Import and Export EQ Curves in Audacity

Transferring equalization curves between different Audacity installations is fully supported and easy to accomplish. Whether you are migrating to a new computer, sharing presets with a collaborator, or standardizing your audio production workflow across multiple workstations, you can export your custom EQ settings to an external file and import them into any standard Audacity setup. This guide details how to export and import presets using Audacity's Filter Curve EQ and Graphic EQ tools.

Exporting EQ Curves

To move an EQ preset out of your current Audacity setup, use the effect's preset management menu:

1. Open Audacity and select an audio track (or create an empty project and generate a brief silence track to enable the effect menus).
2. Go to the top menu and select Effect > EQ and Filters > Filter Curve EQ (or Graphic EQ, depending on which tool contains your custom curve).
3. Click the Presets & Settings (or Manage) button located in the bottom-left corner of the effect window.
4. Hover over or click Export Presets...
5. Select the specific user preset you want to export, or choose to export all user presets.
6. Choose a destination folder (such as a USB drive or cloud storage folder), name your preset file, and click Save. Audacity will generate a text (.txt) file containing your curve values.

Importing EQ Curves to a New Installation

Once you have your exported preset file, you can load it onto any other computer running Audacity:

1. Copy the exported .txt file onto the target computer.
2. Launch Audacity on the new system.
3. Open the corresponding effect (Filter Curve EQ or Graphic EQ) via the Effect menu.
4. Click the Presets & Settings button in the bottom-left corner.
5. Select Import Presets...
6. Locate and select your saved .txt file, then click Open.
7. Audacity will automatically add the imported curve to your User Presets list, making it immediately available for future sessions.

Legacy Audacity Versions (Pre-Audacity 2.4.0)

If you are using older versions of Audacity, EQ curves were stored centrally in an XML file named EQCurves.xml. To manually transfer all curves simultaneously on legacy versions:

• Windows: Copy EQCurves.xml from C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\audacity\ to the same location on the target machine.
• macOS: Copy the file from ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/.
• Linux: Copy the file from ~/.audacity-data/.

For modern versions, using the built-in Presets & Settings menu to export and import .txt files remains the standard and most reliable method. Note that curves created in Filter Curve EQ cannot be directly imported into Graphic EQ, so ensure you import your file into the matching equalizer tool.