FFmpeg recipe

FFmpeg: Auto-Remove Silent Gaps from Audio or Video

silenceremove detects audio below a threshold and cuts those segments. Tunable for casual chat or fast standups.

Command

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -af "silenceremove=stop_periods=-1:stop_duration=0.6:stop_threshold=-40dB" -y output.mp4

Prefer no terminal?

Use the Silence Remover in your browser

-i	Input file. Can be a video, audio, or image. Repeat for multiple inputs.
-af	Audio filter chain. e.g. silenceremove, loudnorm.
-y	Overwrite output file without confirmation.
stop_periods=-1	Remove every silent gap, not just the leading one.
stop_duration=0.6	Minimum gap length to consider as silence (in seconds).
stop_threshold=-40dB	Audio below this dB level is silence. Tighten to -50dB for casual chats; loosen to -30dB for noisy recordings.

ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 output.mp3

Shorter than the source. An unchanged duration means nothing crossed the silence threshold.

stop_threshold is the sensitivity	-40dB suits a clean recording. A noisy room needs -30dB or the noise floor never counts as silence.
stop_duration protects the pauses you want	0.6 s removes dead air and keeps breaths. Below 0.3 s it starts cutting inside words.
It only edits audio here	The video stream keeps its own timeline, so picture and sound drift apart. Cut both together, or use the browser tool which handles it.

Nothing was removed.

Why: The threshold is stricter than the actual noise floor. Room tone often sits above -30 dB.

Fix: Raise the threshold towards -25 dB, or measure the real floor first with the silencedetect filter.

Words are clipped at the start of sentences.

Why: The minimum silence duration is too short, so the filter cuts into the breath before speech begins.

Fix: Increase the duration to half a second or more, which keeps natural pauses intact.