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Filler words like “um,” “uh,” and “you know” can clutter your audio and distract from your message. Descript automatically detects these moments in your script and makes it easy to remove or replace them—without affecting the natural flow of your content. This feature currently detects filler words in English transcripts only. This article covers:
Usage noteOn current plans, this feature uses AI Credits. Learn more about tracking your Media Minutes and AI Credits.Legacy and Sunset plans track usage differently. See our Understanding your Legacy and Sunset plan guide for details.

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Remove filler words from your script

Descript automatically detects common filler words like “um” and “uh” in your composition. These appear underlined in light blue in the script editor. To remove them, open the AI Tools panel in the right sidebar and choose Remove filler words. This opens a sidebar with all detected filler words. You can review timestamps, preview the audio, and choose how to handle each one. The filler word removal window, with a drop down for delete, delete an replace with gap, ignore. and remove from transcript options

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Choose how to handle each filler word

You can preview each instance and choose one of the following options:

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Avoid harsh cuts

Remove filler words window with Avoid harsh cuts toggle highlighted The Avoid harsh cuts option helps ensure your edits sound natural when removing filler words from your script. When enabled, Descript analyzes the surrounding audio and automatically skips any filler words that can’t be removed without clipping into nearby words or leaving behind an awkward cut. Since this feature runs a quick audio analysis, it may take a moment to process.

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Remove filler words from part of your composition

By default, filler word removal applies to the entire composition. To target a specific section:
  1. Select the portion of your script you want to clean up.
  2. Duplicate that selection to a new composition: How to duplicate selection.
  3. Open the new composition and run Remove filler words.
  4. Copy and paste the cleaned-up script back into your original composition.