Remove Background Noise from Video Free, Then Caption It

You recorded a great 40-minute podcast. Then you played it back and heard the ceiling fan. Every. Single. Second. This post shows how to remove background noise from video online, and then what to do next: transcribe it, add auto captions, cut it down and resize it for Reels. It's the exact order we'd follow for a real clip, step by step, with the free options first and the paid limits stated plainly.

We make Printivelle, so the tools linked here are ours. Where something needs a paid plan, we say so.

Why the order matters

Most people add captions first and fix audio last. That's backwards.

Speech-to-text works on what it hears. If the audio has fan hum, AC noise or traffic, the transcript gets worse, and every caption built on that transcript gets worse too. So clean the sound first. Then transcribe. Then caption. Then trim and resize.

Here's the full workflow:

1. Remove background noise
2. Get a transcript
3. Generate captions (Hindi, Hinglish or English)
4. Convert or fix subtitle files if needed
5. Trim the video
6. Resize for Instagram, Shorts or a square post

Step 1: Remove background noise from video

Let's take a real-ish example. Riya records a Hinglish finance podcast in her bedroom in Pune. Phone on a tripod, lapel mic, fan on speed 3 because it's May. The voice is clear but there's a steady "whooo" underneath.

That steady kind of noise is the easiest to fix. Here's what to do:

1. Open the video noise remover.
2. Upload your MP4, MOV or WebM file.
3. Let it process. It removes the background hiss, hum and fan noise, and also normalises loudness to -14 LUFS, which is the level Reels and Shorts are comfortable with.
4. Download the cleaned video and listen with earphones, not phone speakers.

What it fixes well: fan noise, AC hum, fridge buzz, light hiss from cheap mics, room tone.

What it won't fully fix (honest limits): a pressure cooker whistle, a dog barking mid-sentence, two people talking over each other, or heavy echo in an empty room. Sudden loud sounds are hard for any noise remover. If your audio has those, cut that part out or re-record the line. No tool is magic here.

On the free plan you get 10 noise reduction videos every month, and they don't use your credits. That's enough for most weekly creators.

Pro tip: next time, record 5 seconds of silence before you start talking. It helps you hear the noise floor and judge how bad the room is before you record an hour of content.

Step 2: Video transcription (video to text)

"Video transcription" gets more than 33,000 searches a month in India, and for good reason. A transcript is useful for way more than captions:

• Turn a podcast into a blog post or a LinkedIn post
• Pull out quotes for a carousel
• Find the best 30 seconds in a long video without watching it all again
• Make show notes for YouTube descriptions

To transcribe your cleaned video:

1. Open the video to transcript tool.
2. Upload the video (the noise-cleaned one from Step 1).
3. Download the transcript as plain TXT or as a timed SRT.

If you speak Hindi, the transcript comes in Devanagari. You can switch it to Hinglish (Hindi written in Roman letters) in one click. This is honestly the part most creators like, because a lot of us type and read Hinglish more comfortably than Devanagari.

Pricing note: new uploads use tool credits, 1 credit = 1 minute of video. The free plan gives 10 tool credits one time, so a 40-minute podcast won't fit in free credits. Try it on a 5 to 10 minute video first. Paid plans include monthly credits, and extra credits cost ₹3 a minute.

Accuracy reality check: if two people are speaking very fast, or there's a lot of English-Hindi switching mid-word, read the transcript once before you publish anything from it. Names of people, brands and places are where mistakes usually show up.

Step 3: Auto caption generator for Hindi, Hinglish and English

Most people watch Reels on mute, at least for the first few seconds. No captions means they scroll past.

With the auto caption generator:

1. Upload your video.
2. Pick the language: Hindi (Devanagari), Hinglish (Roman script) or English.
3. Choose one of the 13 caption styles. There are Indian-language fonts too, so Devanagari doesn't look broken.
4. Burn the captions into the video, or download an SRT file if you'd rather upload subtitles separately on YouTube.

Hinglish captions or Hindi captions?

Quick rule of thumb:

• Hinglish captions if your audience is urban, 18 to 30, and you speak a Hindi-English mix. Most Instagram audiences read "Aaj hum baat karenge SIP ke baare mein" faster than the Devanagari version.
• Hindi (Devanagari) captions if your audience is in tier 2 and tier 3 towns, or your content is devotional, news or education focused.
• English if you mostly speak English, obviously.

Not sure? Post the same clip twice, a week apart, one each way. Check watch time. Your audience will tell you.

We wrote a longer guide on this: how to add Hindi captions to Reels and Shorts.

Step 4: SRT to TXT and SRT to VTT

Small thing, but people search for it a lot. Sometimes you have an SRT file and need:

• SRT to TXT: just the words, no timestamps. Useful for blog posts, notes or sending a script to an editor.
• SRT to VTT: for websites, course platforms and some video players that only accept WebVTT.

The subtitle converter does both, plus VTT to SRT. It runs in your browser, so no upload, no sign-in and no credits. Hindi text is kept exactly as it is (UTF-8), so no more "नम" garbage characters.

One small limit: VTT positioning information gets dropped when you convert to SRT, because SRT doesn't support it.

If your captions are running a second early or late, use the subtitle timing fixer to shift them. Also free and in-browser.

Step 5: Trim video online (MP4 cutter)

Now cut the fluff. The first 10 seconds of most recordings are "Haan, recording on hai? Okay, start karte hain." Nobody needs that.

Use the video trimmer to:

1. Upload the MP4.
2. Set the start and end points.
3. Export the trimmed clip.

Be aware: Video Trimmer is on paid plans only (Creator ₹349/month and up). If you're on the free plan and just need a quick cut, your phone's gallery app can trim basic clips fine. The trimmer is more useful when you're doing it every week.

If your goal is turning a long video into short clips, don't trim by hand at all. Use the AI clipper, which finds the strongest moments for you. Here's how that works: YouTube video to Shorts with AI.

Step 6: Video resizer for Instagram

Last step. Your recording is probably 16:9 (landscape). Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts want 9:16. A feed post looks better at 1:1.

The Reel resizer reframes your video to these formats. Like the trimmer, it's on paid plans. In the AI clipper itself, every clip can be exported as Reels/Shorts (9:16), square (1:1) or original, and that's included on the free plan too.

While you're at it, make a thumbnail with the cover maker. The basic version is free in the browser with no sign-in.

Long video to shorts: the shortcut

If all of this feels like a lot of steps for one podcast, here's the shortcut. Upload the long video to the Printivelle clipper. It picks highlights, cuts them into shorts, adds Hindi, Hinglish or English captions and gives you 9:16, 1:1 or original exports. You can still run noise removal first if the audio is bad.

The free plan gives you 20 clipper minutes, one time, with 720p exports and a small watermark. Paid plans start at ₹349/month for 60 minutes with 1080p and no watermark. Full details on the pricing page.

Comparing tools? We did an honest breakdown here: Opus Clip alternative in India.

A real example, start to finish

Riya's 40-minute podcast, the one with the fan:

• Noise removal: 1 of her 10 free monthly noise videos. Fan hum gone, voice slightly warmer.
• Clipping: uploaded to the clipper, got 8 clip suggestions. Kept 5.
• Captions: Hinglish, bold yellow style, burned in.
• Format: 9:16 for Reels and Shorts, one 1:1 for her feed.
• Transcript: downloaded as TXT, edited by hand into a LinkedIn post.

Total time, including her own review: a bit over an hour. Earlier it took her a full Sunday.

FAQ

Can I remove background noise from a video for free?

Yes. The free Printivelle plan includes 10 noise reduction videos per month, and they don't use your tool credits. You need to sign in, but no card is needed.

Will the noise remover make my voice sound robotic?

For steady noise like fans and AC, the voice usually stays natural. If the original recording is very noisy or very quiet, some "underwater" sound can creep in. Always listen with earphones before posting. If it sounds off, the fix is better recording, not more processing.

Is video transcription accurate for Hinglish?

It's good for normal Hinglish speech, and you can switch Hindi transcripts between Devanagari and Roman script. It's less reliable with very fast speech, heavy background noise or lots of names. Clean the audio first and proofread once.

What's the difference between an SRT and a TXT transcript?

An SRT file has numbered lines with timestamps, so video players know when to show each caption. A TXT file is just the words. Use SRT for subtitles, TXT for blogs, notes and scripts.

Do I need to pay to trim or resize videos?

Video Trimmer and Reel Resizer are on paid plans. But the AI clipper's 9:16, 1:1 and original exports work on the free plan, and the subtitle converter, timing fixer and cover maker are free in your browser with no sign-in.