Audacity is already running

hi
i have ubuntu 14.04 audacity 2.05-1ubuntu3.2
this problem hasn’t happened before but for the past few days when i try and launch audacity it tells me it’s already running.
this is if i try and launch from the unity bar (or whatever it’s called), the thing that lets you search the computer for applications/files etc or if i try and open a file made by audacity.

switching computer off and back on seems to help but not always, but this is quite annoying.
https://imgur.com/a/DKgXz

There is probably a lock file left over in the temp directory.
The lock file prevents multiple instances of the Audacity application (which could cause data corruption). Normally the lock file is deleted when Audacity exits, but it could get left behind if Audacity crashed or the computer shut down while Audacity was running.

The lock file is located in:
/var/tmp/udacity-username/
where “username” is the log-in name of your user account.

The name of the lock file is:
audacity-lock-username

Provided that Audacity is not actually running (check in Task Manager), and that you are logged in with the same account, it is safe to delete the lock file, the lock file may be deleted with normal user privileges.

thank you very much steve :slight_smile:

that’ll be me and my switch-em-off-at-the-plug habit …