mix Stereo down to Mono fails if space at start of track.
  • With an empty rules list in "Extended Import" prefs - Tab or Home crashes Audacity
  • Key P2 bugs fixed:
  • Undocking meter toolbars while playing/recording results in a frozen meter
  • A region label gets split on inserting audio when Sync-lock is turned on
  • Time toolbar displays incorrect time if project rate isn't 44100
  • Time toolbar: Opening and closing preferences resets format to hh:mm:ss
  • Nyquist Effects do not display a Progress Dialog if run from a Macro.
  • Real-time effects - Enable checkbox has no effect
  • Mix and Render to New Track selects left channel of new stereo track
  • Audacity 2.3.3 config with Spectral Selection toolbar corrupts lower dock in 2.4.x and can crash
  • Possible crash when clearing text field in Gain dialog

New in Portable Audacity 3.0.0 RC2 (Feb 22, 2021)

  • Improvements:
  • Audacity now uses 'aup3' format, with all audio in one file, rather than
  • The previous 'pile of file' format. We are using the SQLite library to
  • Manageis the contents of this file. Too many users were previously getting
  • Caught out by copying part of the project only, when backing up.
  • 'Backup Project' command replaces 'Save Lossless Copy of Project' and 'Save
  • Compressed Copy of Project'
  • Added Corsican and Marathi languages.
  • 'Label Sounds' replaces 'Sound Finder' and 'Silence Finder'.
  • Added Import and Export of Macros.
  • Added Attack, Hold and Delay times to Noise Gate.
  • Added Multi-View option to Track Preferences
  • Added hidden (bindable to shortcuts) commands for repeating last generator,
  • Analyzer or tool. Previously only most recent effect could be repeated.
  • Upgraded Nyquist to 3.16
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Over 160 bugs in 2.4.2 fixed, including:
  • 208 - Some effects (including equalization effects) delete Envelope Control
  • Points, or do not move them when timeline changes
  • 2367 - Change Pitch effect may create spurious clip at end
  • 2492 - Linux: Crash when applying or previewing Sliding Stretch effect on
  • Stereo track
  • 2544 - "Editing a clip can move other clips" turned off can cause corruption
  • When copying and pasting audio
  • 2630 - A project saved with an imported MP3 with Unicode metadata cannot be opened
  • 2656 - Cannot horizontal scroll when paused in Play-at-Speed
  • 2669 - Win: Save As can be used to overwrite the existing project without
  • Warning
  • 1300 - Mac: COMMAND + V paste limitations in standard file save dialogs
  • 1579 - Mac: Cut/Copy from file save dialogs using shortcuts does not work
  • 2187 - No error/warning message when using a missing aliased audio file
  • 2296 - There is no Import or Export for Macros
  • 2464 - Cannot drag just the selected audio and label with Time Shift Tool
  • 2437 - Mac: "Open with" fails when Audacity is running
  • 2473 - Linux: Numbers on meters have opaque backgrounds
  • 2487 - Playback meters do not respond during preview of non-real-time effects
  • 2491 - Reset Configuration does not reset Extended Import preferences
  • 2509 - Filter curve and Graphic EQ help links are broken in release version
  • 2527 - Reset Configuration does not reset Project rate or selection timers
  • 2573 - High / Low Pass filters limited to ~94 mins stereo at 44100 Hz
  • 2581 - Inconsistent behavior when pasting and not enough room
  • 2593 - Play-at-Speed does not play unless you have used normal Play first
  • 2616 - Labelled Audio Cut and Delete disabled by Sync-Lock

New in Portable Audacity 2.4.2 (Jun 26, 2020)

  • Easy configuration reset:
  • A new command has been added to the Tools menu: Tools > Reset Configuration. This resets your Audacity configuration, preferences, export settings and toolbars, to default settings. User presets in Effects, Generators and Analyzers are left untouched, as are any Macros you may have created and plug-ins. Please see Reset Configuration for further details.
  • MP3 exports and imports without padding:
  • Audacity now supports LAME's gapless playback info, allowing MP3s to be exported and imported without additional padding.
  • Other applications that support the LAME tag, for example audio player applications, will be able to read MP3 files exported by Audacity without the padding.
  • Key P1 bugs fixed:
  • P1 2442 - Windows: Crash when importing (or editing) to a disk with insufficient disk space available
  • P1 2449 - Mac: Attempting to export as M4A(AAC) yields an FFmpeg error message
  • P1 2457 - Windows: WAV Export runs 6 to 7 times slower than on 2.3.3
  • P1 2459 - Macros with Nyquist effects don't apply saved parameters
  • P1 2471 - Mix Stereo down to Mono fails if space at start of track.
  • P1 2478 - Windows: with an empty rules list in "Extended Import" prefs - Tab or Home crashes Audacity
  • P1 2479 - Mac: AudioUnit effects are not applied if you initially use the preview
  • P1 2484 - Win/Linux: OPUS import fails
  • Key P2 bugs fixed:
  • P2 2403 - Undocking meter toolbars while playing/recording results in a frozen meter
  • P2 2408 - A region label gets split on inserting audio when Sync-lock is turned on
  • P2 2418 - Time toolbar displays incorrect time if project rate isn't 44100
  • P2 2419 - Time toolbar: Opening and closing preferences resets format to hh:mm:ss
  • P2 2428 - Nyquist Effects do not display a Progress Dialog if run from a Macro.
  • P2 2431 - Real-time effects - Enable checkbox has no effect
  • P2 2439 - Mix and Render to New Track selects left channel of new stereo track
  • P2 2443 - Mac/Linux: Old (PowerPC) projects open flat-lined or with corrupted display on Intel machines
  • P2 2456 - audacity 2.3.3 config with Spectral Selection toolbar corrupts lower dock in 2.4.x and can crash
  • P2 2458 - Possible crash when clearing text field in Gain dialog

New in Portable Audacity 2.4.1 (May 21, 2020)

  • Audacity 2.4.1 replaces all previous versions. It contains a rapid fix for a serious bug in the briefly issued Audacity 2.4.0 release.

New in Portable Audacity 2.4.0 (May 16, 2020)

  • We’ve temporarily re-instated the 2.3.3 release for downloads whilst we investigate a serious bug that affects 2.4.0 on Windows Mac and Linux. The bug causes loss/corruption of audio.
  • Currently we think the bug happens when you have two projects open at the same time and paste audio from one project into the other. Thanks to Jack L from FreeBSD for alerting us to the problem and giving us steps to reproduce it.
  • Hitting the big Time
  • Export and Import of settings in effects
  • Multi-view
  • Opus export
  • Changed behaviors for resizing and moving labels
  • Spectrograms now show Clip Boundaries
  • Selecting Waveform dB
  • Scrubbing using the keyboard
  • Muting and Unmuting selected tracks
  • Changes to Play head pinning
  • New effects and a new analyzer:
  • Loudness Normalization
  • Measure RMS
  • Noise Gate
  • Spectral Delete
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Key P1 bugs fixed:
  • P1 2227 - Mac: Audacity does not run properly on macOS 10.15 Catalina
  • P1 2237 - Equalization effects have no Import or Export for curves
  • P1 2261 - Graphic EQ sliders have no frequency labels
  • P1 2265 - Track heights are reset to default on project re-opening
  • P1 2303 - Playback does not start at the saved cursor position on reopening a saved project.
  • P1 2314 - Zoom in fail when playing
  • Key P2 bugs fixed:
  • P2 2062 - Export as WAV does not remember the previously used setting
  • P2 2214 - Rendering a single track unnecessarily moves the track to project bottom
  • P2 2218 - Rendering a single track unnecessarily strips it of its properties
  • P2 2345 - "Ignore blank space" Preference fails on Export Multiple based on "Tracks"
  • P2 2358 - Loop Quick-Play does not scroll when playing
  • P2 2382 - Timer record: if a labels are present recording starts at last label position - not cursor position

New in Portable Audacity 2.4.0 RC 5 (May 5, 2020)

  • RC05 of Audacity 2.4.0, for testing only

New in Portable Audacity 2.3.3 (Nov 22, 2019)

  • Improvements:
  • Equalization effect now split into two effects, Filter Curve and Graphic EQ.
  • Presets (using manage button) now active/working.
  • Can now have two points at same frequency for steep steps.
  • 'What you hear is what you get' for exports. Formerly the solo button preferences could lead to differences in which tracks were exported.
  • Leading silence (blank space) not skipped over in exports.
  • Quality setting on AAC/M4A exports.
  • Some confusing functionality removed (better achieved in other ways)
  • Removed Nyquist Workbench (use built-in nyquist features)
  • Removed Vocal Remover (use Vocal Reduction)
  • Removed On-Demand aliased files (copy files instead)
  • Removed 'Normalize on Load' (Normalize as needed on export, instead)

New in Portable Audacity 2.3.3 RC 3 (Nov 15, 2019)

  • Changes since version 2.3.2:
  • Equalization effect now split into two effects, Filter Curve and Graphic EQ
  • Presets (using manage button) now active/working
  • Can now have two points at same frequency for steep steps
  • What you hear is what you get' for exports. Formerly the solo button
  • preferences could lead to differences in which tracks were exported
  • Leading silence (blank space) not skipped over in exports
  • Quality setting on AAC/M4A exports
  • Some confusing functionality removed (better achieved in other ways)
  • Removed Nyquist Workbench (use built-in nyquist features)
  • Removed Vocal Remover (use Vocal Reduction)
  • Removed On-Demand aliased files (copy files instead)
  • Removed 'Normalize on Load' (Normalize as needed on export, instead)
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Over 150 bugs in 2.3.2 fixed, including:
  • 2112 - Crash when opening Equalization settings in a Macro
  • 2127 - Crash deleting a track while in Record/Pause state
  • 2176 - Crash when attempting to time shift multiple tracks
  • 2141 - Tabbing between labels stopped working
  • 2200 - Refusal to export some large (4GB) files on size grounds

New in Portable Audacity 2.3.2 (Nov 15, 2019)

  • Audacity now includes the LAME MP3 encoder. Previously, due to now expired patents, you had to download it separately.
  • There is a new Select button in the track panel to select the whole track.
  • Audacity mod-script-pipe for driving Audacity from Python now comes with Audacity and it can be enabled via preferences.
  • Over 20 bugs fixed since 2.3.1. The most serious bug was that Audacity 2.3.1 would crash if append-recording to a collapsed track.

New in Portable Audacity 2.3.1 (Mar 8, 2019)

  • Over 20 bugs fixed, and a few small improvements/changes to features (since 2.3.0):
  • That annoying message from Apple saying: “32-bit support will be going the way of the dodo”, no longer shows when you install Audacity on Mac. The new 64-bit Audacity works with 64-bit libraries. To use FFmpeg or MP3 libraries with 64-bit Audacity, you will need to download the updated 64-bit versions.
  • On Windows, you may find that recording is disabled until you change Windows permissions for the microphone! That’s a security feature introduced by Windows. This affects all versions of Audacity, and affects many other audio programs.
  • New:
  • Options and preferences:
  • Microfades are now an opt-in feature. They were always on in 2.3.0.
  • The advanced vertical zooming option is now available in the View->Zoom menu.
  • Regular interval labels now support range labels.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Over 20 bugs that were in 2.3.0 fixed, including:
  • A crashing bug on Linux that made Audacity 2.3.0. unsuitable for Linux.
  • Crash on Mac when right clicking on label.
  • Problems with Change Pitch, including not remembering parameter values.

New in Portable Audacity 2.3.0 (Sep 30, 2018)

  • Over 90 bugs fixed since 2.2.2.
  • Includes fixes to Timer Record, and to 'Envelope Points'.
  • New feature - "Punch and Roll Recording".
  • Toolbars controlling volume and speed can now be resized for greater precision.
  • Play-at-Speed now can be adjusted whilst playing.
  • Macros (formerly 'Chains') substantially extended.
  • Pinned-play-head can now be repositioned by dragging.
  • Full details of new features in the visual guide to New Features in 2.3.0

New in Portable Audacity 2.2.2 (Feb 21, 2018)

  • Changes and improvements:
  • Dropout detection
  • Improved zooming
  • Vertical Zooming changes
  • Extra menu
  • Theme tweaks
  • Other Changes
  • Bug fixes:
  • Multiple use of "Save As" to the existing open project can result in data corruption/loss
  • Crash undoing during record, using Discard button of History window
  • Exporting audio in compressed formats to device with insufficient space produces inconsistent/truncated results
  • In Export Multiple, Cancel does not remove the file that is in progress when Cancel is chosen
  • Crash using SBSMS pitch change at low sample rate
  • Installer has old logo for 2.2.1 and 2.2.0
  • (Mac) Equalization: "Telephone" curve displays a flat line, no sound on Preview
  • Toolbars: open undocked if previously not shown, unless Reset Toolbars first
  • Analysis effects that create labels should give focus to label track
  • Control value may be out of range when using FloatingPointValidator
  • Analysis effects produce false indication that a label is open for editing
  • Import Uncompressed File Dialog Incorrect Reference to Menu Item
  • Wave Color not grayed out in TCP dropdown menu when in Spectrogram view
  • Hover indication on note track channel toggle appears on all tracks (when they rerender)
  • Unicode page encodings fixed ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
  • Un-muting with a single track unnecessarily activates the Solo button
  • Applying chain to file should zoom-to-fit

New in Portable Audacity 2.2.1 (Dec 7, 2017)

  • New features:
  • Waveform colorways
  • "Save Other" reverts to "Export"
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Bug #1767 - Opening a second project from Mac's Finder produces a second inaccessible instance of Audacity
  • Bug #1770 - Crash applying certain chain files
  • Bug #1783 - Preview fails when selection extends before zero
  • Bug #1787 - Auto-scroll stopped working in 2.2.0
  • Bug #1765 - Using File > Open to import audio gives wrong zoom level and no scroll bar slider