How to Remove Background Noise in Premiere Pro (4 Ways)

To remove background noise in Premiere Pro, select the clip, open Window › Essential Sound and tag it as Dialogue. Then turn on Enhance Speech for the AI fix, or tick Reduce Noise under Repair and start around 3–5. Play it back and lower the amount if the voice starts to sound thin.

Premiere Pro actually has four ways to clean up audio, and they suit different problems. This guide shows each one, which settings to start with for hiss, hum, rumble and echo, and how to avoid the processed, underwater sound that gives heavy noise reduction away.

Which method should you use?

If you only have a minute, use Enhance Speech. If the result sounds too clean or strips out sound you wanted, switch to the Repair sliders.

Method 1: Enhance Speech (AI)

Enhance Speech brings the engine behind Adobe Podcast into Premiere Pro. It doesn't subtract a noise pattern; it identifies the voice and rebuilds it, so it copes with noise that changes from moment to moment.

1. Select one or more dialogue clips in the timeline.
2. Open Window › Essential Sound and click Dialogue. In recent versions you can also reach the same controls from the Properties panel.
3. Turn on Enhance Speech. Premiere analyses the clip, which can take a moment on long files.
4. Play it back. If the voice sounds too polished or slightly robotic, lower Mix Amount to blend some of the original back in. Many voices sound most natural somewhere in the middle of the range.

Enhance Speech is tuned for speech. It removes music and ambience along with the noise, so keep any music on its own track and only enhance the dialogue.

Method 2: The Essential Sound Repair sliders

The Repair section gives you separate controls for each kind of problem. Each slider runs from 0 to 10, and small values go a long way.

1. Select the clip and tag it as Dialogue in Essential Sound.
2. Open the Repair section.
3. Tick only the options that match what you hear:
   • Reduce Noise for steady hiss, fans and air conditioning.
   • Reduce Rumble for low thumps, traffic rumble and mic handling.
   • DeHum for electrical hum. Choose 50 Hz in Europe, Asia and Australia, 60 Hz in North America.
   • DeEss for harsh "s" sounds, which noise reduction can make more obvious.
   • Reduce Reverb for a roomy, echoing voice.
4. Start each slider low and raise it until the problem drops into the background, not until it is gone. A little remaining room sound is far less noticeable than a voice that sounds processed.

To reuse the settings, click the preset menu at the top of the Essential Sound panel and save them. Applying the preset to a new clip takes one click.

Method 3: The DeNoise effect

When you need more control, or want the reduction to change over time, use the standalone effect.

1. Open the Effects panel and go to Audio Effects › Noise Reduction/Restoration › DeNoise.
2. Drag it onto the clip. To process a whole track instead, add it in the Audio Track Mixer.
3. In Effect Controls, click Edit next to Custom Setup.
4. Raise Amount gradually from about 20–40%. The frequency focus options let you aim the reduction at the low, middle or high end of the spectrum.
5. Use the Gain control to make up any level the voice lost.

Because DeNoise lives in Effect Controls, you can keyframe the Amount. That's useful when a noisy section, such as a passing car, sits in an otherwise clean recording.

Method 4: Capture a noise print in Adobe Audition

For a steady noise that Premiere's tools can't quite clear, Audition's noise print works much like Audacity's noise profile. It needs Audition, which is included in the Creative Cloud All Apps plan.

1. Right-click the clip and choose Edit Clip in Adobe Audition. Premiere creates a copy of the audio for Audition to work on.
2. In Audition, select one or two seconds of pure background noise.
3. Choose Effects › Noise Reduction / Restoration › Capture Noise Print.
4. Select the whole clip, then open Effects › Noise Reduction / Restoration › Noise Reduction (process).
5. Keep the reduction moderate, preview, and click Apply.
6. Save the file. Premiere replaces the clip in your timeline with the cleaned version.

The same idea works in free software. Our Audacity noise reduction guide walks through it step by step.

Recommended settings by type of noise

Hiss that sounds more like static? Our guide to removing static from audio explains where it comes from and how to treat it.

Fixing common problems

The voice sounds robotic, lispy or underwater. The reduction is too strong. Lower Mix Amount on Enhance Speech, or drop Reduce Noise by two or three points. Using two light repairs, for example Reduce Noise and Reduce Rumble at 3 each, usually sounds better than one slider at 8.

Background noise pumps up and down between words. Strong noise reduction makes the gaps quieter than the speech, so the noise seems to switch on and off. Use a lower setting, or put a quiet bed of room tone or music under the dialogue to hide the change.

Enhance Speech removed the music or atmosphere. That's how it works: it keeps the voice only. Move music and ambience to separate tracks, or use the Repair sliders, which leave everything else in place.

Playback stutters. AI and noise reduction effects are heavy. Choose Sequence › Render Audio so Premiere processes the audio once and plays it back smoothly.

The cleaned audio sounds quiet. Noise reduction removes energy from the signal. Use Loudness › Auto-Match in Essential Sound, or the DeNoise Gain control, to bring the level back up.

Premiere Pro or an online noise remover?

Premiere's tools are good, especially Enhance Speech. The trade-off is everything around them: a subscription, a capable computer, and a project to set up.

A practical workflow for quick jobs is to clean the clip first and edit afterwards. Our video noise remover takes an MP4 or MOV and returns the same video with a clean soundtrack, or just the audio as MP3 or WAV. For a podcast or voice-over, the audio noise remover does the same for audio files. If you're curious how Adobe's own web tool compares, see our Adobe Podcast Enhance alternative page.

Record cleaner audio next time

Every tool above works better with less noise to remove:

• Keep the mic close. A lavalier on the chest or a shotgun just out of frame captures far more voice than room.
• Turn off what you can. Fans, air conditioning and fridges are easy to switch off for a take and hard to remove later.
• Record 10 seconds of room tone at every location. It gives Audition a perfect noise print and helps you fill gaps in the edit.
• Watch the levels. Aim for peaks around -12 dB. Clipped audio can't be repaired by any noise remover.

If the voice still sounds flat after cleaning, the AI voice enhancer evens out level and clarity in one step. Editing in a different app? Read our guide to removing background noise in DaVinci Resolve.

Frequently asked questions