Hello! I am trying to save my audio file as WAV, mono, sample rate 44.1 kHz, 16 bits. When I export the file, it says it is saving it as 16 bit, but when I open the file, it is in 32 bit. I have to have the 16 bit format in order to upload my file to another system - any thoughts on what I am doing wrong? Thanks!
You’re doing nothing wrong as far as I can see.
By default, when you import a 16 bit WAV file, Audacity imports it as “32 bit float” data. This allows Audacity to process the audio in higher quality, so all effects work better.
If you export in 16 bit PCM format, then the exported file is 16 bit PCM. Depending on your operating system, you may be able to see some information about the file format by right clicking on the file and selecting “properties”. (I rarely use Windows these days, but on XP it was “Right click on file > Properties > Summary”)