How do I remove silence from audio?
Updated:
Open Remove Silence, drop the recording, choose Voice for speech and set the longest pause to keep, for example half a second. Press Remove silence: every longer pause is shortened and the speech stays as it is.
What are the steps?
- Open Remove Silence and drop an audio or video file.
- Choose Voice for speech, or Volume for music and other sounds.
- Set the longest pause to keep: 0.3 to 0.5 seconds sounds natural.
- Press Remove silence.
- Listen to the shorter file and download it.
How does it find the pauses?
In Voice mode a small speech detection model (Silero VAD) listens for speech in your browser, so pauses are found even over a fan or traffic noise. Volume mode counts quiet parts as pauses, which suits music and sound effects.
Will it cut off the start or end of words?
No. A little room is left around speech and each pause is shortened from its middle, so words keep their natural lead-in and fade.
How long should the pauses be?
Around 0.3 to 0.5 seconds keeps speech sounding natural. Set 0.1 seconds for a tight, fast edit, for example for short videos.
Can I remove silence from a video?
You can drop a video file; the tool works on its sound and gives you a shorter audio file. The video picture itself is not edited.
How much shorter will my recording get?
It depends on how much you paused. Lectures and interviews with long thinking pauses often lose a noticeable share of their length; tightly edited speech changes little.