Mountain landscape

Filler Word Removal

Tota removes verbal fillers ("um," "uh," "like," etc.) from transcriptions. The global on/off toggle is at the top of the Filler Words tab in the sidebar.

Removal Modes

Each filler word uses one of two modes:

  • Always — Removes every occurrence unconditionally.
  • Smart — Context-aware removal that preserves meaningful uses of the word.

Default Filler Words

Always ModeSmart Mode
umlike
uhactually
hmmbasically
erliterally
ermyou know
so yeahI mean

Smart Mode Examples

  • "like" — Removes filler uses while protecting verb forms ("I like," "would like"), sensory comparisons ("looks like," "feels like"), and determiners ("like this," "like a").
  • "actually" / "basically" / "literally" — Removed from sentence starts and between commas; preserved in other positions.
  • "you know" / "I mean" — Removed as standalone fillers; preserved when they modify something ("I mean that," "you know what").

Adding Custom Filler Words

  1. Go to the Filler Words tab in the sidebar.
  2. Click the + button.
  3. Enter the word or phrase.
  4. Choose Always or Smart mode.

You can also change any word's mode or delete it from the list.