Audacity has a keyboard shortcut for a lot of what you click every day. Here are 40 that work on Windows, grouped by what you’re trying to do.
We checked every one against Audacity Manual: Commands and Keyboard Shortcut Reference on October 21, 2026.
File
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + N | Create a new project |
| Ctrl + O | Open a project or audio file |
| Ctrl + S | Save the project |
| Ctrl + Shift + E | Export the audio |
Editing
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo |
| Ctrl + X | Cut the selection |
| Ctrl + C | Copy the selection |
| Ctrl + V | Paste |
| Ctrl + K | Delete the selection |
| Ctrl + A | Select all |
| Ctrl + I | Split the clip at the cursor or selection |
| Ctrl + D | Duplicate the selection |
| Ctrl + L | Silence the selected audio |
| Ctrl + T | Trim audio outside the selection |
| Z | Move selection edges to zero crossings |
| Ctrl + R | Repeat the last effect |
Playback and Recording
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Space | Play or stop |
| P | Pause |
| R | Start recording |
| Shift + R | Record on a new track |
| L | Turn looping on or off |
| Shift + L | Set the loop to the selection |
| Home | Skip to the start of the project |
| End | Skip to the end of the project |
Zoom
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + 1 | Zoom in |
| Ctrl + 3 | Zoom out |
| Ctrl + 2 | Zoom to normal |
| Ctrl + E | Zoom to the selection |
| Ctrl + F | Fit the project to the window width |
| Ctrl + Shift + F | Fit all tracks to the window height |
Labels and Tracks
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B | Add a label at the selection |
| Ctrl + M | Add a label at the playback position |
| Ctrl + U | Mute all tracks |
| Ctrl + Shift + U | Unmute all tracks |
Tools
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| F1 | Switch to the Selection tool |
| F2 | Switch to the Envelope tool |
| F3 | Switch to the Draw tool |
| F4 | Switch to the Zoom tool |
| F6 | Switch to the Multi tool |
Good to know: These are the default (Standard) shortcuts. You can change them in Edit > Preferences > Shortcuts.
Good to know: Mac uses Cmd instead of Ctrl and Option instead of Alt.
Get the Excel and PDF Version
Everything above is free. Bookmark this page and use it anytime.
If you’d rather have it on your desk, the download below is a sortable Excel file plus a printable one-page PDF of all 40 shortcuts, for $0.99.
Want One Key to Do More?
Built-in shortcuts only work while Audacity is the active window, and you can’t add new ones. These tools let you pick your own hotkeys:
- Prompt Assistant: type your usual episode file name or label text, like “Intro” or “Ad break”, with a hotkey you pick
- Podcast Editing Tools: more of our picks for recording and editing audio
- Second Keyboard Manager: put split, silence, trim and label on single keys of a number keypad
