Do I really need all these old files?

[2bSolo]

Hope I can describe this issue accurately.

I know Reaper uses non-destructive editing, so if I punch in, all the old clips are still available to me. That's a nice feature.

The downside of that for me is after I decide I like my new take, I want to consolidate the track, make it a .wav file and get rid of the old versions. I tried that and Reaper didn't like it. The next time I started the program, it gave me a message that files are missing and it didn't want to load the consolidated version of the track.

So is there a way to get rid of the old versions, keep the new and make Reaper happy?

Thanks for your help.

2b

[Judders]

Did you try File > Clean current project directory?

[Coachz]

File > Clean current project directory
Is what you wants

[foxAsteria]

Thing with non-destructive editing is that you don't get new files most of the time, just different edits of the same file, no matter how many times you copy it. If you render, glue or apply fx etc, then you do create a new file and can get rid of the old one if you want, so long as it's not set to be retained by the project when removed from the arrangement (set that in project bay).

If you don't like all your take passes being parts of the same item you can change that in prefs/loop recording.