This version adds realtime effects and VST3.

Prominent changes

• Added a new Effects button to the tracks menu, allowing you to place realtime effects. Further information 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) and Universal Binaries are now supported on macOS
• 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: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/2142

Other changes

• Removed the Zoom Tool. You can use the zoom buttons or Ctrl+Scroll (macOS: Cmd+Scroll) to zoom instead.

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

This version adds realtime effects and VST3.

Prominent changes

• Added a new Effects button to the tracks menu, allowing you to place realtime effects. Further information 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.

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) and Universal Binaries are now supported on macOS
• 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: https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/2142

Other changes

• Removed the Zoom Tool. You can use the zoom buttons or Ctrl+Scroll (macOS: Cmd+Scroll) to zoom instead.

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

This is a patch release. It improves the following aspects:

• 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)​ #2067

• 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

This is a hotfix release. It improves project performance significantly (up to 50x) compared to 3.1.0, and fixes the following bugs:

• Fixes a crash when releasing a clip handle #2147

This is a hotfix release. It fixes the following bugs:

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

This is a hotfix release. It fixes the following bugs:

• 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

Other than that, this release is identical to Audacity 3.1.0

This release introduces clip handles, smart clips and playback looping as its major new features.

Smaller changes:

• Context menus have been added in more places.
• In the preferences, Tracks > Track behaviors > Editing a clip can move other clips is now disabled by default
• The spectrogram defaults have been changed: scale type to Mel (was Linear), top of scale to 20000 Hz (was 8000 Hz), window size to 2048 (was 1024), and zero padding to 2 (was 1).
• The main volume controls no longer change the system volume.
• Raw Import now will remember the previously used settings. Automatic detection of the format now is a button.
• A journaling feature has been added for QA purposes.
• Generate > Tone now supports triangle waves.
• There now exist "What's new" screens for the update and welcome dialogs.
• Timeline Quick Play for regions and locked regions have been replaced by playback looping.
• The shortcut to rename labels and clip names has temporarily been hardcoded to Ctrl+F2.
  • This conflicts with the default xfce shortcut to change workspaces.

Library changes:

• FFMPEG now supports avformat 55, 57 and 58.
• PortAudio has been updated to version 19.7 and devendored (so it can be built against 19.6).
• Several libraries (expat, libsndfile, ...) have been devendored. The CMakeLists.txt lists which versions we build against.

Fixed Bugs:

There are some 50 issues closed labeled as bug. Among them:

• AppImages support localization. #1382
• Progress bars for Nyquist generators have been made more accurate. #1856
• Rhythm tracks can no longer drift off-time by 2ms over 9 minutes; they're now sample-accurate. #1853
• The play button has regained a pixel or two to become a triangle once more. #1792
• Auto Duck has been made way more accurate and should no longer miss sections above the threshold. #1389
• The manual now only is included in the executable once #1917
• Shift-clicking a menu item no longer opens the settings menu #1358
• FFMPEG no longer segfaults ALSA #1170
• Audacity no longer crashes when macros output directory is set to C:\ #1174
• A bouncing ball of death problem has been fixed #1312

Prominent features

• Clip Handles (replacing the Time Shift Tool)
• Smart Clips (non-destructive resizing of clips)
• Playback Looping

Smaller changes

• Context menus have been added in more places.
• In the preferences, Tracks > Track behaviors > Editing a clip can move other clips is now disabled by default
• The spectrogram defaults have been changed: scale type to Mel (was Linear), top of scale to 20000 Hz (was 8000 Hz), window size to 2048 (was 1024), and zero padding to 2 (was 1).
• The main volume controls no longer change the system volume.
• Raw Import now will remember the previously used settings. Automatic detection of the format now is a button.
• A journaling feature has been added for QA purposes.
• Generate > Tone now supports triangle waves.
• There now exist "What's new" screens for the update and welcome dialogs.

Libraries

• FFMPEG now supports avformat 55, 57 and 58.
• PortAudio has been updated to version 19.7 and devendored (so it can be built against 19.6).
• Several libraries (expat, libsndfile, ...) have been devendored. The CMakeLists.txt lists which versions we build against.

Fixed Bugs

• AppImages support localization. #1382
• Progress bars for Nyquist generators have been made more accurate. #1856
• The play button has regained a pixel or two to become a triangle once more. #1792
• Auto Duck has been made way more accurate and should no longer miss sections below the threshold. #1389

This is a hotfix release that fixes a bug on macOS that could corrupt project files when being opened via cmd+o on languages where the decimal separator wasn't a dot. (#1571)

Fixes a user reported issue #1476, which possibly leads to the project corruption

Key improvements:

• The Windows version of Audacity is now 64-bit
  • (Note: 32-bit plug-ins will not work on 64-bit Audacity)
• We have improved the 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: allows users to send us the details of a serious error
• Multiple bugs fixed

Full details of new features in the visual guide to New Features in 3.0.3

Changes since RC2

• Privacy Policy links are accessible to VI users.

Changes and improvements since the previous version

• Windows version is now 64-bit
• Improved default spectrogram colors
• We now provide an official binary for Linux in the form of an AppImage
• Bugs fixing

Full details of new features in the visual guide to New Features in 3.0.3

Changes since RC1

• Improved performance of WAV export on Windows 64 bit.
• Fixed default install path for the Windows 32 bit build on Windows 64 bit OS
• Tweaks to the update checker.

Changes and improvements since the previous version

• Windows version is now 64-bit
• Improved default spectrogram colors
• We now provide an official binary for Linux in the form of an AppImage
• Bugs fixing

Full details of new features in the visual guide to New Features in 3.0.3

Changes and improvements since the previous version

• Windows version is now 64-bit
• Improved default spectrogram colors
• We now provide an official binary for Linux in the form of an AppImage
• Bugs fixing

Full details of new features in the visual guide to New Features in 3.0.3

Release Announcement

Audacity 3.0.2 fixes some important bugs and improves diagnostic reporting. We also added a new preference for macro output, and a 'Save' button on the manage macros dialog.

Release Announcement

Audacity 3.0.0 introduces the new all-in-one-file aup3 project file format.

Over 160 bugs were fixed since Audacity 2.4.2

Release Announcement

Audacity 2.4.2 is a quick release to upgrade to a newer version of wxWidgets (wx3.1.3, patched by us) before embarking on a longer release cycle. We also fixed over 30 bugs, and added one small new feature, a 'Reset Configuration' menu item.

Release Announcement

Audacity 2.4.1 is a quick fix release to fix a critical bug in Audacity 2.4.0.

Details of the bug can be found here

Release Announcement

Improvements

• Audacity now runs on Mac Catalina.
• A new Time Toolbar showing current record/playback time has been
  split from the Selection Toolbar. It can be resized large.
• Presets for more effects can be imported and exported.
• A new Multi-View mode for tracks. In this mode both
  spectrogram and waveform views are shown at the same time.
• Opus available as a new audio export format on Windows and Linux.
• Easier to convert labels between point labels and range labels.
• New Loudness Normalization effect.
• New RMS measurement analyzer.
• New Noise Gate effect.
• New Spectral Delete effect.

Bug Fixes

Over 100 bugs in 2.3.3 fixed, including:

• 2237 - Equalization effects have no Import or Export for curves
• 2261 - Graphic EQ sliders have no frequency labels
• 2265 - Track heights are reset to default on project re-opening
• 2303 - Playback does not start at the saved cursor position on reopening a saved project.
• 2314 - Zoom in fail when playing

Release Announcement

We've done a lot of bug fixing on Audacity for this release, and a lot of code restructuring. There are a few visible changes too.

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)

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