Descript’s Shorten word gaps feature helps you automatically tighten long pauses in your script. It’s a fast way to clean up silences between words and create a more natural, polished flow—without manual timeline edits.
This article covers how to run the tool, adjust timing settings, review results, and explore advanced options.
Shorten word gaps
To get started, open the AI Actions panel on the right-hand side of your screen and select Shorten word gaps.
If you haven’t enabled New Underlord beta in Descript Labs, you’ll still see these tools listed in the Underlord panel—it’s the same set of AI tools, just under a different name.
Underlord is now an AI co-editor that can automate many of these actions, or you can still run them manually in the AI Actions panel. Right now, all users get unlimited use of Underlord through the end of June—so it’s a great time to try it out. Learn more about Underlord (beta).
Once you start the action, the Search panel at the top of the script editor will display all word gaps found in your composition.
- Use the dropdown at the top to define what qualifies as a word gap (e.g., anything longer than 750ms).
- Use the dropdown at the bottom to set the target length for each gap (e.g., shorten to 200ms).
Navigate through the results using the arrow buttons in the search panel, or by clicking each item in the Properties panel.
- Click Shorten to apply your settings to the selected word gap and move to the next.
- Click Shorten all to apply the changes to all gaps in the list.
Want to adjust word gaps manually while editing? You can also shorten them directly in the script editor or use the wordbar.
Advanced settings
You can customize the Shorten word gaps experience by clicking the Settings icon and adjusting the following preferences:
- Auto-advance – Automatically moves to the next result after shortening a gap.
- Preview results – Automatically plays back the surrounding audio when a result is selected.