Remove Silence in Premiere Pro With AI: Cut Dead Air Automatically

Removing silence might not be the flashiest part of editing, but it’s one of the most necessary, especially when editing podcasts, interviews, or talking head videos. Whether you're cleaning up dead air or trimming awkward pauses between thoughts, the "Remove Silence" feature in Cutback can drastically speed up your editing process in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Let’s explore how Cutback's AI-powered silence remover works and how you can remove long pauses with precision.

Why Use An AI Gap Eraser to Auto-Cut Silence From Video?

Traditional methods of trimming silence in Premiere Pro usually involve:

• Scrubbing the footage manually on the timeline level

• Cutting awkward pauses by ear or by spotting waveform changes in the audio tracks

• Using audio gates or basic rule-based plugins over AI-powered software

But these approaches can be time-consuming and imprecise for securing professional-quality audio. Enter AI-powered silence removal with Cutback, a tool that not only detects silence in your video but lets you preview, fine-tune, and apply it intelligently for clean audio.

There are two possible ways to use the Cutback deadair remover features to get rid of long silence pauses and remove silent portions.

Option 1: Removing Silence via the [Remove Silence] Menu

Step 1: Set Up Your Sequence

Open a new project in Adobe Premiere Pro and prepare your sequence with your audio files and video clips.

Step 2: Launch Cutback

In Premiere’s top menu, go to Window > Extension > Cutback.

Step 3: Choose the [Remove Silence] Menu

Open the specialized silence remover panel within Cutback.

Step 4: Configure the Settings

Here’s what you’ll be asked to configure:

• Audio Track: Select the audio track you want to trim to remove gaps.

• Range: Choose whether to remove silence from the entire sequence, selected clips, or a defined In/Out range.

• Removal Method: Decide if you want the silences deleted outright or split for later review.

• Remaining Length: Adjust the spacing left between dialogue, tighten or loosen it with presets or a custom value. The Cutback AI tolerance system will use this to determine the degree of silence detection.

• Silence Threshold: Set a decibel level to define what counts as silence. This will give the AI a range to consider for audio cleaning.

Click ▶ Preview to listen before making changes.

Step 5: Apply the Edits

Once satisfied, click the Remove Silences button and let Cutback process your audio. It will remove silence from your audio transcription.

Step 6: Restore (If Needed)

Did something go wrong? Click [Restore sequence] to undo all changes. Be careful, partial restoration isn’t supported.

Option 2: Trim Silence Using the AI Assistant

For a more flexible, conversational experience, you can use the AI Assistant inside Cutback’s Auto Rough Cut and Auto Multi Cam features.

Step 1: Start a New Project

Load your media as usual in Premiere Pro.

Step 2: Launch Cutback and Use [Auto Rough Cut]

Select [Auto Rough Cut] from the plugin panel to access transcription and chat-based tools.

Step 3: Transcribe the Audio

Before using silence removal, you’ll need to transcribe your audio and select speaker detection settings:

• The system creates a text-based editing version of your video that will be used to see the changes made by the audio editor, among other audio transcription features.

• After you transcribe audio, you can later remove filler words, remove awkward pauses, retakes, or shorten the video to achieve a studio-quality output.

Step 4: Click the Assistant Button

At the top right of the plugin, click the Assistant button. Type or select [Remove Silence] in the chat window.

Step 5: Preview and Adjust

After generating the draft:

• Silent segments appear grayed out in the transcript

• Adjust the silence thresholds or remaining spacing with visual controls

• Use [Open Draft] > [Change Settings] to refine settings

Step 6: Apply to Your Timeline

Click [Apply to sequence] to finalize your changes. Choose between creating a new sequence or updating the current one.

Quick Tips for Best Results Using the Audio Silence Remover

• Use the Preview feature generously before applying changes

• Combine with other features: Silence removal works great alongside tools like Remove Filler Words, Shorten Video, or Edit with Script

• Split long videos: For performance, divide your content into 20–30 minute chunks

• Adjust padding: Shorter remaining length = tighter edits; longer = more natural pacing

FAQ: Silence Removal in Cutback

Q: Silence removal is taking forever. What can I do?

• Remove unused effects (transitions, color, etc.)

• Delete unused tracks

• Work on a powerful machine or use smaller sequences

Q: Can I restore just part of the changes?

No, [Restore Sequence] undoes all edits at once. If you want flexibility, use the AI Assistant in [Auto Rough Cut].

Q: What if I want to adjust the silence length manually?

Use [Open Draft] > [Change Settings] to fine-tune silence thresholds and padding manually.

Q: Does this work for podcasts and interviews?

Yes, Cutback is especially effective for spoken-word formats. It’s ideal for podcast editing, video interviews, Zoom recordings, and tutorials.

Final Thoughts

The process of removing silence is often overlooked, but it plays a massive role in making your videos feel tight, clean, and professional. With Cutback’s dual-mode AI silence remover, you can spend less time cutting and more time creating. Whether you prefer a manual fine-tuning approach or a fast AI Assistant to do the work for you, Cutback gives you control and speed.

Explore more smart video editing features inside Cutback to automate and accelerate your post-production workflow fully.

For more in-depth knowledge about the ins and outs of video editing, check out our latest posts on the Cutback blog or our YouTube channel. You can also join Cutback’s Discord community of like-minded video editors.