How to Remove Breath Noise From a Voice Recording

The short version

Lower the loudest breaths rather than deleting them all.
A gate set just above the room noise can catch the quiet breaths between phrases.
Manual gain changes on each breath give the most natural result and take the longest.
Record a little further from the mic next time: most breaths are loud because the mic is close.

Decide how many to remove

A recording with no breaths at all sounds unnatural, and listeners notice it. Aim to make the loudest and most frequent breaths quieter, so they no longer draw attention, and leave the rest. Listen to the take through once and mark only the breaths that distract.

Method 1: lower each breath by hand

In any editor, select a single breath and turn its gain down by a few decibels, then listen. This is slow, but it is the most natural method and it works on any length of recording. Keep the change small, and check that the words on either side of the breath are untouched.

Method 2: a gate with a careful threshold

A gate set just above the room noise can quieten the breaths between phrases, because a breath is quieter than speech and louder than silence. Measure the room tone first, set the threshold a little above it, and use a short attack and a longer release so word starts are not cut off. See what a noise gate does for the terms.

Method 3: a breath tool

Dedicated breath tools detect breaths automatically and reduce them. They can be very good on long voiceovers, but they also work on the breaths you want to keep, so compare the result with the original before you use it.

Prevention

Breath noise is mostly a distance problem. Move the mic a hand’s width further away, speak slightly off-axis, and use a pop filter. A little distance lowers breath noise more than any filter does.

Tunedzy

Tunedzy’s cleanup reduces steady noise and levels the voice in one pass. It does not target individual breaths, so breath handling is still a manual step: use Before and After to check that the phrasing still sounds like a person breathing.

Clean the take, keep the breath

Tunedzy reduces the noise and levels the voice in Perfect it. Breaths are a manual step: compare Before and After and keep the breaths that make the voice sound human.

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Frequently asked questions

Should I remove all breaths?

No. Removing every breath makes a voice sound unnatural. Reduce the loud ones and leave the rest.

Why do my breaths sound louder on a phone?

The phone is close to the mouth and the mic is sensitive to air. Move back a hand’s width and speak slightly off-axis.

Can a gate remove breaths without cutting words?

It can, with a careful threshold and a short attack. A threshold set too high cuts the starts of words, so listen to the result.

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