How to remove silences automatically in Premiere Pro with Autocut (beta)

Step by step

1. Duplicate your sequence — In the Premiere Pro Project panel, duplicate your sequence first: undoing Autocut takes one Ctrl/Cmd+Z per cut.

2. Open Autocut — In the Text step of the panel, click ✂ Autocut (beta).

3. Choose the range and the tracks — Set Range (Between In/Out points or Whole sequence) and Analyzed tracks (All unmuted tracks or one track).

4. Analyze — Click Analyze: the silences appear in red on the waveform, with the total time to remove.

5. Review the silences — Adjust the settings if needed; click a silence on the waveform to keep it or remove it.

6. Apply — Choose the Action, click Apply, read the confirmation, then confirm.

What does Autocut do, and why is it in beta?

Autocut analyzes the audio of your sequence, finds the silences — the pauses between sentences, the hesitations — and removes them from your timeline. The result is the tight, jump-cut rhythm of talking-head videos for Reels and Shorts, without razoring every pause by hand.

• Nothing is touched before you click Apply. You see every silence on a waveform first, and you choose which ones go.
• It cuts every unlocked track at the same points, so video and audio stay in sync.
• The analysis runs on your computer: no upload, no credits, on every plan.

Autocut is in beta. Its window says so: 🧪 Feature in development (beta): bugs are possible. Check the result in Premiere — and duplicate your sequence first, undoing takes one Ctrl/⌘+Z per cut.

Why it matters: removing silences by hand means listening to the whole take, razoring, deleting and closing each gap. Autocut does that pass for you and leaves you the decisions — which pauses to keep for breathing room.

How to remove silences step by step

1. Duplicate your sequence in the Premiere Pro Project panel, and work on the copy.
2. In the 2 Text step, click ✂ Autocut (beta) (at the left of + Add text). The ✂ Autocut — cut the silences window opens.
3. Set Range: Between In/Out points (default) or Whole sequence.
4. Set Analyzed tracks: All unmuted tracks, or one track (Track A1, Track A2…). Pick the voice track if music runs under it.
5. Click Analyze. The panel shows Premiere is exporting the audio…, then Analyzing the audio…, then the waveform with the silences in red and a summary such as 12 silences — 18.40 s to remove (9%).
6. Adjust the settings below if needed — the silences update as you move a slider, no new analysis needed.
7. Choose the Action, click Apply, read the Apply autocut? confirmation and confirm.

Your settings are remembered for the next time. Esc closes the window as long as nothing is being applied.

Which detection settings should I use?

Option	Where	What it does	When to use it
Threshold (dB)	Autocut window	Sound level under which the audio counts as silence (−70 to −20 dB).	Move it only if Auto misses pauses or cuts into words; moving it unticks Auto.
Auto (noise floor + 8 dB)	Next to the threshold, ticked by default	Measures the background noise of your audio and sets the threshold 8 dB above it. The status line shows Applied threshold: X dB (measured noise floor: Y dB).	Leave it on for most recordings.
Minimum silence (s)	Same window	Shortest pause that counts as a silence (0.1 to 3 s; 0.5 s by default).	Raise it to keep short, natural pauses.
Padding before/after (ms)	Same window	Audio kept on each side of the voice, so a cut never lands flush on a word (0 to 500 ms; 80 ms by default).	Raise it if word starts or ends sound clipped.
Minimum kept segment (ms)	Same window	Shortest piece of audio kept between two silences; shorter pieces are removed with them (0 to 2000 ms; 300 ms by default).	Raise it to get rid of breaths and clicks between pauses.

The five actions

Action	What it does in the timeline
Cut and close gaps (default)	Removes the silences and closes the gaps: classic jump cuts.
Cut, leave gaps	Removes the silences but leaves the empty spaces.
Compress silences	Shortens each silence instead of removing it: Keep per silence (ms) sets what stays (0 to 2000 ms; 200 ms by default).
Mute only	Keeps every clip in place and only silences the pauses.
Markers only	Changes nothing in the edit: adds a Silence marker on each one, to cut yourself.

How to review the silences before cutting

• Click a silence on the waveform to keep it (it turns grey) or remove it again (red).
• Check all / Uncheck all select or clear every silence at once.
• Details of the N silences ▾ opens the list: one row per silence, with its times, its duration, a box, and ▶ to play the passage in Premiere Pro.
• A silence you unticked stays unticked when you move a slider.
• If almost everything would be removed, the panel refuses and says No voice detected on these tracks (everything would be removed) — check your track selection.

Automatic zoom at cuts (punch-in)

Tick Automatic zoom at cuts (punch-in) to slightly enlarge some of the kept segments, starting from each clip’s current scale — a classic way to hide jump cuts. It’s off by default, and only offered with the actions that cut.

Option	What it does
Style	Alternating (every other segment zoomed) (default), Zoom punch at each cut (in, then back), Progressive (slow push-in across the segment) or Light random (never the same twice).
Intensity (%)	How much the image grows: 101 to 130% (106% by default).
Zoom point	Click or drag inside the frame, drawn in your sequence’s format: that point stays fixed while the image grows; the blue rectangle shows what stays visible. Center and Face (upper third) set it in one click (the upper third is the default).
No zoom below (s)	Segments shorter than this aren’t zoomed (0.8 s by default).
One segment out of	Zooms only one segment in N (not shown with Alternating, which already zooms every other one).
Zoomed video track	Automatic (first track with clips), or a video track of your choice (locked tracks aren’t offered).

Clips that already have their own animation are left as they are; the end message tells you if no clip could be zoomed.

Applying, stopping and undoing

The Apply autocut? window sums up the action, the number of silences and the time removed, and reminds you that every unlocked track is affected and that undoing needs one Ctrl/⌘+Z per cut.

While it applies, a progress bar shows Cut N / M…, then Closing the gaps…. The Cancel button becomes ⛔ Stop: it halts cleanly, and the message says how many cuts were made (Autocut stopped after N cuts…).

At the end, a message sums up the work, for example ✂ 12 silences cut, 18.40 s saved. If something didn’t go as planned — a silence Premiere Pro refused to cut, gaps it wouldn’t close — the Autocut report window opens: click Copy the report and send it to us from ⚙ › ✉ Contact. The report contains only numbers, nothing from your project. If Premiere Pro didn’t let the gaps close, select them in the timeline and use Ripple Delete.

Warning: Autocut refuses sequences longer than 6 hours; set In/Out points to work on a part. More messages in Troubleshooting.

Autocut and your captions

• Transcribed captions follow the cut: their words are anchored to the clips and re-sync right after Autocut — see Captions that follow your edits.
• Imported or typed captions don’t follow: before applying, the confirmation warns you that they have no audio anchor. Transcribe after cutting, or retime them in the Text step.

Tip: run Autocut before AI transcription: there is less audio to transcribe, so fewer credits are used — and the captions start from the final rhythm of your edit.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove silences automatically in Premiere Pro?

With Subkick Caption, open the Text step of the panel and click ✂ Autocut (beta). Click Analyze to find the silences in your sequence, review them on the waveform, choose Cut and close gaps and click Apply: the silences are cut on every unlocked track. Autocut is in beta, so check the result.

Is there a jump cut plugin for Premiere Pro?

Subkick Caption includes Autocut, which detects pauses in the voice and turns them into jump cuts right in your Premiere Pro timeline. It can also leave the gaps, shorten the silences, mute them or add markers, and add an automatic zoom at the cuts.

Can I undo an Autocut in Premiere Pro?

Yes, but it takes one Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) per cut in Premiere Pro. That's why Subkick Caption advises duplicating your sequence before you apply: you keep an untouched version to go back to.

Do my captions follow after Autocut?

Yes if they come from AI transcription: Subkick Caption re-syncs the anchored words right after the cut. Imported or typed captions don't follow; Autocut warns you before applying, so you can transcribe after cutting or retime them.

Does Autocut use transcription credits?

No. Autocut analyzes the audio on your computer: it uses no credits and is available on every Subkick Caption plan. Cutting your silences before transcribing even reduces the credits the transcription will use.

Why is Autocut marked beta?

Autocut edits your timeline directly, and Premiere Pro projects vary a lot. Subkick Caption marks it beta and shows a reminder in its window: check the result in Premiere Pro, and duplicate your sequence first.