Sorry to ask such a simple question but I can’t find an answer. It seems that in Audacity one must drag and highlight a section of audio to perform editing operations. But let’s say I have a 90-minute file. I identify a point ten minutes in that I want as the new start point. Do I have to click the point and drag all the way back to the beginning to select the portion I want to remove? I hope not. In Windows Live Movie Maker, for example, I can select a point, hit the “split” button, and simply delete the material on the left side of the split with a click. There must be an equivalent for Audacity, right? How do I do this? Thanks.
There’s several ways. Use whichever suits you best:
Click at the “ten minute” point then press Ctrl+I to split. Double click on the part of the track to the left of the split to select it, then press DEL to delete.
Click at the “ten minute” point then select “Edit menu > Clip boundaries > Split”, then as above.
Click at the “ten minute” point then hold down the shift key and press the Home key (selects from the cursor to the beginning of the track) then as before.
Click at the “ten minute” point then hold down the Ctrl key and use the mouse wheel to zoom out so that you can see the beginning of the track, then hold down the shift key, click to the left of the cursor position and swipe (drag) to the left to select to the start of the track