How to Cut a Track in Audacity

In this video, you'll learn how to cut and split audio tracks using Audacity.

Be sure to watch all the videos in our Audacity Tutorial playlist - bit.ly/AudacityPlaylist

When you start editing your podcast recordings, there's a good chance you'll need to remove portions of what you recorded.

After all, you don't want your listeners to have to listen to a bunch of rambling or 30 seconds of silence at the end of your episode.

That's where cutting, splitting, and trimming comes into play.

Your main tool for cutting and splitting is the “Selection Tool,” which looks like an i-beam near the top of your Audacity screen. The Selection Tool allows you to place the trackhead precisely where you want it on your timeline and select portions of your audio tracks that you want to edit.

To split an audio file into two audio clips, you’ll use the “Split” command. Select the precise moment you want to make your separation, right-click using your mouse, and choose “Split.”

Split Keyboard Shortcuts:
Mac - Command + I
Windows - Control + I

The “Cut” command removes a selected area of your audio and shifts everything to the right of that selection over to replace it. Use your Selection Tool to click and drag, highlighting the section you want to replace.

Cut Keyboard Shortcuts:
Mac - Command + X
Windows - Control + X

The “Delete” command removes a selected area and doesn’t shift the audio to the right of that selection, leaving everything in its original place.

Delete Keyboard Shortcuts:
Mac - Command + Option + K
Windows - Control + Alt + K

The “Trim” command keeps the selected area and deletes everything not selected on that track. The remaining audio is not shifted along the timeline.

Trim Keyboard Shortcuts:
Mac - Command + T
Windows - Control + T

==== Time Stamps ====

00:12 - Why is cutting and trimming audio clips important?
00:35 - Split an audio track
01:17 - Cut an audio track
02:01 - Delete a highlighted audio clip
02:28 - Trim an audio track

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