Hello. I am using Audacity 2.1.0. I used to use an older version for years with no problems. This is the first time using 2.1.0 after upgrading my Mac. I spent quite a bit of time editing a song. However, it won’t let me export the file to any format. I keep getting an error message. For exporting to MP3, it asks me to download a file, but that file is no longer available. Please tell me how to export this without hopefully having to start over.
Thanks.
What exactly is the error message? What file formats don’t work? How did you “upgrade” you Mac? What Mac is it? What version of macOS?
Audacity 2.1.0 is very, very old.
Try upgrading to Audacity 2.4.2 from here (scroll way down!). Version 2.4.2 is the last version that uses the AUP file plus the _data folder scheme to store the project information.
It is odd that you can’t export to AIF. If I remember correctly, Audacity 2.1.0 required the LAME MP3 encoder to be installed separately (which may the file you are being prompted to download), whereas 2.4.2 has it built in.
Thank you for the reply. The error message says "cannot export audio to /applications/Audacity(song title).aiff. When trying to save to to a .aiff file.
Yes, Audacity 2.1.0 required the LAME MP3 encoder to be installed separately, and is no longer available
I tried to save it as a “project” but got an error message that an audio file can’t be saved as a project.
Is there any way to save it so that it can be opened in a newer version of Audacity?
Try exporting to your Documents folder or Desktop.
The second message you reference is not an error message. It is a warning that if you save an Audacity project it is not an audio file and cannot be opened in, for example, Apple Music. Go ahead and save the Audacity project. Again, try saving it in your Documents folder or Desktop. You can turn this warning off in Audacity > Preferences > Warnings.
I still recommend upgrading to Audacity 2.4.2 if you want to continue using the AUP (as opposed to the AUP3) file format.
Audacity 3.6.4 will open projects created in Audacity 2.x.x.
You can download Audacity 3.6.4 from here
If you want to keep version 2.1.0 (or 2.4.2) around, just rename the application. For example, rename the 2.4.2 version to “Audacity 242”.
You want to save a (audio) document in your applications folder? Or even inside the Audacity application (because /Audacity may refer to the application itself or to a folder where the Audacity application resides in.
Do you have the necessary rights to install / save something there?
Use any folder designed for documents. You can also save to your desktop folder, or use the Mac’s “Music” folder. But the application folder is not really a good idea…