How can I pause playback so I can edit in Audacity?

Audio distortion in Audacity is usually caused by clipping (input levels too high) or hardware issues. Here’s how to troubleshoot:

• Check microphone input volume in your system or interface settings. If the input meter in Audacity turns red, your levels are too high—reduce the gain.
• In Audacity, go to Edit > Preferences > Devices and ensure the correct input and output devices are selected.
• Make sure the sample rate in Audacity (Edit > Preferences > Quality) matches your device’s rate (commonly 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz).
• Avoid using effects like Amplify or Compressor before confirming that the audio isn’t clipping.
• After recording, you can use Effect > Normalize to bring overall levels into a consistent range—but this won’t remove distortion already present.
• Update Audacity and your audio drivers to the latest versions.
• Test with another microphone or USB port to rule out hardware issues.
• If distortion only appears after export, choose WAV or FLAC to avoid lossy compression.
• Still stuck? Share your project settings and audio sample on the Audacity forums for help.

To troubleshoot Audacity crashes, try these steps: a clean shutdown, check your drive space and network connections, and consider rolling back to an earlier version.

To export multi-channel files in Audacity, follow the steps given below:

• Open the Audacity software
• Navigate to the File
• Click on Export
• Select a format that supports multi-channel audio, like WAV or FLAC.

To pause the playback in Audacity, you can simply press the spacebar or click on the pause button.

To move a selected region in Audacity, follow the steps given below:

• Open the Audacity software
• Open the project
• Utilize the Time Shift Tool to drag the selection to another track or position.