<scripttype=text/javascript>varbaseurl="https://prokoudine.github.io/ardour-tutorial/en"</script><scripttype=text/javascriptsrc=/ardour-tutorial/js/search.js?1650589060></script></div><sectionid=homelinks><ul><li><aclass=paddinghref=/ardour-tutorial/en/><iclass="fas fa-home"></i> Home</a></li></ul></section><divclass=highlightable><ulclass=topics><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/title=Introductionclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/><b>1. </b>Introduction</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/conventions/title=Conventionsclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/conventions/>Conventions</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/what-is-digital-audio/title="What is digital audio?"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/what-is-digital-audio/>What is digital audio?</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/title="Getting started"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/><b>2. </b>Getting started</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/starting-ardour-on-ubuntu/title="Starting Ardour"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/starting-ardour-on-ubuntu/>Starting Ardour</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/title="Overview of the Interface"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/>Overview of the Interface</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/editor-window/title="Editor window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/editor-window/>Editor window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/mixer-window/title="Mixer window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/mixer-window/>Mixer window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/recorder-window/title="Recorder window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/recorder-window/>Recorder window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/title="Cue window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/>Cue window</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/title="Creating tracks and busses"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/>Creating tracks and busses</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/importing-audio/title="Importing audio"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/importing-audio/>Importing audio</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/title="Setting up the timeline"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/>Setting up the timeline</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/title=Recordingclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/><b>3. </b>Recording</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/recording-audio/title="Recording audio"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/recording-audio/>Recording audio</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/understanding-routing/title="Understanding routing"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/understanding-routing/>Understanding routing</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/routing-between-applications/title="Routing between applications"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/routing-between-applications/>Routing between applications</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/title="Editing sessions"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/><b>4. </b>Editi
parent"><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/><b>7. </b>Saving sessions</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-session/title="Saving a session"class="dd-item active"><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-session/>Saving a session</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-snapshot/title="Saving a snapshot"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-snapshot/>Saving a snapshot</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-template/title="Saving a template"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-template/>Saving a template</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/title=Appendicesclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/><b>8. </b>Appendices</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/further-help/title="Further help"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/further-help/>Further help</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/glossary/title=Glossaryclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/glossary/>Glossary</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/credits/title=Creditsclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/credits/>Credits</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/license/title=Licenseclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/license/>License</a></li></ul></li></ul><sectionid=shortcuts><h3>More</h3><ul><li><aclass=paddinghref=https://github.com/prokoudine/ardour-tutorial><iclass="fab fa-fw fa-github"></i> This tutorial on GitHub</a></li><li><aclass=paddinghref=https://ardour.org/><iclass="fas fa-fw fa-home"></i> Ardour's homepage</a></li><li><aclass=paddinghref=https://manual.ardour.org><iclass="fas fa-fw fa-bookmark"></i> User manual</a></li><li><aclass=paddinghref=https://discourse.ardour.org/><iclass="fas fa-fw fa-users"></i> Forum</a></li><li><aclass=paddinghref=https://prokoudine.github.io/ardour-tutorial/en/appendices/credits/><iclass="fas fa-fw fa-bullhorn"></i> Credits</a></li></ul></section><sectionid=prefooter><hr><ul><li><aclass=padding><iclass="fas fa-language fa-fw"></i><divclass=select-style><selectid=select-languageonchange="location=this.value"><optionid=envalue=https://prokoudine.github.io/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/saving-a-session/selected>English</option></select><svgid="Capa_1"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"width="255"height="255"viewBox="0 0 255 255"style="enable-background:new 0 0 255 255"><g><gid="arrow-drop-down"><polygonpoints="0,63.75 127.5,191.25 255,63.75"/></g></g></svg></div></a></li></ul></section><sectionid=footer><p>Built with <ahref=https://github.com/matcornic/hugo-theme-learn><iclass="fas fa-heart"></i></a> from <ahref=https://getgrav.org>Grav</a> and <ahref=https://gohugo.io/>Hugo</a></p></section></div></nav><sectionid=body><divid=overlay></div><divclass="padding highlightable"><div><divid=top-bar><divid=breadcrumbsitemscopeitemtype=http://data-vocabulary.org/Breadcrumb><spanid=sidebar-toggle-span><ahref=#id=sidebar-toggledata-sidebar-toggle><iclass="fas fa-bars"></i></a></span>
<spanclass=links><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/>Home</a> > <ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/saving-sessions/>Saving sessions</a> > Saving a session</span></div><divclass=progress><divclass=wrapper><navid=TableOfContents><ul><li><ahref=#ardour-file-and-folder-format>Ardour File and Folder Format</a></li><li><ahref=#moving-a-session-to-another-computer-or-disk>Moving a Session to Another Computer or Disk</a></li><li><ahref=#continuing>Continuing</a></li></ul></nav></div></div></div></div><divid=head-tags></div><divid=body-inner><h1>Saving a session</h1><p>There are a number of ways to save Sessions in Ardour, so that each session
can be use later on. The simplest way is to save the entire session just like
you would save other documents: hitting <strong>Ctrl+S</strong>.</p><p>A new session is first saved at the moment you create it. While you are working
on it, you should save it frequently. Get into the habit of hitting <strong>Ctrl+S</strong>
(or <strong>Command+S</strong> on a Mac) every few minutes.</p><divclass="notices tip"><p>Avoid using any characters other than letters and numbers when naming your
session. Avoid white spaces, accented letters, !@#$%*()+, periods, commas, etc.
Use dashes or underscores if you like. For example, instead of “My Great
Session!”, prefer “My_Great_Session”, or “MyGreatSession”, or
“my-great-session”. Instead of “Açaí”, write “Acai” (without accented letters),
etc. Once you have created your Ardour session, do <em>not</em> manually rename any
folders or files that belong to the session.</p></div><h2id=ardour-file-and-folder-format>Ardour File and Folder Format</h2><p>The contents of a typical session’s folder on your hard drive might look
something like this:</p><p><imgsrc=en/Ardour4_Session_Folder_Structure.pngalt="Ardour Folder"></p><p>A bit of information about some of the components inside that folder:</p><ul><li>The name of this session is <em>my_session</em>.</li><li>The main session file is called <code>my_session.ardour</code>. The session file is
periodically backed up by Ardour with a <code>.bak</code> extension.</li><li>The <code>.history</code> file keeps a record of changes you have made during your
session, and is also periodically backed up.</li><li>The <code>interchange</code> folder contains the actual audio data of all the regions
used in your session.</li><li>The <code>export</code> folder is where exported files are saved by default.</li></ul><p>If double-clicking on the session file does not launch Ardour, use the standard
<em>Session Setup</em> dialog.</p><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-session-setup-dialog.pngalt="Ardour Opening"></p><h2id=moving-a-session-to-another-computer-or-disk>Moving a Session to Another Computer or Disk</h2><p>If you need to move your Ardour session to another computer, or if you would
just the <code>*.ardour</code> file.</p><divclass="notices warning"><p>When copying an Ardour folder to another computer or drive, do not manually
change its name or the name of any of the internal files. Please also note that,
as Ardour sessions are case-sensitive, copying a session to a USB stick (VFAT
file-system) will likely corrupt the session. ZIP up the session folder to move
it between machines.</p></div><p>The easiest way to transfer the entire project is indeed to just ZIP the
session’s folder. If you don’t have snapshots in your session, you can also use
the <code>Session > Archive...</code> command. This will create a single ZIP file
containing the project file and all audio data transcoded to lossless FLAC
files. Please note that an archive will <em>not</em> contain snapshot, only the current
state of the session will be preserved.</p><h2id=continuing>Continuing</h2><p>Saving an entire allows you to open it again at a later time. However, if you
next session called <em>Saving a Snapshot</em>.</p><p>Next: <ahref=../saving-a-snapshot>SAVING A SNAPSHOT</a></p><footerclass=footline></footer></div></div><divid=navigation></div></section><divstyle=left:-1000px;overflow:scroll;position:absolute;top:-1000px;border:none;box-sizing:content-box;height:200px;margin:0;padding:0;width:200px><divstyle=border:none;box-sizing:content-box;height:200px;margin:0;padding:0;width:200px></div></div><scriptsrc=/ardour-tutorial/js/clipboard.min.js?1650589060></script>
