I only ever use this to capture a single audio and do some quick processing on it (normalize, truncate silence, etc).
Is it possible to limit the view to one single track? I don’t even need realtime effects.
Or maybe there’s another tool I should be looking at
I quite like Ocenaudio. Have you had a look at that? 
OCENaudio does not have truncate silence.
Still worth a punt as far as I’m concerned.
You can always add more tracks if you want to - just don’t if you don’t want to 
But as you always work with just one track, you may want to enable:
Preferences > Tracks > Auto-fit Track Height
That will expand the track vertically to fit the tracks window.
haha, yeah. and thank you this actually helps a lot. I guess what I’m getting at is a minimal interface.
Like removing the sidebar on the track, etc, just showing a waveform only.
Reminiscing of the days where these apps didn’t do “everything” haha
“Very” old days 
Audacity has had multi-track editing as a main feature for well over 20 years.
Audacity’s toolbars can be customised: Toolbars Overview - Audacity Manual
Not possible in Audacity right now. I would like this too, I made a request for it: Single file view, with tabs
I’m confused. Why do you guys want this?
It sounds like you’re asking for a shopping bag that can only hold one thing, but surely if you only want one thing in your bag, then you only put one thing in your bag. Why do you want to change Audacity for everyone? What is the practical benefit?
Why do you guys want this?
It makes it easier to focus on one file at a time. There are many audio editing programs that work like this, it’s nothing new.
Opening every file in a separate Audacity window is still visually awkward compared to an automatically maximized view. And it means that you can’t quickly switch to working on other files in the set and apply the same processing to them.
Please understand that opening multiple files doesn’t mean that you necessarily want a multi-track project, but that’s the UI that Audacity forces on you.
Why do you want to change Audacity for everyone?
I would like it to be an optional feature, not forced on anyone.
You know that you can have multiple windows open at the same time?
I literally mentioned that in my post.
I’m still failing to see the problem.
If you only ever have one track at a time, then set the default track height to fit the window, and if you want another single track project, open another window. Functionally that fits your stated requirements as far as I can see. What am I missing?
OK, so use one of them instead.
You can’t expect the developers to rewrite a program just to fit one or a handful of people’s personal preferences. Especially when the program is being provided for FREE. I don’t like absolutely every aspect of Audacity… or any other program I use.
hey Steve, thought I would come in with my thoughts, but before I do, I want to say that this is by no means any urgent need, nor do I expect the software to be changed. As a developer I admire the work that’s been done, I also saw the video on v4, and know that the gui stuff has been a bit troublesome to maintain.
ok, as for “why” this matters to me (and people like me)… I really miss just having a sample editor. I used to use adobe audition, tried wavepad for a bit, but it’s a little bit too quirky for my tastes, used image line’s “edison” forever until I moved to mac, and now, to get the functionality that I want, I have picked up audacity after over a decade and a half or so.
The common thing in all these other editors I used, is that they were a “one file” editor, meaning, there is no visual noise around managing “tracks”, there is no “mute and solo” no “panning or volume” - you record/load a file, edit it, and you’re on your way - less visual and workflow disruptions when navigating your recording.
about the “auto fit track height” (image attached) - it works great with a couple notes
when I launch audacity, and immediately hit record (as I do so often), I get a tiny waveform view, because audacity (the multitracker) expects that more things will be reorded. This is great ux for a multi-track recorder of course, but it feels like the track should auto fit immediately, not after recording.
after recording, I get a full height track, but there is a gap at the bottom. this may be nitpicky, but it makes a difference as compared to a wave editor, the scrollbard on the right is more visual noise that I talked about.
These are just UX things that creates a bit of cognitive dissonance when one is in the mindset of “sample editor”. the brain says “I am in a DAW, not a sample editor”.
anyways, all of this is not so much a “problem”, it’s just a concern about reducing visual noise for the user’s current task, and maximizing screen real estate, the left track bar and the gap at the bottom take up space, discrupt visual flow, and as a result feel “clunky”.
I understand implementing something like this would be hugely disruptive to the projects direction so I am happy to work with what we got! It’s a great free editor, and I am thankful to have it. Thank you & the team for keeping the lights on w this software.