So last night I recorded an hour and a half podcast with some friends. Everything recorded fine and when I went to export the file at the end, Audacity did nothing. I would click export expecting the box to pop up and nothing would happen. I then attempted to save the project and reload Audacity and it would not save. I would click the save button and again nothing would happen. I have the temporary files still and I still have audacity open what are my options so that I don’t lose this recording.
Are you in Pause instead of Stop? Lots of messy things happen in Pause. All the effects vanish for one thing.
Koz
I am not in pause. I even opened a new instance of Audacity and copied the track over and still it would not save or export.
So last night I recorded an hour and a half podcast with some friends.
Like you’ve been doing every week for months? Or this is old number one.
Koz
We have been doing it now problem every two weeks for 6 months, but the first time trying with Windows 10.
What version of Audacity are you using? Give us all three numbers from Help > About Audacity… .
So this problem happens every two weeks? How did you resolve it in the past?
Do you see any error messages when you try to save or export? If so exactly what does the message say?
There may be errors shown at Help > Show Log… . Please look there and copy-paste the log here, or save the log and attach it. Please see here for how to attach files: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1
What characters are you typing in the file name? Don’t use any of these because Windows won’t allow it:
\ / : * ? " < > |
To be sure, just type numbers, spaces or underscore ( _ ).
If necessary, you can force quit Audacity in Windows Task Manager (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC). Click “More details” if necessary, click the “Processes tab”, right-click audacity.exe in the list and choose “End Process Tree”. Force quit preserves the temporary data and preserves the temporary “AUTOSAVE” project file that knows how to string the recorded pieces together in the correct order.
If you force quit, use the WIN + X menu and choose “Restart” (not Shut Down because by default that won’t give you a new kernel session). Ideally, type “cmd” (without quotes) in the search box, press ENTER on the keyboard, type
shutdown /s /t 0
in the window that appears, then ENTER.
This will ensure the system is completely re-initialised when you power on again. Audacity will then try to recover the project and you can try to export it again.
Gale
Audacity 2.1.1
No, this is the first time this has happened it has always allowed me to export in the past.
I do not get an error message. Literally nothing happens, it just sits there as if I did not click export.
Here is the log:
11:09:24 PM: Audacity 2.1.1
11:09:24 PM: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries...
11:09:24 PM: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from system paths. File name is 'avformat-55.dll'.
11:09:24 PM: Looking up PATH environment variable...
11:09:24 PM: PATH = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\'
11:09:24 PM: Checking that '' is in PATH...
11:09:24 PM: FFmpeg directory is in PATH.
11:09:24 PM: Checking for monolithic avformat from 'avformat-55.dll'.
11:09:24 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library 'avformat-55.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
11:09:24 PM: Loading avutil from ''.
11:09:24 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library '.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
11:09:24 PM: Loading avcodec from ''.
11:09:24 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library '.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
11:09:24 PM: Loading avformat from 'avformat-55.dll'.
11:09:24 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library 'avformat-55.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
11:09:24 PM: Error: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
11:09:24 PM: Error: Failed to find compatible FFmpeg libraries.
11:10:22 PM: Attempting to load LAME from system search paths
11:10:22 PM: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:10:22 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library 'lame_enc.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
11:10:22 PM: load failed
11:10:22 PM: Attempting to load LAME from builtin path
11:10:22 PM: LAME registry key exists.
11:10:22 PM: Library path is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity
11:10:22 PM: Loading LAME from C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity\lame_enc.dll
11:10:22 PM: Actual LAME path C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity\lame_enc.dll
11:10:22 PM: LAME library successfully loaded
11:10:28 PM: LAME registry key exists.
11:10:28 PM: Library path is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity
11:10:31 PM: Attempting to load LAME from system search paths
11:10:31 PM: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:10:31 PM: Error: Failed to load shared library 'lame_enc.dll' (error 126: the specified module could not be found.)
11:10:31 PM: load failed
11:10:31 PM: Attempting to load LAME from builtin path
11:10:31 PM: LAME registry key exists.
11:10:31 PM: Library path is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity
11:10:31 PM: Loading LAME from C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity\lame_enc.dll
11:10:31 PM: Actual LAME path C:\Program Files (x86)\Lame For Audacity\lame_enc.dll
11:10:31 PM: LAME library successfully loaded
There is nothing relevant in the log if that is the entire contents.
There is no general problem saving or exporting on Windows 10.
Is the project still open now? Does it play if you press Play?
Have you tried saving or exporting with a simple name, like “recording_11_sep_2015”? Have you tried saving to your Desktop (not someone else’s Desktop)?
Gale
The project still opens and plays when you press play. I does not ever give me a chance to put a file name in. When I click save or export from the file drop down, nothing happens the dialog box to enter a file name never appears.
Uninstall the Audacity version you have now.
Run a deep anti-virus check.
When the check is done, download 2.1.1 from http://audacityteam.org/download/windows. In the installer, look out for the “Select Additional Tasks” screen. In that screen, put a check (tick mark) in the “Reset Preferences” box. Complete the installation.
On launching Audacity, a dialog will appear where you can confirm if you want to reset preferences just this once, or not. Say yes to the reset.
Gale
I did the above suggestion of uninstalling and re-installing and no luck. It will still not export of save even with new files. I even tried running it in compatibility mode in Windows.
Were you sure to enable “Reset Preferences” when you reinstalled? If not, please do that.
I think all we can try now are “longshots”.
Did you do the anti-virus check? What anti-virus application do you use?
Did you add any new applications just before this problem started? If so, what were they? Are you doing anything differently than before?
What happens if you use CTRL + SHIFT + E to export, or CTRL + S to save?
Are you running Audacity as (or logged in as) administrator? If not, you could try that.
Gale