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Free Silence Detector for Video: find the dead air and pauses in your YouTube video

Drop in your video or its audio and see every pause on the waveform: how many there are, how much dead air you would cut, and how long the video would be without it. Click any pause to hear it. When you are happy with the settings, download an EDL with the pauses already cut for Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, or a CSV with every timestamp.

Updated · Built by Kevin Tabares, long-form YouTube editor at Umbrella Creators.

Find the silences in your video

Your video stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded: your browser reads the audio and finds the pauses right here, in this tab.

How to use the EDL in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve

The EDL is a list of the parts to keep, in order, with the pauses left out. Your editor rebuilds the cut from your original file.

Keep the original untouched: the EDL only says where to cut, it never changes your file.

How long should a pause be on YouTube?

For talking videos, most editors cut anything longer than about 0.5 to 1 second and leave a small breath (0.1 to 0.2 s) on each side so the voice does not sound chopped. When I measured the pacing of 4 well-performing long-form videos for my cuts per minute study, the voice never paused for more than 1.5 seconds and the music bed never dropped out.

Not every pause is dead air. A beat before a punchline, a reaction or a dramatic reveal can be the best moment of the video. Use the list to listen to each long pause before you cut it.

FAQ

Is my video uploaded anywhere?
No. Your browser decodes the audio and finds the pauses on your own device. The file never leaves this tab.
Does it cut the video for me?
It gives you an EDL that rebuilds the video without the pauses in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, so you keep full control and full quality. It does not re-export the video itself.
Why does it find no pauses in my video?
Usually because there is music or room noise under the voice, so the audio never gets quiet. Move the silence threshold to the right (a higher number, for example -35 dB) until the red marks match the pauses you hear, or check the raw voice track instead of the final mix.
What settings should I start with?
The threshold is set automatically from your audio. For talking head videos, 0.75 seconds as the shortest pause and 0.15 seconds of breathing room is a safe start. For fast gaming or commentary edits, try 0.4 seconds.
How long can the video be?
Up to 60 minutes and 1 GB. For longer recordings, export just the audio as M4A or MP3: the timestamps are the same.
Is it free?
Yes, with no signup and no watermark. The address is https://umbrellacreators.com/tools/youtube-silence-detector.

Who made this

I'm Kevin Tabares. I've edited long-form YouTube videos since 2015 (1,250 videos and 147.6M+ views tracked on YT Jobs) for channels like Rex & Alexa, Puff and Mud. Cutting dead air is the first pass of every edit I do; I built this so you can see how much of it your video has before you start. If you want an editor for your channel, get in touch.

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