How to Reduce Background Noise on a Mic

A microphone picks up more than your voice: room noise, a keyboard, a fan, traffic outside, plus its own hiss and electrical hum. On calls and streams this distracts listeners, and on recordings it makes a video or podcast sound amateur. This guide covers how to reduce background noise on a mic in real time — in Windows, macOS, Zoom, Discord, OBS and Voicemeeter — how to remove noise from a finished recording, and how to set up the mic so it picks up less noise in the first place.

Where Mic Background Noise Comes From

Mic noise falls into two groups: sound from the room around you, and noise created by the microphone and cable themselves. Room noise is the fan, the keyboard, people talking and traffic outside — the farther the mic is from your mouth, the louder it gets. Equipment noise comes in three forms, each with its own cause:

• Hiss is a steady high-pitched “shhh” sound. It’s the self-noise of the microphone and sound card. It’s especially audible when the gain is turned all the way up and the mic is far away: the voice is quiet, so the noise becomes noticeable.
• Hum is a low, monotonous drone. It’s usually electrical interference: chargers, extension cords, monitors, poor cables or grounding problems. Hum often appears when a laptop runs on mains power and disappears on battery.
• Whistling is a sharp, rising sound. It’s feedback: the microphone hears its own sound from the speakers, which goes back into the mic and is amplified in a loop.

How to Reduce Background Noise on a Mic in Real Time

For calls, streams and online lessons, noise has to be removed while you speak. Most systems and apps have a built-in noise suppression option — it is worth turning on before buying new hardware.

Windows 11 and Windows 10

• Open Settings → System → Sound, select your microphone and check the input settings. On supported devices you will find Voice clarity or an audio enhancements option that suppresses background noise.
• In the classic Sound control panel, open the microphone’s Properties → Levels and lower Microphone Boost to 0 or +10 dB. Boost raises the noise floor more than it helps the voice.
• Some sound cards and laptops come with their own software (Realtek, Dolby, NVIDIA Broadcast) with a noise suppression switch.

macOS

During a call in a supported app, open Control Center → Mic Mode and choose Voice Isolation. macOS will filter out room noise and keep your voice. The option appears only while an app is using the microphone.

Zoom

Go to Settings → Audio and set Background noise suppression to Auto, Low, Medium or High. High removes keyboard clicks and dog barks, but can cut off quiet parts of speech.

Discord

Open User Settings → Voice & Video and turn on Noise Suppression. In the call window you can also toggle it with the waveform icon. Combine it with Voice Activity sensitivity so the mic doesn’t transmit when you are silent.

OBS Studio

In the Audio Mixer, click the gear next to your mic, choose Filters and add Noise Suppression (the RNNoise method gives the best quality). Add a Noise Gate after it to mute the mic completely between phrases.

Voicemeeter

On the hardware input strip of your microphone, use the Gate knob to cut off quiet background sound between phrases: raise it slowly until the noise disappears in pauses but words aren’t chopped. Newer versions also include a Denoiser knob on the input strip that reduces steady noise.

Keep in mind: real-time suppression is designed for speed, not quality. For a recording you will publish, it is better to record clean and then remove noise from the finished file — the result is noticeably more natural.

How to Remove Mic Noise from a Finished Recording Online

If the recording is already made, the fastest way is to process it with Background Noise Removal. The AI separates the voice from unwanted sound, so it removes hiss, hum and background noise without manual tuning and makes speech clearer.

1. Choose Voice Cleaner (remove music) — it works for most recordings. If there’s background music you want to keep, choose Voice Cleaner (keep music).
2. Upload your video or audio in any popular format: MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, MOV and others.
3. Wait for processing, listen to the result and download the file.

An example of a recording with unwanted noise before and after processing.

The first 30 seconds of 2 files are processed for free. Try it with background noise removal, or read the full guide on how to remove background noise from audio.

Feedback whistling is the hardest to remove from a finished recording: it’s a loud sound that covers the voice. Processing will reduce the noise around it, but it’s better to prevent the whistle while recording — more on that below.

How to Remove Hiss in Audio Software

If you work with audio in an editor, you can remove noise there too. It takes a bit more time: you need to learn the settings and adjust the strength by ear so the voice doesn’t become “metallic”.

Audacity

A free audio editor with a built-in Noise Reduction effect. Select a few seconds of the recording with no voice where only the hiss is audible, open Noise Reduction and click Get Noise Profile. Then select the whole recording, open the effect again and apply it. Start with low values: too much reduction distorts the voice.

Adobe Premiere Pro

In the Essential Sound panel, mark the clip as Dialogue and in the Repair section turn on Reduce Noise, and DeHum for hum. The software is paid and works by subscription, so it’s convenient mainly for those who already edit video in it.

How to Set Up a Mic So It Picks Up Less Noise

• Speak closer to the mic. At 10–15 cm your voice is far louder than the room, so you can lower the gain and the noise drops with it.
• Use a directional (cardioid) microphone. It picks up sound mainly from the front and rejects the sides and back. Point the back of the mic toward the noise source.
• Choose a dynamic mic for noisy rooms. Dynamic microphones are less sensitive than condenser ones and pick up much less room noise and echo.
• Put the mic on a stand or arm. A mic on the desk picks up keyboard clicks and knocks. A shock mount helps even more.
• Treat the room a little. Curtains, a carpet and a sofa absorb noise and echo; recording in a corner of an empty room is the worst option.

How to Avoid Hiss and Hum When Recording

• Move the microphone closer and lower the gain. The voice becomes louder relative to the mic’s self-noise, and hiss fades into the background.
• Turn off “Microphone Boost” in Windows. In the microphone’s Levels settings this is often set to maximum and adds noticeable hiss.
• Keep the microphone and cable away from chargers, extension cords and power supplies. They’re the main sources of hum.
• Try a different USB port or cable. Front-panel ports and cheap extension cables often add interference.
• Test on battery. If the hum disappears on a laptop without the charger, the cause is power or grounding.
• Monitor on headphones, not speakers. This completely eliminates the risk of feedback whistling.

Other common audio problems and how to fix them — in the section microphone problems when recording.

Who It’s For

Hiss and hum most often affect people who record video without studio equipment: SMM specialists and marketers shooting content on a phone or laptop, students preparing reports and screencasts, and entrepreneurs recording messages to clients and social media videos. In all these cases, clean sound noticeably increases trust in the video.

FAQ

How do I get rid of background noise on my mic during calls?

Turn on the noise suppression built into your app: Background noise suppression in Zoom, Noise Suppression in Discord, Voice Isolation on macOS. Then move the mic closer and lower the gain.

How do I reduce mic background noise in OBS?

Add the Noise Suppression filter (RNNoise) to your mic source, then a Noise Gate. This removes steady noise and mutes the mic between phrases.

Why does my microphone hiss even in silence?

That’s the self-noise of the microphone and sound card. It’s most audible in silence, especially at high gain. Lower the gain, move the mic closer and turn off software boost in your system settings.

Can I remove electrical hum from a finished recording?

Yes. Hum is a constant sound that separates well from the voice, so processing usually removes it almost completely.

How much does processing cost?

The first 30 seconds of 2 files are processed for free. After that — no subscription, from $0.79 per file or minute packages from $1.99 for 10 minutes. See Pricing.