Audacity, the free and long-popular audio editing software, has released version 4, marking its biggest overhaul since debuting in 2000. The update replaces its previously clunky, ageing workflow with modern, non-destructive editing, bringing it much closer to a professional digital audio workstation and addressing years of criticism about its dated design.

The headline change is non-destructive editing: trimmed clips can be recovered by dragging their edges back out, and clips can now overlap on the timeline rather than blocking one another, allowing audio to be freely rearranged or pasted without space constraints. Additional features include the ability to split clips, refreshed clip envelopes and built-in effects, a new home screen with improved project organisation, and a visual redesign with customisable themes that aligns Audacity with sibling Muse products such as MuseScore and Audio.com. The release follows a minor controversy last October over an early leaked logo design, though the final icon used in Audacity 4 is less divisive.