Assign Keyboard Shortcuts to Audacity Macros

Automating repetitive audio editing tasks using Macros in Audacity saves significant production time, but triggering them through menus can still interrupt your workflow. This guide outlines how to assign dedicated keyboard hotkeys to your custom user-created Macros directly within Audacity’s settings, allowing you to execute complex command chains with a single keystroke.

Step 1: Open the Preferences Menu

Launch Audacity and open the Preferences window using the method for your operating system:

Step 2: Navigate to Keyboard Settings

In the left sidebar of the Preferences window, click on Keyboard. This section displays every command available in Audacity along with its current key binding.

Step 3: Locate Your User-Created Macro

Audacity automatically treats any saved Macro as an executable command. To find yours:

  1. Click the search box located above the command list.
  2. Type the exact name of your custom Macro.
  3. Alternatively, select the Name radio button above the list and scroll down to the "Apply Macro" section or look directly for your Macro's title.

Step 4: Assign the Custom Key Combination

  1. Click on the name of your Macro in the list to highlight it.
  2. Click inside the input box next to the Set button near the bottom of the window.
  3. Press the exact key or key combination you want to assign on your keyboard (for example, Ctrl + Shift + N or a single unused Function key like F6).

Step 5: Confirm and Save

  1. Click the Set button to link the shortcut to the selected Macro.
  2. If the chosen hotkey is already in use by another Audacity function, an alert will notify you of the conflict. You can choose to overwrite the existing shortcut or pick a different combination.
  3. Click OK at the bottom of the Preferences window to save your changes.

Your custom hotkey is now active. Pressing the designated key combination will immediately execute your Macro on the currently selected audio track.