How to Remove Mouth Sounds in Audacity Using the Free De-Clicker Plugin

Audacity offers a powerful and free de-clicker plugin for removing unwanted mouth sounds and clicks that show up in your audio recording. This de-clicker plugin has become part of my post-production process for everything I record. Sticky mouth sounds in our recordings can quickly become annoying to the listener. There have been instances where I have stopped watching a video simply because the dry mouth sounds were so prominent. So let's see what Audacity's de-clicker plugin can do to eliminate those pesky sounds.
Links referenced in this video:
Audacity De-Clicker Plugin: forum.audacity...
Audacity's plugin installation instructions for Windows, Mac, and Linux: support.audaci...
Mics I used to create this video (affiliate links):
RODE NT1 Condenser Mic: amzn.to/3A2quFY
RODE NT-USB-Mini: amzn.to/3om1gjX
I teach a best-selling podcast editing course on Udemy called Audacity Bootcamp: Beginner to Advanced: learnaudacity....

[@DieFarbeLila88]

It`s embarrassing how few news-shows in my country use this de-clicking. This should be a standard procedure. Thank you for this video!

[@BadnikMechanic]

Hiya, old video I know, but thought this might help some people. Default settings didn't work for me... However, I increased the setting called "Test Frequencies between"... and this seemed to work like magic, I couldn't tell any difference to my audio other than the clicks were greatly reduced. Increasing it to 3300 all but removed them. If you're at the absolute entry level for audio, I suggest adjusting that slider since it seems to work with no loss in quality, well maybe if you are an audio engineer you'll hear the difference, but I honestly couldn't tell.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

Thank you for the tip, I'm going to try this!

[@MaximilianKohler]

The default is "between 150 and 9600". You changed it to "3300 to 9600"?

[@NarcissisticAbuseHealing]

Thank you. Just finsihed a recording while having a cold and there are so many mouth noises i thought i would not be able to use the recording. Ran the de clicker and it cleared up most. Where there were still some left, i ran the de clicker again only for that word or sentence and it cleared those up as well. Saved me needed to redo a whole recording that i would not be able to do today due to a hoarse voice from the cold.

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad it helped. Feel better soon.

[@NarcissisticAbuseHealing]

@@LearnAudacity thank you. Do you have a video on using the de esser for audacity? Or do you also just use it on its default settings? I did do a search but did not find a video on your channel for it.

[@LearnAudacity]

@@NarcissisticAbuseHealing I do not. I've played around with it but never really used it in any serious way.

[@nagesharas5136]

Thanks for this valuable tip! BTW at 4:30, you mention _"...after these plugins are enabled..."_ . As a newbie, I did not know how to enable plug-ins. But I found that I have to use the *Effects > Add/remove plug-ins...* menu. A dialog pops up, and it allows us to enable and disable all plug-ins. I hope this comment will be useful to other newbies like me.

[@LearnAudacity]

That's where you enable them. Good job!

[@YellowShoelaces]

Thank you for that tip

[@OtakuScandal]

This is AMAZING. Thank you so much for this. Every other video spoke more on what I had to change about myself and never anything technical. Your video basically eliminated almost all the issues in one go!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you!

[@obboAR]

This will improve the quality of my content so much, thank you!...

[@drummerlinn]

I wonder how many times he's had to remind people to wear headphones. With the amount of times he said it here, I would guess a lot.

[@poetry_near_you]

Thank you so much! It works perfect!

[@SkyYukiGuy]

I have mouth sound that can literally be heard through a speaker. Fortunately, this plugin reduce it a lot.

[@DesktopFolder]

WOW, this is the freest jump in audio quality I've had for a while. Incredible plugin, the results are so good - thanks for sharing this. So much easier than manually compressing small clicks..

[@LearnAudacity]

Always glad to help

[@inkstainedlips]

This helped remove at least 80% of the weird sounds thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

I'm glad it helped.

[@StarryNightGazing]

thank you for your tutorials. Essential for our amateur university radio/podcast!

Duuude totally subscribed to you. You just solved a long time problem I had. Thank you so much!

[@LearnAudacity]

Awesome! Glad to help and thank you so much.

[@SkillIncarnate]

This has 100% increased the quality of my recordings. Thank you so much. Youve earned a sub from me and i will surely share this video with any other creators struggling with noise.

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks!

[@nicoleleboeuf-little1048]

...where has this been all my life. THANK YOU! I was worried that the files were attached to an 8-year-old post, but DANG if it didn't work exactly as advertised. This amateur narrator thanks you very, very much!

[@LearnAudacity]

You’re very, very welcome. Glad to help!

[@KhaledSham]

Thank you for the video, appreciate the effort. but honestly you could've saved us both time by simply saying that we need to download the plugin from the website and that's it, that's all you showed in the video + the preview, which was nice but then again, there wasn't really any other helpful info. I mean you didn't even show how to install it to the program, you didn't show any other settings variations, just nothing at all. And oh btw, it didn't work and nothing's changed. Thank you again, and I hope you find this comment helpful for your future videos.

[@asknownT1]

For about a few weeks, whenever I try to apply the effect, it stops.

[@LearnAudacity]

It's a memory-hungry plugin and consumes a lot of CPU cycles. You might try using it on shorter segments instead of an entire track.

[@filldrummin42]

When editing, I start with the noise reduction to get rid of the "room", then some EQ, then some compression. Where in that run of processing do you think I would get my best results with the de-clicker?

[@LearnAudacity]

Before EQ and maybe again after compression.

[@filldrummin42]

@@LearnAudacity I've been trying it in different places but have yet to try it twice. Thanks for the info and reply.

[@VamzAnimations]

Thank you so much sir, it made my voice over tuturials better

[@LearnAudacity]

Excellent. Thanks!

[@AwkwaVisionMusic]

Just saved me a huge headache! The only other plug-in I had found at this point for delicking effortlessly was an izotope suite for around $1,100. And I did not have the time to hand draw the edits in Logic Pro for this client mix. Took me a few minutes once I downloaded and installed. Life saver! Who would’ve thought that the very first audio editing software I used from back in 08 would come back to save the day! Thanks a bunch

[@SlingandStoneVideos]

I can not figure out how to add it to audacity, that link isnt helping me at all. Im not getting a nyquist plug in installer????

[@reubendeeley3830]

absolutley incredible. thank you for sharing this wonderful tool. gonna save me hours of time

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome

[@SingingTechniquesINT]

THANK YOU, you are literally saving lives, because you save us so much time!!!

[@Theorymus]

Dude I have made over 188 videos and have done so much manual editing to try to fix this problem... this is such a live saver thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

It's a great plugin for free.

[@NeedHealer]

Jeeeez, I've been recording for like a year, and thought its just something wrong with me, until I've just decided to check out if it was some common problem, I didnt know you can just fix it, thank you so much!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome.

[@kimberlyannklasnicofficial]

I am on a Macbook and downloaded the declicker but it says that I don't have a program to open it. Forgive my ignorance, but can you help me?

[@LearnAudacity]

It's installed from inside Audacity. Here's my video explaining how to install this type of plugin. I hope this helps. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH69ZpqtoNNlq9E

[@Alicious_Al]

My goodness! Thank you so much! This helps!

[@kian.concepcion]

Wow, thank you so much sir! I've been getting some comments on my mouth sounds on my storytelling channel HAHA so this is golden information!!

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad it helped.

[@AntonyReed]

Brilliant! I've had so much trouble with this and have spent dozens of hours painstakingly going over my audio to remove these. A life-saver! Thanks a heap!!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're very welcome. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@elevatedthinking]

Holy Moly! Wow! I did a number of things to reduce mouth clicks by keeping my mouth open, chewing gum before recording, and staying hydrated. Repositioned my mic. All of this helped. But when I applied this effect it removed 99%. This was the last thing I needed. Thank You!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome. That's a great plugin.

[@pamelashattuck3181]

Unable to add or remove plug ins for version 3.2.4

[@LearnAudacity]

I would mention that on the user's forum at forum.audacityteam.org

[@PaigeWylderOwO]

Thanks.

[@LearnAudacity]

You’re very welcome.

[@thegreatstorieswastaken]

Is the link not working for anyone else? I can't get any forum pages to load.

[@LearnAudacity]

They were down for maintenance but they're back now - with a new look.

[@thegreatstorieswastaken]

@@LearnAudacity Oh cool!! Thank you!

[@Dina319]

I downloaded the deClicker but the file extension says "NY File" and will not open. It tells me to go to the Microsoft Store. Can you help me to figure out why? I'm using a PC with Windows 10.

[@LearnAudacity]

It has to be installed using Audacity. This short video explains it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH69ZpqtoNNlq9E

[@Dina319]

@@LearnAudacity I installed it but it will not open because of the file extension

[@LearnAudacity]

@@Dina319 Can you describe what you’re trying to do? There is no opening it, only installing and then enabling it.

[@alisabeach1443]

I like how the de-clicker took away my mouth noises. However when I did my ACX check, the noise floor was -59,51db, so very close to -60db. I normalized 1st, then did the de-clicker. How do you raise that floor noise just a tiny little bit? I've never had it that close before. Does the de-clicker deconstruct the recording? Will that little difference pass or fail when submitted to ACX

[@archmichaels]

Lifesaver.

[@LVC85costa]

Thank you

[@FullerUK]

Amazing! Thanks dude!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome

[@denniswhite6013]

decliker link says page not found

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks for letting me know. Audacity moved their forum to a different platform and that link changed. I fixed it in the description but here it is: forum.audacityteam.org/t/updated-de-clicker-and-new-de-esser-for-speech/34283

[@investee.indonesia]

Massive thanks to you big guy, it helped me a lot

[@LearnAudacity]

I'm glad. Thanks for letting me know!

[@AndySmithCoachingLeaders]

Thanks Mike - I didn't know this plugin existed. It's going to save me *huge* amounts of time editing my podcast and audiobooks

[@deadly.deadpan]

Thank you so much. This Saved my recording!

[@dylzm6850]

Thank you! This works great

[@MaceValor]

the info in the video is good but the first 5-6 mins of the video are kind pointless and can be summed up in 30 secs

[@jessjd]

Well this just saved me a complete headache! Thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome. If the track or file you're using De-Clicker on is a long one, it could take a while to run but it's so worth the wait!

[@andrewpatterson6870]

This was really helpful--thank you! What do you suggest for a longer track, say an hour in length? Do you recommend running De-clicker in 5-minute segments so the effect doesn't time out? Also, I've noticed that some d and t endings of words like "kept" and "timed" are chopped off when I run the De-clicker Default setting. Any ideas about which Default Action should be adjusted to prevent this from happening? Thanks again!

[@LearnAudacity]

Taking smaller chunks is probably a good idea for something that long. Maybe 15 minutes at a time? As for the cut-off, maybe try adjusting the last option on the dialog screen (Repair Intervals) up or down. But I've never messed with that so be careful.

[@andrewpatterson6870]

@@LearnAudacity Great! Thanks for the suggestions. Will give them a try--and will undo anything that doesn't help. Thanks again!

[@kian.concepcion]

I tried 10-minute intervals and it didn't time out 👍🏻

[@skfirojali2429]

Best video thank you for your video

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome. Thank you!

[@jonathandill3557]

Thank you 🙏🏻 This looks more effective than what I was doing. I was using Noise Gate and that mostly worked for me especially after I switched to a dynamic mic and practiced not closing my mouth completely between phrases. However, it still required some manual cleanup and seemed to have some undesirable side effects.

[@ajiezer]

Thanks a lot. This will help 😊

[@DanielpaulZ]

WOW! This video is exactly what I was looking for. Problem solved. My recording sounds much better now. Thanks for helping out!

[@AhmedBarakaDBA]

You solved a problem that I have been suffering from for long time. Thanks a lot!

[@LearnAudacity]

Excellent

[@Rebecca_Mia_Siir]

Thankyou:) i follow u on great video helped me alot thanks again again again again

[@AlexanderIvlev]

Perfect! Thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad it helped!

[@HUDs_Up]

You're a legend, thank you

[@LearnAudacity]

Actually, I’m a little tired and run down. But thank you!!

[@peternapoliello2490]

No disrespect but there is no de clicker or de esser for Mac. You probably are running some bogus app and not a reliable plug in. The LOW PASS filter is the proper way to go. No offense but try to be more punctual for the viewers because this was complete misinformation and a waste of time.

[@brettharrison6496]

Thanks!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome

[@Moll_Nutkin]

This is a great series of vids - I've just run a before and after test on some vocals and it's made a big difference. Thank you!

[@DAIliganCycling]

Thank you! This helps a lot!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks for letting me know.

[@improveyourlife2877]

Thank you so much, it worked and it's free!

[@janbogdaniuk]

Thank you! This was immensely helpful! I also noticed a de-breath among your tools. What kind of de-breather do you use/recommend?

[@LearnAudacity]

I've never had much success with that plugin. But I haven't given up on it yet. Waves has a couple of plugins that help with breath removal. Their NS1 Noise Suppressor can help and their DeBreath plugin. But until VST is supported in Audacity's realtime effects, both are destructive.

[@TNTeenager]

Thank you so much! As a VA, I really appreciated this.

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome

[@rivercitymystery]

Thanks for this video; very helpful! This has been a struggle for me and the Declicker that comes with Audcacity wasn't doing anything at all, like you mentioned. The Declicker that you recommended works much better. I plan on using it in the future. Thanks! Subscribed.

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you!

[@VE3JMR]

Should I put on a set of headphones or earbuds to listen to this? Sorry, bad memory, I think you only said it about 5 times. Not enough for me.

[@cosy5112]

awesome, thanks so much 💯💯

[@RubenGT]

Brilliant Mike 🙌 Thank you for sharing 🙏

[@Burger-vq8uy]

Thank you so muchhhhhhhh!

[@LearnAudacity]

You’re welcome

[@yeongjj8390]

Thanks very much. Your video is very useful. !!

[@lesmemosdebenito7425]

This is awesome ! Thanks to you I'm going to save so much time ! 👍👌

[@LearnAudacity]

It's a great plugin. Glad to help

[@DMarcoTheBeast]

Thank you!

[@MattPatton-yt2di]

Thank you. Very, very much for this.

[@OW8579]

This worked great for me! Thanks so much!

[@andreaaguilera]

hey guys and hello to you sir! I found your video very helpful however i cannot seem to find the plug in for the DE-CLICKER ? I don't have it in effects and when i click on Add/Remove plug ins it doesn't appear either. I could really use some help on this one since i seem to have mouth clicks that interrupt my recordings. I really appreciate your time and thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

Hello Andrea, you'll need to download it first and then install and activate it. Here are the steps: 1) download it at forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?p=245549#p245549 - It's about halfway down the page. Remember where you put it. 2) Open Audacity and go to Tools > Nyquist Plug-in Installer. Browse to where you saved the plug-in and select it. Click OK. 3) Then go to Effect > Add/Remove Plug-Ins. In the dialog window, make sure "All" is selected and scroll down to the De-Clicker plug-in and click once on it, then click Enable. Now you should see it in the Effect drop-down list, toward the bottom, after the divider line. Let me know if that helps.

[@andreaaguilera]

@@LearnAudacity OMG you are GODSEND! I have successfully uploaded the de-clicker and will test on my audio to hopefully hear some improvement. I cannot thank you enough for the quick response and your efficient Instructions! I had already liked the video yesterday and subscribed yesterday as well because I believe you had great content! 🔥 Thanks again for your time, A

[@LearnAudacity]

@@andreaaguilera You're welcome. Thanks for subscribing.

[@catbaldwin]

I have been looking for something like this for forever, thank you so much for this easy to understand video!

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad to help. And thank you.

[@taiyabmalik246]

From India with love Thanks a lot

[@thelemon8424]

Hi, just wanted to say thanks. Great video!

[@BrianMarcWhittaker]

Thanks for this! I never knew what that feature was for.

[@somethingsouthafrican6934]

Thanks for this concise and useful tutorial. I have now entered the world of Audacity Plug ins. It took a while. Thanks again

[@Zinaida-Malakeeva]

Thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

You’re welcome.

[@mizzieblue]

This is an awesome tool! Thank you so much!

[@GG-ii1uc]

Thank you!!!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome.

[@yadavmanu411]

Thank you so much for this video.

[@c3rb3ru5d3d53c]

Thank you, this video is very helpful!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welsome.

[@kartikkunwar20]

Thank u thank u so much sir🙏 i respect u 😇🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome.

[@AwpWilliams]

Bruh, on that last one, it wasn't even there. Thanks dude!

[@Serge_Era]

Thank you. Its really work

[@photohappy0]

I tried to download the De Esser and the De Clicker but so far I have not been able to. I clicked on the links but nothing happened. What could I be doing wrong?

[@LearnAudacity]

I don't know. The best I remember, the plugins are about half way down the respective pages.

[@natevinesva]

I don't know you but I love you. I'm a voice actor and voice over artist and this saved my work tenfold

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad to help. I use that de-clicker on everything I record. It’s a little slow on longer files but it’s worth the wait. Thanks!

[@SierraMysteria]

You’re a life saver, thank you!! Great video!!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you!

[@AndorSolymos]

Brilliant! Life saver video! Thx!

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome.

[@TwoMarshmallows1]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you so much.

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome

[@femaligned]

Are you able to provide an updated link for how to download this for Windows? The current link is not working.

[@LearnAudacity]

It's working good for me. The plugin is the same for Windows or Mac.

[@whatsamattau4749]

thank you this will be a big help.

[@LibraryBandit]

Thanks so much for this!!

[@Yogixx12]

Thank you sir

[@LearnAudacity]

You're welcome

[@Unofficial_YT]

It didn't work for me at all tbh When I did it on a short clip (~15 seconds), it did nothing (all the mouth clicks were still there). I increased the sensitivity a bit but it was the same. After I increased it too much, it started sounding distorted. I also tried it on a longer (~5 minutes) clip, and even with the default settings the voice sounded distorted.

[@LearnAudacity]

I'm sorry to hear that. You may want to check the Audacity forum and see if others are having that problem.

[@nagesharas5136]

Could you please make an in-depth (step-by-step) video on how to achieve frequently needed tasks with macros? For example, how to delete x seconds from start, how to delete x seconds from the end, how to export the edited track, how to select a specific region of a track (say, from 10 seconds to 20 seconds), how to export output to a particular directory, etc. Also, could you please provide an online reference where all commands are explained? Some of the commands have confusing parameters!

[@LearnAudacity]

I would use the manual as your resource. It comes with audacity or you can look at the online version on the Audacity Team website. I'll give the macro idea some thought. Thanks!

[@Darkcolossis]

Thank you ever so much

[@divisible-1]

this helped thanks my g

[@Player1Paisan]

Excellent, this is a great tutorial, thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you. It's appreciated.

[@rebeccaperry8091]

Thank you for this helpful info. I logged in to audacity forum with your link yet I can not find the de-clicker. I will keep trying. Please let me know if any other advice. Thank you.

[@LearnAudacity]

It's about half-way down the page.