To create alternate audio edits from noncontiguous regions in Audacity on a Mac, copy each wanted range into a separate project and append it in the desired order. This gives you a continuous alternate version while keeping the source available for further edits.

This walkthrough uses synthetic tone audio and a simple timing plan. It covers assembling two versions, checking their joins and exporting each as one audio file. Audacity’s official Mac download page currently lists version 4.0.1; the main instructions follow the Audacity 4 documentation.

What can Audacity select across separate regions?

Audacity distinguishes between selecting clips and selecting a time range. A time range is a stretch of audio selected by dragging across the waveform. Separate portions inside one continuous clip do not become independent selections simply because you extend that range. The documented extension gesture includes the intervening time. Audacity 4 also supports selecting clips individually, so older descriptions of its selection limits need version context. See Selecting and moving.

For an alternate edit, selection and assembly are separate decisions. Choosing several excerpts tells Audacity which material you want; you still need to decide whether the original spaces should remain, whether excerpts should touch and whether their order should change. Copying each range individually makes those decisions explicit.

Your starting point Suitable approach Timing to check
Wanted regions are inside one long clip Copy one range at a time into an alternate project Each new excerpt starts at the preceding excerpt’s end
Wanted regions are already separate clips Use Audacity 4 clip selection and duplication where useful Duplication retains timeline positions
You use an older interface with labeled-audio commands Use region labels and labeled copying The documented paste retains blank space between regions

Audacity 4’s transition guide confirms that clips can now be selected directly. Its detailed selection reference distinguishes individual clip picking from a range extended through intervening clips. Because this tutorial works with arbitrary regions inside a source clip, the instructions below use range copying and do not depend on a multiple-clip mouse modifier. See the Audacity 3 to 4 transition guide.

Plan the excerpts and expected lengths

Use this illustrative edit plan for a 30-second synthetic source. The letters are working names for excerpts, and all times are measured from the source project’s beginning.

Excerpt Source start Source end Length Alternate A position Alternate B position
A 2 seconds 6 seconds 4 seconds 0–4 seconds 0–4 seconds
B 12 seconds 15 seconds 3 seconds 4–7 seconds Omitted
C 22 seconds 27 seconds 5 seconds 7–12 seconds 4–9 seconds

Alternate A contains A, B and C, totaling 12 seconds. Alternate B contains A and C, totaling 9 seconds. These are calculated examples without added pauses, overlaps or fades that alter the edit’s length. Keeping both source times and destination times in the plan prevents a common mistake: pasting an excerpt at its original timestamp when you meant to append it.

To make the practice source, start an empty project and choose Generate → Tone. Set Waveform to Sine, Frequency to 440 Hz, Amplitude to 0.2 and Duration to 30 seconds. These are illustrative settings. Audacity documents these controls and starts generation at the selection’s beginning or at the cursor when no range is selected. See Tone.

Save this source locally with a descriptive name such as Tone Source. Audacity 4 saves editable projects as .aup4; the project format is distinct from an exported audio file. For existing synthetic audio, opening an audio file starts a project containing it, while File → Import adds audio to an already open project. See the File menu reference.

Assemble the first alternate without changing the source

Copy the first region into its own project

In the source waveform, drag across roughly 2–6 seconds. Refine the selection using the bottom toolbar: set Selection start to 2 seconds and the end to 6 seconds. Check that Duration reads 4 seconds. The start, end and duration readouts are editable; changing duration moves the selection’s end. See Bottom toolbar.

Listen to the selected range, then choose Edit → Copy or press Command+C. Copy leaves the source audio in place, and Audacity supports copying between open projects. On a Mac, paste uses Command+V. See Copy Audio in Audacity.

Choose File → New to open a separate project window. Paste into the empty project. Audacity’s copy-and-paste reference documents that pasting into an empty project creates an appropriate mono or stereo track starting at zero. Save the new project as Alternate A. See Edit Menu: Copy, Paste and Duplicate.

Append the remaining regions

Return to the source window and select 12–15 seconds, checking for a 3-second duration. Copy that range, then switch back to Alternate A. Select the destination audio track and press Shift+K, the documented Cursor to track end shortcut. Confirm the cursor is at 4 seconds before pasting. This shortcut is listed in the current Keyboard shortcuts reference.

Paste excerpt B at that cursor. Then return to the source, select 22–27 seconds and copy excerpt C. In Alternate A, place the cursor at the destination track’s new end, 7 seconds, and paste again. The completed arrangement should occupy 0–12 seconds. Audacity’s Edit menu reference documents copying selected audio and pasting at the edit cursor.

Finish each copy-and-paste cycle before copying the next excerpt. Audacity keeps the most recently copied or cut item; a new copy replaces the previous clipboard contents. Also make the destination a cursor point rather than a highlighted span, because paste can replace a selected range. These behaviors are described in Copy Audio in Audacity.

Build the second alternate and check the joins

Create another empty project named Alternate B. Repeat the same process using only A and C: paste A at zero, move the destination cursor to 4 seconds, then paste C. Its planned end is 9 seconds. Returning to the unchanged source for each excerpt keeps the original selection times useful across both versions.

For a reordered version, change the order in which you copy excerpts. For example, C followed by A would place C at 0–5 seconds and A at 5–9 seconds. This is a manual assembly plan derived from the excerpt lengths, rather than a claim that Audacity automatically rearranges noncontiguous selections.

Inspect each join at a closer zoom, then play across it. Check for an unintended gap, repeated material or a missing edge. If selection boundaries keep jumping to a grid, turn off Snap for finer placement; Audacity documents that snapping affects selections, trimming and clip movement. See Basic audio editing.

If you move a pasted clip, drag its header. Dragging inside the waveform creates a time selection instead. In Audacity 4, dropping a clip over another can overwrite the underlying portion, so inspect the join after any move and use Edit → Undo if the result is wrong. See Selecting and moving.

Treat the calculated length as a diagnostic. Alternate A ending after 12 seconds suggests extra space or material; ending earlier suggests a shorter selection, replacement or overlap. A correct total does not prove every excerpt is correct, so compare the boundaries with the plan and listen as well.

When should you use splitting, duplication or labels?

Splitting is useful when you want excerpts to become independently movable clips. In Audacity 4, select a time range and use Command+I to split at both edges. Splitting creates boundaries without removing audio. The behavior is documented under Split, with the Mac shortcut in Keyboard shortcuts.

Edit → Duplicate copies the selected material to a new track at its existing timeline position. It is useful for experiments within a project, but it does not by itself assemble a compact alternate beginning at zero. Likewise, Split into new track moves selected material and leaves a gap in the original. For the workflow here, copying into a separate project requires fewer timing adjustments. See the Edit menu reference.

Older Audacity documentation describes Edit → Labeled Audio → Copy for multiple region labels. Only regions fully included in the label-track selection are processed; partially included regions are ignored, and overlapping labels are treated as one region. Crucially, its example pastes the copied regions with blank space between them. This is useful for retaining spacing, but requires further arrangement for a continuous alternate. See Edit Menu: Labeled Audio.

Treat that labeled-audio procedure as specific to interfaces that provide the submenu. The current Audacity 4 edit reference uses a reorganized menu structure, so do not assume the older menu path exists unchanged. The individual range-copy workflow above avoids that dependency.

Export each alternate as one finished audio file

Save the editable alternate project, then choose File → Export audio. In Audacity 4, set Type to Export full project audio to render the complete arrangement. Export selected audio renders only the current selection, and Export audio in loop region uses the loop region instead. See Export your audio.

Give the files distinct names, such as Alternate-A.wav and Alternate-B.wav. Choose the required format, channel count and sample rate, using matching settings when comparing versions. Some formats, including M4A, require FFmpeg before they appear. The export dialog’s options and this dependency are documented in Export your audio.

Open each exported file and check its beginning, joins and ending against the edit plan. Keep the source project, the editable alternates and their rendered files clearly named. With those pieces in place, the next alternate is a straightforward choice of source ranges, order and destination positions.

Sources