How to Install and Use Audacity on a Chromebook

Audacity has turned out to be one of the best free audio editing software available for Mac, Linux, and Windows. Now, it is also available for your Chromebook. installing Audacity on a Chromebook can seem like a daunting task, but with a few simple steps, you can have the popular audio editing software up and running in no time.

Audacity is a free, open-source digital audio editor that allows users to record, edit, and manipulate audio files. However, it is not natively supported on Chromebooks. Recently ChromeOS has added Linux support to Chromebooks. Using it you can install a Linux desktop application. To find out how to install Audacity on your Chromebook, read till the end.

How to Install Audacity on a Chromebook

First, make sure that your Chromebook is running the latest version of Chrome OS. After that, you have to enable the Linux development environment on your Chromebook. Once done, you can install any Linux desktop application on your Chromebook.

We already have a detailed guide on; how to install a Linux development environment on your Chromebook. You can follow the linked guide.

Once you have enabled it, you can follow the following steps to install Audacity on your Chromebook:

1Step 1: Click on the App Launcher icon and look for the Linux apps folder.

2Step 2: Then, open the Terminal to install Linux apps on your Chromebook.

Screenshot not in the archive: Accessing Terminal from the Linux Apps Folder on Chromebook

3Step 3: If you didn’t get the terminal command, click on the penguin option. Now, it should open the terminal interface.

Screenshot not in the archive: Highlighted Penguiun Option on the Linux Terminal

4Step 4: Here, run the below terminal commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install audacity

5Step 5: After that, you will get a question; “Do you want to continue?”. Here, press the Y key to continue the installation process.

Screenshot not in the archive: Running Terminal Command to Install Audacity on Chromebook

6Step 6: Now, wait for the installation process to complete. Once the app is successfully installed, it will be added to the Linux apps folder. From here, you can open the Audacity application.

Screenshot not in the archive: Audacity on Chromebook on the Linux Apps Folder

Note: If you encounter any issues during installation, try running the command sudo apt-get -f install before attempting the installation again. This command will fix any broken dependencies.

How to Use Audacity on Chromebook

Once you have installed Audacity on your Chromebook, you need to enable microphone permission in your Linux development environment. Audacity requires microphone permission to record audio.

To do so, you can follow the steps below:

1Step 1: Click on the App Drawer icon and open the Settings application.

Screenshot not in the archive: Accessing Settings from the App Drawer

2Step 2: On the settings window, click on the About ChromeOS option and look for the Developers option.

3Step 3: Then, click on the Linux development environment option.

Screenshot not in the archive: Linux Development Environment in Chromebook

4Step 4: Here, you’ll find Linux development environment settings. Now, Turn On the toggle ‘Allow Linux to access your microphone,’ as Audacity requires microphone permission.

Screenshot not in the archive: Allow Linux to Access Your Microphone

5Step 5: You will get a popup window saying: ‘The change in microphone setting requires Linux to shut down. Shut down Linux to proceed.’ Here, click on the Shut Down button.

6Step 6: After that, you are ready to use Audacity on your Chromebook. Using it, you can record, edit, and tweak your audio.

Screenshot not in the archive: Shut Down Linux to Proceed

Conclusion

That’s it; this is how you can install Audacity on a Chromebook to record and edit audio on your device. If you prefer not to use the Linux terminal to install the Linux application, you can install Snap Store and Flatpak. These platforms function similarly to the Google Play Store, providing a user-friendly interface for installing and managing Linux applications.

I hope this Chromebook guide was helpful to you. Moreover, if you have any suggestions or doubts, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section. We are always here to assist you. Also, you can check out our guide on installing Shotcut Video Editor on Chromebook.