In the toolbar, select the Time Selection tool 
.
Last updated on
Dec 16, 2021
Learn how to select audio in Adobe Audition to edit, trim, and refine specific parts of your sound with precision.
Selecting audio is a core part of editing, enabling you to isolate specific sections for precise changes. With the right selection techniques, you can quickly trim, adjust, and refine your audio to achieve accurate results.
Do any of the following:
To select a range, drag in the Editor panel.
To extend or shorten a selection, drag the selection edges. You can also Shift‑click beyond the edges to quickly extend a selection to a specific location or right‑click to extend or shorten a selection. To enable this feature, select Extend Selection in the General section of the Preferences dialog box.
Select spectral ranges
When working in a spectral display, you can use the Marquee, Lasso, or Paintbrush Selection tool to select audio data within specific spectral ranges. The Marquee Selection tool lets you select a rectangular area. The Lasso Selection and Paintbrush Selection tools let you make free‑form selections. All three tools offer detailed editing and processing, with incredible flexibility for audio restoration. For example, if you find audio artifacts, you can select and edit just the affected frequencies, producing superior results with faster processing.
The Paintbrush Selection tool creates unique selections that determine the intensity of applied effects. To adjust intensity, either layer brush strokes or change the Opacity setting in the toolbar. The more opaque the white, selected area is, the more intense the applied effects will be.
A. Marquee B. Lasso C. Paintbrush
In the toolbar, select the Marquee 
, Lasso 
, or Paintbrush Selection 
.
In the Editor panel, drag the spectral display to select the desired audio data.
Note
When you make a selection in a stereo waveform, the selection is applied to all channels by default. To select audio data in specific channels, choose them from the Edit > Enable Channels menu.
To adjust the selection, do any of the following:
To move the selection, position the pointer in the selection and drag it to the desired location.
To resize the selection, position the pointer on the corner or edge of the selection and drag it to the desired size. (For paintbrush selections, you can also adjust the brush Size setting in the toolbar.)
To add to a lasso or paintbrush selection, Shift-drag. To subtract from the selection, Alt-drag.
To determine the intensity of effects applied to paintbrush selections, adjust the Opacity setting in the toolbar.
Note
By default, Audition plays only the selected audio spectrum. To hear all audio in the same time range, right-click the Play button, and deselect Play Spectral Selection Only.
Select artifacts and repair them automatically
For the quickest repair of small, isolated audio artifacts such as clicks or pops, use the Spot Healing Brush. When you select audio with this tool, it automatically applies the Favorites > Auto Heal command.
Note
Auto-healing is optimized for small audio artifacts and thus limited to selections of four seconds or less.
In the toolbar, select the Spot Healing Brush 
.
To change the pixel diameter, adjust the Size setting. Or press the square bracket keys.
In the Editor panel, either click and hold or drag across an audio artifact in the spectral display.
Note
If you click without holding down the mouse button, Audition moves the Playhead so you can preview audio, but doesn’t repair it. To repair audio by clicking, select Create a circular selection on mouse down in the General preferences.
A. Before B. After
Select all of a waveform
Do either of the following:
To select the visible range of a waveform, double‑click in the Editor panel.
To select all of a waveform, triple‑click in the Editor panel.
Specify which channels you want to edit
By default, Audition applies selections and edits to all channels of a stereo or surround waveform. However, you can easily select and edit specific channels.
- To the right of the Editor panel, click the channel buttons in the amplitude ruler. For a stereo file, for example, click the left channel
or right channel 
button. To select one stereo channel simply by dragging across the very top or bottom of the Editor panel, select Allow context-sensitive channel editing in the General section of the Preferences dialog box.
Adjust a selection to zero‑crossing points
For many editing tasks such as deleting or inserting audio, zero‑crossings (points where amplitude is zero) are the best places to make selections. Selections that begin and end at zero‑crossings reduce the chance that edits will create audible pops or clicks.
To adjust a selection to the closest zero‑crossing points, choose Edit > Zero Crossings. Then select an option such as Adjust Selection Inward, which moves both edges inward to the next zero crossing.
Note
To further reduce the chance of pops or clicks, all edits are crossfaded. You can change crossfade durations in the Data section of the Preferences dialog box.
Snap to markers, rulers, frames, and zero crossings
Snapping causes selection boundaries, as well as the current‑time indicator, to move to items such as markers, ruler ticks, zero‑crossing points, and frames. Enabling snapping helps you make accurate selections; however, if you prefer, you can disable snapping for specific items.
To enable snapping for selected items, click the Toggle Snapping icon 
at the top of the Editor panel.
To specify items to snap to, choose Edit > Snapping, and select any of the following:
Snap To Markers
Snaps to a marker point.
Snap To Ruler (Coarse)
Snaps only to the major numeric divisions (such as minutes and seconds) in the timeline. You can enable only one Snap To Ruler command at a time.
Snap To Ruler (Fine)
Snaps to subdivisions (such as milliseconds) in the timeline. Zoom in (right‑click and drag across the timeline) to display more accurate subdivisions and place the cursor more precisely.
Snap To Zero Crossings
Snaps to the nearest place where audio crosses the center line (the zero amplitude point).
Snap To Frames
Snaps to a frame boundary if the time format is measured in frames (such as Compact Disc and SMPTE).
Note
You can access snapping commands by right‑clicking the timeline.
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