How to remove silences in Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro has no command to remove silences automatically: up to version 12.4, Apple’s release notes mention none. Here is the fastest way to do it by hand, and Oncut for Final Cut Pro, coming soon.
How do you cut dead air by hand?
- Show the audio waveforms: dead air shows up as flat dips.
- With the Blade tool (B), click at the start and end of each gap. During playback, Command-B cuts at the playhead.
- Select the gap and press Delete: in the primary storyline, the following clips move left to close it.
With the Range Selection tool (R), you can also drag over a gap and delete it in one go. Shift-Delete replaces the selection with a gap clip, if you want to keep the duration.
Does Transcript Search help?
Final Cut Pro 12 added Transcript Search, on a Mac with Apple silicon: you can find a spoken word or phrase in your footage. It is handy for navigating, but it does not cut anything. Dead air and repeats are still yours to remove by hand.
What will Oncut bring to Final Cut Pro?
The same work as in Premiere Pro: dead air and repeated words cut in one go, a 2-frame audio fade on every cut, a new project next to the original, and the analysis on your machine, with no upload. Oncut for Final Cut Pro is coming soon, in the same subscription.
Final Cut Pro
Coming soon
Oncut at a glance
- Price
- €9.90/month or €79/year (4 months free), VAT included. Opening soon: 14-day free trial, no credit card.
- System
- Mac and Windows.
- Editing software
- Premiere Pro 26.3 or later. Final Cut Pro: soon. DaVinci Resolve: soon.
- Speech language
- Speech in French for now.
- Works offline
- Yes: the analysis runs on your computer, with no audio or video upload.
- What gets cut
- Dead air and repeated words, in a new “— Oncut” sequence. A 2-frame audio fade on every cut.
- Updated
Frequently asked questions
Can Final Cut Pro remove silences on its own?
Not today: up to version 12.4 (September 2026), the Final Cut Pro release notes mention no automatic silence removal.
When is Oncut for Final Cut Pro coming?
Soon. Leave your email in the form above and we will write when it ships. Meanwhile, Oncut works in Premiere Pro, with French speech for now.
Will I need another subscription?
No. One subscription covers Premiere Pro, then Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve when they ship.