so Audacity was freezing on me last night and giving me the ‘not responding’ message multiple times. So I was constantly saving it, then closing and reopening it to continue. This worked for a while until the last attempt where it crashed, I reopened the programme and it gave me a pop up message saying ‘some of the files have been lost/missing, this is due to either an accidental deletion or bug reported’. It gave me 3 options, I chose to attempt a restore of the files which would temporarily silence the audio. When I reopened the file, it was all still there in the way I left it, but the audio was silent and no matter how or what I did to alter the sound, nothing is being heard.
Desperation methods call for saving a production as a different name if you think there may be a problem. That way if Audacity falls into the mud it won’t take the current show and the backup show both.
Audacity isn’t in the habit of repeated crashing, so yours is broken. Do you know why it was crashing? Was it OK until you imported certain songs or sound files? Audacity can have problems when that MP3 file you imported turned out to really be an odd variation of AAC that Audacity can’t handle. Windows hiding sound file extensions is cool, uncomplicated, and handy until something goes wrong.
If Audacity wasn’t able to rescue the sound the last time, that is probably the end of the show. If you don’t find out what caused the crashes, it’s going to happen again.
Koz
I’ve located the file I need on my OneDrive, I restored it to its previous version that due to its file size, I believe it’s the answer to my problem. I cannot get into the file however as when I click open, I get the ‘error cannot open file, data folder not found’ message.
Is there anyway to make this file viewable in Audacity?
All editing in Audacity is done as a project. It is important to note that a project is not a single audio file but a complex set of files managed by Audacity.
See Managing Audacity Projects - Audacity Manual
I hope this helps. 
You can open up your AUP project manager file in any text editor (don’t save anything).
It should look a little like this. This one has been prettied up a little for the picture.
Note the red box is the name of the project. It’s burned into the AUP file which is why you can’t change the name of a Project outside of Audacity.
This is a Project.
They have to be named the same and it has to be the name you gave them inside Audacity. They have to be in the same location or folder and you can’t put the AUP file inside the _DATA folder.
And I’m pretty sure I know why your show crashed. Audacity doesn’t get along with cloud storage. OneDrive may look like a handy local drive on your machine, but it connects by sloppy internet protocols, re-directs, and delays. Audacity hates that.
If you do fire up your show again, I would disconnect your network while you’re working. It’s not good enough to just not use OneDrive. The machine still has to manage it in the background while you’re working and it can cause troubles.
Koz
Ok thanks I’ll keep that in mind.
One other thing. When I eventually finish my project and want to export the file. I have two separate tracks in the file and want to be able to export them separately, as one track is filled of music that goes along with the main track, being a voice over. But when I do export them I don’t want the playback position of the files to be moved, and continue in their order so they play over the main track.
Do you use export multiple and will that allow me to export the file separately but when listened to, be heard as one file?
When exporting I don’t want to have to merge the tracks together like the pop up message suggests.
Thank you
I don’t remember the official method, but the desperation method is to Generate a silent track longer than the show. Select that and the desired track(s) and File > Export > Export Selected Audio.
The Select button to the track left works just like other Windows controls. Select, Shift+Select, Control+Select.
Include that silent track with each individual export.
The single silent track will be “invisible” to the show but it will guarantee the correct placements of the show tracks in time. This is all assuming far left is zero time in the show.
Koz
Ok still not exactly sure,
My track starts and is fixed at 0 is this okay or does it need to be moved?
As you can tell, with the bother I’ve had so far I’m very hesitant to do some things. I want to save my current file so it’s backed up in case audacity crashes again. Is exporting it to a WAV file and then uploading that file to say Google Drive the best option? Plus if I do export the file, does that then replace the one I’m working on if I save it in the folder location I’m using currently. Should I export it to a different folder?
Are you in Audacity 2.4.2? Earlier Audacity versions could have troubles with Audacity Project naming tricks.
If you are, File > Save Project > Save Lossless Copy. Those projects are pretty large, but they’re also much more robust and resistant to Project damage. When it completes, File > Save Project > Save Project As: and give it a different name. That will give you two independent copies of the Project in case of damage.
You can put them wherever you like, but remember to keep the AUP file and the _DATA folder together. You can play your obsessive card by Zipping a set of file and folder into an archive and then move that. That’s the recommended method if you have to ship a Project to a far-off land.
I get the feeling we’re talking past each other. You have a multi-track production and you want to create perfect quality WAV files of each track? Select one track with the Select button to the left and File > Export > Export Selected Audio. Only that selection sound will be included in the file. When it finishes, select something else and repeat as needed.
This works less well if you created your production by changing the timing of your tracks. For example, say your voice track started too soon so you pushed it later with the Time Shift Tool. That timing difference may be a little hard to keep in the exported files. But if all the tracks start from the beginning at 0, you should be good to go.
Koz
Yes, I want the file not merged together but when played, the second track plays over the main track at specific points. Should I add silent audio just before my timings?
And if I use selected export audio tool, if that’s done separately, will I be able to listen to the file as one and hear that the timings have been placed correctly?
ALL ISSUES NOW RESOLVED
I’ve been able to export with no issues and have a complete audio file. A big thank you to everyone who helped me on this forum. Merry Christmas!