How to remove names and private audio from a video

You've covered every face in the birthday video, but somebody behind the camera says the child's full name. Anyone watching still gets the name, including a person who never sees a clear face.

Play the clip once without concentrating on the picture. Listen for names, an address, a school or a plan for where you'll be later. Then decide whether you need the conversation in the version you're posting. You can keep the complete original privately and share a copy with the private words removed.

Our face-covering tool can preserve the video's sound, so covering a face there won't silence a name. The iPhone steps below use iMovie to remove the sound you choose while keeping the picture.

Decide how much sound you actually need

For example, if an adult says an address while explaining a movement, you can remove that phrase and record the instruction again without the address. If the video works without an explanation, muting it avoids having to find and cut each mention separately.

Mute the whole clip, or just the name

In iMovie on iPhone, open the Projects browser and choose Start New Project → Movie. Select your video and tap Create Movie. Use a regular Movie project for these controls, rather than Magic Movie or a storyboard. Apple's project walkthrough shows the starting screen.

For a completely silent clip

Tap the video in the timeline, then Audio → Mute beside the volume slider. A mute icon appears on that clip. If there are several clips, repeat for each one, then check the separate audio underneath them. Music or voiceover on another track can still play while the video clip is muted. Apple's volume controls

To silence one word without interrupting the picture

Separate the sound from the video so you can edit it without cutting a hole in the picture:

1. Tap the video and choose Actions → Detach. Its sound appears as a blue clip below it.
2. Move the white playhead to just before the word begins. Select the blue audio clip and choose Actions → Split.
3. Move just past the end of the word and split the blue audio again. The word is now in its own short section.
4. Select that middle section and choose Audio → Mute. Leave the video above it in place.
5. Play from a few seconds before the edit until a few seconds afterwards. Listen for the first and last syllables as well as the middle of the name.

If Split isn't available, check that the blue audio segment is selected and the playhead is inside it. Apple's audio editing guide shows the detached clip and these controls.

Give the word a little room on either side. If you can still hear the start of a surname, split and mute a little more audio before the silent section. Do the same afterwards if the last syllable remains. When another voice overlaps the name, remove the overlapping phrase too, or replace that part of the explanation.

A bleep goes where the removed sound was

Mute the original word before adding a bleep. Making another sound louder doesn't remove the speech underneath it.

To fill the silent section with a sound effect, move the playhead there and choose Add Media → Audio → Sound Effects. Preview a sound and use Add Audio, then tap its clip and drag the yellow end handles to fit the gap. Apple's sound-effect guide

To record a new explanation, keep the original section muted, position the playhead and choose Add Media → Voiceover → Record. Tap Stop, listen with Review, then choose Retake or Accept. Apple's voiceover guide

Replay the join from the old sound into the replacement and back again. You should hear the explanation you intend to share, without the private words before or underneath it.

Save a video, then listen outside the editor

Tap Done, then Share → Share Video; some versions label this Save or Share Video. Open Options for the output settings, then choose Save Video for Photos or Save to Files for a file you can name and find again. Apple's video export guide

Choose the finished video, not Export Project. A project export includes source media so someone can continue editing, which can give them the original sound you meant to remove.

Open the saved file with your phone and player volume turned up. Listen to a section you kept first, then the section you muted. Otherwise, a muted player can make the unchanged original seem silent too.

For a recent mistake, use Undo. Apple keeps undo history back to the last time you opened iMovie. If the history has gone and part of the picture was removed, start again from the original you kept privately. Apple's undo instructions

The name may have become a caption already

If you made captions before editing the sound, the name can remain on screen after you've silenced it. Where to remove it depends on how those captions were saved:

These are the three output types described in Adobe's caption export documentation: text in the picture, a separate file and a track inside the video file.

On YouTube, go to Studio → Subtitles → your video to edit or remove a caption track. For automatic captions, choose Duplicate and edit. Remove the private words, then check the published captions and transcript. YouTube's caption instructions

If your video also has translated audio, listen to each version you'll leave available. An address removed from the original language may remain in a dub. YouTube documents how to replace uploaded language tracks and review, unpublish or delete automatic dubs.

Finish with the version people will receive

Watch the final video with captions on and read the text beside the upload. Follow each private detail through the whole clip; a child who introduces themselves three times needs three edits, and a name removed from the sound may still be in the caption.

Then do the face-coverage review and location check on that same copy. The face treatment, sound and text should now all reflect what you intend to share.

If an older version is already online, replace or remove it as well. The removal guide covers that step; saving an edit on your phone doesn't change the posted video.