Audacity Forum

Simple yet bang-head-against-wall frustrating problem. I select a section of track, and when I Delete or Cut it (makes no difference), an additional ~3 seconds disappear. I haven't used Audacity in perhaps a month or two, but last time I used it this issue was NOT present, and while the idea that software can be altered while simply sitting around taking up HDD space is utterly nonsensical... facts are facts.

I should add that I went into preferences in search of the solution. Only one setting seemed potentially relevant, the "Cut Preview" settings, but after adjusting both values to 0 seconds, the problem continued.

Anyone know what's going on here? Considering Garageband's abysmal functionality and my Broke College Student status, w/o Audacity I am lost. Any input greatly appreciated!!

If you get this problem with just one particular project then it is likely that the project is damaged.
Try starting a new project and test if the problem occurs with that.

If the problem is with just the one project and you need to salvage what you can, open a new project and copy each of the tracks to the new project then save with a new name.

Also, check the Audacity version (Help menu > About Audacity). If it is earlier than 1.3.12 please update.

Wow. I had exactly the same problem and while waiting on a reply think I fixed it. I had a perfectly working project, then saved it to a USB drive to go to another PC, then decided to rip and reload the original file to that PC to recapture some things I had deleted. Long story short, I ended up then with multiple rips and/or projects...can't really tell you for sure. So I ripped the original again under a completely different name and then imported as that brand new name and it now works fine (this after many trials of other things to 'fix' it, including creating more memory, rebooting, etc.). I think it was just that I had multiple files in my system. Hope that helps you. I also went in and deleted the other files but I didn't mind starting over so that might not be good for you. I know the data files have to match and be in the right location for the project file, but now I'm already over my head in explaining.