Audacity is a free and open source audio recorder for Windows and Mac users. You can use Audacity to record and edit audio tracks in one stop. The built-in multi-track audio editor is powerful. That’s why Audacity is popular among free audio recording software. However, there are still many complaints about Audacity not recording. Audacity cannot recognize your connected audio device, or there is a flat line when you record audio with Audacity. To troubleshoot Audacity won’t start recording issues, you can do as the following paragraphs show.

In Audacity, click the Track Control Panel where it says 'Stereo' to select all the audio of the track. To hear your music in Audacity while recording, make sure software playthrough is enabled on the Audio I/O tab of Preferences, then click in the right-hand recording VU meter with the microphone symbol, which turns on 'monitoring'. Click in the meter again if you want to turn monitoring off. Audacity 2.4.1 Features Updated: Catalina: With 2.4.1, it has now hooked up with Apple’s ‘notarization system’. Audacity on Mac is notarized and runs on Catalina. Time Toolbar: It has now split the playing/recording time off from the selection toolbar, and it can now be pulled to make it larger.

Part 1: How to Fix Audacity Not Recording on Windows

When you first use Audacity for audio recording, you may be notified with “Error while opening sound device”. There is no available option of your plugged-in external microphone. To fix Audacity not recording on Windows 10 and earlier versions, you can change Audio Host to MME. MME is the default Audacity settings for Audacity Device Toolbar. All audio devices are compatible with Audacity MME.

If this method does not work, you can do as the following Audacity not recording on Windows 10 troubleshooting tutorial show.

Step 1

Exit Audacity. Then open Audacity again on your computer.

Step 2

Right-click over the Speaker icon via the system clock. Later, select Sounds followed by Recording.

Step 3

Open Windows Settings. Choose System. Click Sound in the left panel. Then click Sound control panel.

Step 4

In the Sound popup, head to the Recording tab. Select the device you want to record audio.

Step 5

Specify the advanced features. Click OK to save changes. Later, you can re-record audio with Audacity on Windows.

To fix Audacity not recording on Windows 8, Windows 7 and earlier versions, you can choose Hardware and Sound in the left Sound panel instead.

Part 2: How to Fix Audacity Not Recording on Mac

The Audacity no recording audio problem on Mac Mojave and Catalina is caused by Apple Privacy settings. All recording devices are influenced. To record audio with Audacity on Mac, you need to adjust privacy settings manually.

Step 1

Choose System Preferences from the Apple drop-down menu.

Step 2

Click Security & Privacy. Later, choose Privacy.

Step 3

Select Microphone in the left panel.

Step 4

Mark the checkbox before Audacity application. Thus, Audacity can record audio from microphone on Mac.

Furthermore, you can open Mac Terminal window and paste open /Applications/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity command. Later, go back to Audacity. You can find that the Audacity not working or recording problem is solved successfully.

Part 3: Audacity Alternatives – Record Sound from Computer and Microphone

Compared with professional audio recorders, Audacity has a complicated interface. If you are looking for an easy-to-use and powerful audio recorder, you can take a look at Blu-ray Master Free Online Audio Recorder. It is an Audacity alternative that can record HD audio online for free. You can record not only system sound but also microphone audio at the same time. Later, you can save audio recordings as MP3 format.

If you want to get more professional recording options, you can upgrade to Blu-ray Master Screen Recorder. Download newport usb devices driver. Here you can schedule an audio recording with custom date, time and recording length. Therefore, the program will auto start and stop recording streaming audio on your Windows or Mac computer. Moreover, you can use the built-in audio trimmer to preview and trim audio recording file as well.

• 1. Create audio HD recording without losing quality.
• 2. Use hotkeys to start, pause, resume and stop recording audio.
• 3. Save audio recording as MP3, WMA, AAC, M4A, etc.
• 4. Get hardware acceleration to record sound from computer or microphone without lag.
• 5. Clean, well-designed and intuitive interface.

Step 1

Free download and install Blu-ray Master Screen Recorder. To record audio due to Audacity not recording, choose the Audio Recorder option.

Audacity Is Not Recording Sound

Step 2

Set the input audio source. You can record sound from browser, program, microphone and more.

Step 3

Click REC to start recording audio. When you finish audio recording, click Play in the Preview window to pre-listen it. At last, click Save to export the audio recording file.

With this useful tool, you can also record Instagram story on computer.

Part 4: FAQs of Audacity Not Recording

When there is a delay or echo in your recording file, you can uncheck Software Playthrough. Just choose Transport followed by Transport Options in Audacity.

There is no fixed maximum time limit for Audacity audio recording. it depends on the output audio quality and available disk drive mainly.

If your audio recording length lasts for hours, you can delete the silence with built-in features. Choose the entire recording with mouse in Audacity. Choose Truncate Silence from the Effect menu. Use Min Duration, Max Duration and Silence Threshold to detect and delete silences from Audacity audio recording. You can use Silence Compression to determine the removed silence. At last, click OK to save changes.

You can use the above methods to fix Audacity not recording on your Windows or Mac computer with ease. If you are not satisfied with Audacity performance, or the Audacity recording problems still exist, you can use a new audio recorder. Just free download Blu-ray Master Screen Recorder to have a try. You can access all features in its free trial. Or you can quickly record sound with Free Online Voice Recorder as MP3 as well.

You may be familiar with Audacity if you frequently have the need to record online music, lectures, broadcast, and voice chat, and so on. Audacity is an open-source and multi-track audio editor and recorder. It is compatible with Mac, Windows and Linux. Audacity carries many powerful functions to capture and edit audio. It provides a high-quality way to record audio through microphone/mixer and digitize recordings.

However, many people, especially Mac users complained about the Audacity not recording issue on the internet. It seems like a common problem that you get a flat line and no sound when recording on Mac. Some Windows users also reported the similar error. Here in this post, we will tell you 3 effective solutions to fix the Audacity not recording audio issue.

• Part 1. Enable Recording Device to Fix Audacity Not Recording
• Part 2. Set Audio Host and Sample Rate to Fix Audacity Not Recording
• Part 3. Get Audio Recorder Alternative to Fix Audacity Not Recording
• Part 4. FAQs of Audacity Not Recording

Part 1. Enable Recording Device to Fix Audacity Not Recording

Audacity not recording issue mainly occurs when there are no available recording devices. If there is no available option listed in the Recording Device, Audacity will not record any audio for you. So when you face the Audacity not recording audio on Mac or Windows PC, you should first check and enable the recording devices.

Step 1 Make sure the Audacity is running and right click on the Speaker icon in the system tray. Here you can see a Recording devices option, click on it. Here you can also open the Sound option in Audacity to get to the Recording devices window.

Step 2 Click the Recording tab and then right click on the window. During this step, you need to check Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices.

Step 3 By doing so, multiple devices will displayed in the window. You can choose and enable them for the Audacity audio recording. After that, you can restart the Audacity and then try recording audio on your computer.

Part 2. Set Audio Host and Sample Rate to Fix Audacity Not Recording

Audacity not recording issue may also occur when Audacity is configured to use a sample rate or audio host. So you should check these settings to solve the problem.

When you face the Audacity not recording situation, you need to check the audio host setting. The default audio host for Audacity is MME. MME is the acronym of Multimedia Extensions that guarantees any audio sources on the computer can be input and recorded. Here you need to make sure the audio host you are using is MME.

If Audacity is using a sample rate that can’t be supported by your computer sound card, it will record a audio file with no sound. In that case, you need to check the sample rate in Audacity. You can see a Project Rate (Hz) option in the bottom-left corner. There are two sample rates offered, 44100 Hz and 48000 Hz. They are the most commonly used sample rates that can be supported by most sound cards. You can switch these two sample rates to fix the Audacity not recording issue.

Part 3. Get Audio Recorder Alternative to Fix Audacity Not Recording

If the Audacity not recording problem is still there, you need to switch to a better audio recorder. Here we strongly recommend the powerful Screen Recorder for you to record any audio on your computer. It has the capability to capture both video and audio with its original image and sound quality.

• Record any audio on Mac/Windows PC with high sound quality.
• Capture computer audio from system audio card and microphone/speaker.
• Powerful editing features to better edit captured audio and video file.
• Capture computer screen/webcam, record audio and take screenshots.
• Record online music, videos, 2D/3D gameplay, webcam, video/audio calls, and more.
• Advanced Blue-light real-time HD video encoding and accelerate technology.

Step 1 Double click the download button above and follow the instructions to free install and run this Audacity alternative on your Mac or Windows PC.

Audacity Not Recording Windows 10

Step 2 When you get to the home window, you can choose the Audio Recorder feature to record any sound on your computer.

Step 3 When you enter the main interface of the Audio Recorder, you can choose the audio recording source, system audio card, microphone or both according to your need.

Step 4 Now you can simply click on REC button to start the audio recording process. You are given the full control of the recording. When you want to finish the audio recording, you can click the Stop button.

Step 5 This audio recorder is equipped with a built-in media player for you to view the recorded audio file. During this step, you are also allowed to trim the recording and only save the necessary part. When you are satisfied with the result, you can click the Save button to save the captured audio.

The audio recording fill will be automatically saved in MP3 format. If you want to output it in other audio formats like AAC, M4A, FLAC, WMA, and more, you can go to Preferences window to change it. Besides the audio recording, this Audacity alternative also enables you to record online videos, capture video/audio calls, save online meeting contents and more. Just free download it and have a try.

Part 4. FAQs of Audacity Not Recording

Question 1. How to record voice from microphone with Audacity?

To record your own voice with Audacity, you need to ensure your microphone is plugged in and on. Then go to the Audacity Preferences and enable the microphone settings. After that, you can start the voice recording through your microphone.

Question 2. Is there any online tool to capture computer audio?

You should know that, there are a large number of screen and audio recording tools provided on the internet, and many of them are online recorders. You can try the highly-recommended free online audio recorder to help you capture any audio on your computer.

Question 3. Why is my recording delayed on Audacity?

Various reasons will cause the audio recording delayed on Audacity. Audacity will record your computer audio to a track as soon as the audio enters the computer. You can restart the Audacity or update software to solve the problem. If the problem is still there, you should check if you are using a recording delay feature.

It will be quite irritating if Audacity output a recording file with no sound. When you face the Audacity not recording issue, you can use the 3 solutions above to fix it. You can leave us a message in the comment if you still have any questions about the Audacity audio recording.

What do you think of this post?

Audacity Is Not Recording My Mic

Excellent

Audacity Is Not Recording My Voice

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (based on 76 votes)Follow Us on

• Audacity for Mac Review and Alternatives to Edit/Record Audio

  Take a look at Audacity for Mac to get to know how to use and download Audacity on Mac, and get the Mac Audacity similar software to edit/record audio on Mac.

• 10 Best HD Audio Recorders Including Software and Hardware

  We identify and provide reviews of the best HD audio recorder software and hardware for you to capture and make high quality music and audio files simply.

• Top 5 Music Voice Recorders to Capture Your Voice While Playing Music

  What is the best music voice recorder? How can I record my voice over music? This post shows 5 great music voice recording software to help you capture your voice while playing music.