Remove background noise from a voice memo

Voice memos are the quickest recordings anyone makes: a lecture captured on a phone, an idea recorded on a walk, a meeting held on a phone placed in the middle of a table, a song idea, a statement for a journalist. They are also the recordings most likely to have background noise, because nobody plans the room for a voice memo.

Here is how to clean one up, and how to record the next one better.

What phone recordings usually sound like

Phone microphones are good, but they are small and usually far from the speaker. That leads to a familiar set of problems:

• Room noise: air conditioning, fans, traffic, a café's chatter.
• Distance: a phone left on a table across the room picks up more room than voice.
• Handling noise: thumps and rustles from picking up or touching the phone.
• Automatic processing: many phones and apps apply their own noise reduction and level adjustment while recording. It can help, but it sometimes makes the background pump up and down or gives voices a slightly processed sound.

The first is very fixable. The second and third are partly fixable. The fourth is baked in; work with it.

Step 1: Get the original file off the phone

Export or share the memo as a file, choosing the original quality if your phone offers a choice. Avoid sending it through a messaging app first: many compress audio, which throws away detail the cleaner could use.

Voice memo apps commonly save M4A (AAC) files, and some save WAV or MP3. All of those work for cleanup.

If your phone's own recording app offers an "enhance" or similar option, try it, but keep the unenhanced original as well. You can clean the original afterwards and compare.

Step 2: Remove the background noise

1. Open the noise remover for audio, or go straight to the tool, and drop in the memo. It accepts M4A/AAC, MP3, WAV, OGG/Opus and FLAC.
2. If the voice sounds muffled or boomy (common when the phone sat on a table), turn on Voice clarity, which trims rumble and boxiness and adds presence.
3. Choose a loudness preset. Podcast (−16 LUFS) is a comfortable level for listening on headphones and phone speakers.
4. Preview the original against the cleaned version at the same moment. Listen to the quietest speaker and to the pauses.
5. Download, in the same format or as WAV, MP3 or M4A.

Our speech AI keeps voices and removes the sound around them, steady or changing, so it handles a café or a street as well as a fan.

Step 3: Trim and label

Cut the fumbling at the start and end, and name the file so you can find it later. If it is a long recording such as a lecture or a meeting, add a note with timestamps for the key moments while it is still fresh.

Recording a better voice memo

Small changes make a large difference.

• Put the phone close to the speaker. In a meeting, place it nearest the quietest person, or in the middle of a small group. For your own notes, hold it a hand's width from your mouth.
• Find the microphone. Most phones have more than one. Point the bottom edge (or whichever end the main microphone is on) towards the speaker, and don't cover it with a finger or case.
• Lay it on something soft. A folded napkin or jumper under the phone reduces table knocks and vibration.
• Don't handle it during recording. Start, place, leave it.
• Switch on flight mode or do-not-disturb, so a call or notification doesn't interrupt or buzz.
• Move away from steady noise: an air vent, a fridge, a coffee machine.
• Outdoors, shelter the phone from wind with your body or a wall. Wind on a phone microphone is very hard to remove completely.

Long recordings: lectures and meetings

Recording an entire lecture or a long meeting on a phone is common, and the cleanup is the same, just longer.

• Clean the whole file in one go rather than splitting it, so the loudness is consistent from start to finish.
• If you'll share it with others, see lecture audio cleanup for classroom and course recordings.
• Check you have the consent of the people being recorded where that's required, and store recordings sensibly. Our privacy policy explains how files are handled when you clean them.

When the memo is too far gone

Some recordings are past rescue: speech completely buried under music, a phone in a pocket, or a voice so far away it's quieter than the room. Cleaning will still make them easier to listen to, but if you need every word (for a transcript or a quote), compare with the original carefully and don't rely on guesses.

Sharing the cleaned memo

Name the cleaned file clearly (the original stays untouched) and share the cleaned version in the format the recipient can open most easily: M4A or MP3 for most people, WAV for someone who will edit it.

Quick checklist

• Export the original file in its original quality.
• Clean it, with Voice clarity if it sounds muffled.
• Pick a loudness preset and preview before you download.
• Next time: phone close, microphone uncovered, on something soft, flight mode on.

For more on cleaning up conversations specifically, see how to clean up interview audio. If you record often, how to record clean audio at home has a fuller checklist.