How to remove filler words and silences from video

How do I remove filler words and silences from a video on Mac?

To remove filler words and silences on a Mac, transcribe the video with word level timing, find the ums, uhs, stutters and long pauses, and cut them while leaving short natural breaths. You can do it by hand on a waveform in any editor, or automatically. In octuedit, an AI video editor for Mac, you type one request, such as "remove filler words and pauses, keep it natural", and your own Claude Code or Codex cuts them at the strength you pick. Transcription runs on your Mac, so nothing is uploaded. The cuts land on a normal timeline, so you can restore any word, and undo covers the agent's edits. You can add captions, audio cleanup and a vertical version in the same sentence. Descript and Premiere Pro also detect filler words, on monthly plans. octuedit is $99 once for macOS 13 or later.

Which filler words should you cut, and which should you keep?

Not every pause or um is a mistake. Cut the ones that slow the viewer down, and keep the ones that make you sound like a person.

• Cut: um, uh and er at the start of sentences, false starts, repeated words, retakes, and pauses longer than about a second.
• Usually keep: short breaths between sentences, a beat before a punchline or key number, and filler that is part of how a guest speaks in an interview.
• Be careful with like, so and you know: they are sometimes filler and sometimes meaning, so check each one.

How do you remove filler words by hand?

In any editor, you can do this on the waveform: silences show as flat stretches and filler words as short blobs between phrases. Use the blade or split tool to cut them out, then ripple delete to close the gap. Add a two to four frame audio crossfade at each cut to avoid clicks. It works everywhere but is slow, roughly as long as the video itself for a careful pass.

How do you remove filler words automatically?

Automatic tools transcribe the speech with word timings, find the filler words and gaps, and cut them for you. Here is how the main ones work, from each company's own documentation.

How do you keep the edit sounding natural?

• Start gentle: remove obvious filler and long gaps first, then tighten more only if the pace still drags.
• Leave about a quarter of a second of room at each cut so words don't run into each other.
• Use short audio crossfades at every cut, and watch for cuts that land mid-breath.
• Cover visible jump cuts with a punch-in or b-roll.
• Listen to the whole thing at normal speed before exporting; over cutting is easier to hear than to see.

How does octuedit remove filler words and silences?

octuedit is an AI video editor for Mac, made by us. It transcribes your footage on your Mac with word level timing, so when you ask it to tighten an episode, your own Claude Code or Codex removes filler words, stutters and long pauses at the strength you pick. The cuts land on a normal timeline, so you can restore any word, and undo covers the agent's edits too. You can combine it with other requests, such as captions, audio cleanup and a vertical version, in the same sentence.

Which other tools remove filler words and silences?

These tools also cut filler words, silences or retakes. Prices and details are from each company's own website, checked 27 October 2026.

• Gling: removes bad takes, silences and filler words automatically, with Mac and Windows apps and a browser app; you upload the raw recording. Free plan, then $10, $20 or $50 a month billed yearly, or $20, $40 or $100 monthly.
• TimeBolt: removes silences, filler words and bad takes on Mac (Apple silicon and Intel) and Windows, processed on your computer. $17 a month, $97 a year or $347 once; filler word removal costs $0.03 a minute extra.
• Recut: removes silences only and exports a cut list to your editor, on Mac and Windows. $129 once, $15 a month or $79 a year.
• Tella: a recorder and editor where you delete filler words and silences in the transcript; videos are hosted by Tella and shared as links. Pro is $13 a month billed yearly or $26 monthly.
• BlitzCut: silence, filler and retake cleanup plus captions on Macs with M1 or later and macOS 15.6 or later; the audio track is sent to a cloud service for transcription. $16.99 a month or $69.99 a year.