+++
title = "Starting Ardour"
description = "Launching Ardour"
chapter = false
weight = 2
#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
+++

Once you have started Ardour, the **Session Setup** window shows up.

![Session Setup](en/Ardour6_Session_Setup.png)

You can click on **New Session** to create a brand new session, or you
can open an existing session using the **Other Sessions** options. For now let's create a fresh session, so click on **New Session**. The window should now look like the screenshot below.

Name your new project and click **Open** .

![New Session](en/Ardour6_Session_Setup_2.png)

{{% notice tip %}}
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 **not** manually rename any folders or files that belong to the Session.
{{% /notice %}}

## Continuing

Next: [Overview of the interface](../overview-of-the-interface)