Remove Background Noise from OBS Recordings — Free

OBS Studio includes a built-in Noise Suppression filter that runs in real time during recording or streaming — but if you already have a recording with background noise, or if OBS's filter did not catch everything, the free browser-based noise remover cleans the audio after the fact. No new OBS plugin needed. Upload the audio from your recording and download a clean version in under a minute.

OBS Noise Suppression Filter vs Post-Processing

OBS has two noise suppression options under Audio Filters:

• RNNoise — AI-based, same technology as this browser tool. Good quality, some CPU overhead during recording/streaming
• Speex — Older algorithm, less effective on complex background noise

Use OBS's live filter when you are streaming or when live callers can hear you. Use post-processing when:

• You forgot to enable the filter before recording
• The live filter did not fully remove the noise
• You are working with a clip from someone else's OBS recording
• You want to adjust suppression strength and compare before committing to the final file
• You are on a low-spec machine and the live filter adds too much recording overhead

Step-by-Step: Clean Audio from an OBS Recording

OBS records to MKV or MP4 depending on your settings. You need to extract the audio track first.

Option A — Use OBS's built-in Remux feature:

1. In OBS: File → Remux Recordings
2. This converts MKV to MP4 (if needed) — some online tools accept MP4 audio directly

Option B — Extract audio with a free online tool:

1. Upload the MP4/MKV to a free video-to-audio converter
2. Download the audio as MP3 or WAV

Then clean the audio:

1. Open the Audio Noise Remover
2. Upload the extracted audio file
3. Set strength (70–80% works well for commentary tracks; lower for acoustic music)
4. Click Remove Noise, compare the before/after playback
5. Download the cleaned WAV

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What Kinds of OBS Recordings Benefit Most

Not all recordings need post-noise removal. Here is where it helps most:

Recording Type	Common Noise Problem	Benefit
Gaming commentary	PC fan noise, keyboard clicks	High — fans and mechanical keyboards are picked up clearly
Tutorial screen recording	AC/HVAC hum	High — clean audio makes tutorials much more professional
Podcast recorded via OBS	Room ambience, traffic	High — speech-focused, model handles this well
Stream VOD archive	Background music bleed from game	Low — music cleanup is not this tool's strength
Gameplay capture only	No microphone audio	N/A — no voice, no benefit

Merging Cleaned Audio Back Into the Video

Once you have the cleaned WAV, you need to put it back into the video if you are uploading to YouTube or distributing as a video file. Free options:

• CapCut (desktop or browser) — import the MP4, mute the original audio track, add the cleaned WAV as a separate audio layer, export
• DaVinci Resolve (free tier) — full professional workflow, handles multi-track audio replacement cleanly
• Clipchamp (built into Windows 11) — simpler than DaVinci, sufficient for straightforward audio replacement
• VLC media player — can transcode with an audio replacement track via the Convert/Save feature

If you only need the audio for a podcast or transcript (not a video), you can use the cleaned WAV directly without any video merge step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does OBS have a built-in noise removal feature?

Yes. In OBS, right-click your microphone source → Filters → Add → Noise Suppression. Choose RNNoise for better quality. This runs in real time during recording. The browser tool is for cleaning recordings after the fact, when live filtering was not applied or was insufficient.

Can this tool clean audio from MKV files?

Not directly — you need to extract the audio track from the MKV first. Use OBS's built-in Remux feature (File → Remux Recordings) to convert MKV to MP4, then extract or upload the audio.

Will this affect the game audio in my OBS recording?

If game audio and microphone audio are on separate tracks in OBS, only process the microphone track. If they are mixed into one track, the noise suppression will affect everything — and may degrade in-game music or sound effects. Separate tracks in OBS settings is the cleaner workflow.