FAQ:About Audacity
From Audacity Manual
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Is Audacity really free? Why?
Yes, Audacity is completely free, open source software. You are free to use this program for any personal, commercial, or educational purposes, including installing it on as many different computers as you wish. You are also free to give it away, sell it, or modify it for your own use, under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
The authors of Audacity decided to release it under the GPL for many reasons. Some of us do it out of generosity. Some of us do it for moral reasons, because we feel that all software should be free; others believe that there is a place for both free and proprietary software.
One reason Audacity is free is so that it will be more popular and useful. Yet another reason is to encourage collaboration. Because of Audacity's free license, dozens of people around the world have contributed code, bug fixes, documentation, and graphics.
We welcome donations to support Audacity development.
Does Audacity contain any spyware or adware?
No. Audacity does not include any spyware or adware. Audacity is completely free and open source. It is developed by a not-for-profit volunteer group, and the source code is available for anyone to study or use.
May I distribute copies of Audacity?
You can redistribute Audacity under the GNU General Public License, which gives you permission to modify, copy, and sell the program as long as you keep the same license and make the source code available. For details, see License, and Advice for Vendors.
Someone is selling Audacity on eBay. Is this legal?
It is legal to sell Audacity, as long as the seller makes the program and source code available under the GNU General Public License(GPL).
Some vendors try to trick customers by selling the software under a different name. If you bought a product and later found out it was Audacity, we encourage you to ask for a refund or file a complaint if you feel you did not get a fair deal. We ask vendors to give proper credit to the Audacity project, and allow users to make an informed choice.
If you have concerns that Audacity (unmodified or otherwise) is being sold without a copy of the GPL, or without any offer to provide source code, please e-mail us in confidence.
If you want to obtain Audacity on CD, free ISO downloads and inexpensive CDs by post are available from suppliers on our Audacity on CD page.
I saw an ad that misled me into thinking I had to pay for Audacity. What can I do?
Some advertisers are indulging in sharp practice in giving the impression you have to pay for Audacity, when it is in fact free. If the ad is a Google ad and does not comply with their terms you can complain about it to Google here
If the Google ad did not "Accurately represent the product or service", that is something that Google will act on. For example, we have complained about an ad that claimed to provide the 'latest version' of Audacity 'guaranteed', whereas there were later versions with more functionality available. In the comment field you should say in what way the advertising did not "Accurately represent the product or service".
If you ended up paying by credit card for a service due to a fraudlent advertisement, you may be able to initiate a chargeback with your credit card company. You need to show that the advertising and website that you visited was misleading. Generally you should try to sort out a refund with the retailer first, but often they are near impossible to contact and there is a timelimit of several days on initiating a chargeback.
Does Audacity work with screen-reader programs for blind users?
Audacity works with most screen-reader programs, but some of Audacity’s features are difficult or impossible to use without a mouse. We are working on improving the program’s accessibility and keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Audacity for Blind Users.
What does “time remaining” mean? Does Audacity expire?
Audacity does not expire, but the time you can record for depends on the amount of disk space you have. The message you are seeing exists only in older versions of Audacity, so please update to the latest version. In newer versions, the message says "Disk space remains for recording xx hours and yy minutes".
To get more recording time, delete your old files and folders (especially your old Audacity Project files and _data folders when you have finished with them), or use an alternative disk with more space on it. Or consider recording in mono instead of stereo (on the Audio I/O tab of Preferences) or in 16 bit instead of 32 bit (Quality tab of Preferences). Either of those choices will halve the disk space needed.
Does Audacity run on 64-bit systems?
There is no 64-bit version of Audacity, but in principle it should run on 64-bit systems, subject to having appropriate drivers for the sound device. Sufficient RAM must be available to run Audacity smoothly and support the greater memory requirements of 64-bit systems compared to 32-bit.
Windows and Linux 64-bit
On 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Linux, sound device drivers specific to the 64-bit operating system are essential. If upgrading from a 32-bit to 64-bit operating system, a 64-bit capable computer is required, and the sound device drivers must also be updated to a 64-bit version.
Users upgrading from 32-bit Windows XP to 64-bit Windows Vista or 7 should make especially sure their computer is well above Audacity's minimum system requirements for Windows.
Mac OS X 64-bit
We strongly recommend the Beta version of Audacity for 64-bit systems. OS X 10.5 supports both 64-bit and 32-bit processors equally well, with few if any issues with the supplied system drivers.
