Multi tracking on Windows

I am new to Audacity and think this may be an old issue.
I wanted to multi track and am using Windows 11.
I record my first track OK but on recording my 2nd track I can hear myself with an enormous delay. I cannot seem to turn this off or reduce the delay.
Peter

Lots of audio interfaces have direct-hardware zero-latency monitoring where the monitoring path doesn’t go through the computer. IMO, that’s the best solution. You can still monitor the backing track from the computer.

Or you can do the same thing with your headphones plugged into a USB mixer.

Some USB “podcast mics” also have a headphone jack for direct monitoring.

Latency compensation makes it easier to align the tracks after recording but it doesn’t eliminate the latency during recording.

Many interfaces and full DAWs support ASIO drivers which are designed for low latency but it can still be tricky. There is always SOME latency through the computer although it can often be unnoticeable. With ASIO you can adjust the buffer size (which determines latency) and then it’s a trade-off between how small you can make the buffer without getting glitches in the recording. Audacity does NOT support ASIO unless you compile it yourself (for legal/licensing reasons).

Audacity allows you to set the buffer length (on the same screen where you set latency compensation) but it seems like there are more buffers somewhere adding more delay… Probably in the Windows drivers,