OBS Studio can feel crowded the first time you open it, especially when you only want to record a screen, stream live, or appear in a video call with a cleaner camera feed. The quickest route is to install the current OBS Studio build, let the setup wizard choose a baseline, add the right capture sources, check audio, and then use the correct button in the Controls dock.
Follow this clean order from first install to the everyday controls that matter.
1. Install OBS Studio from the official download page
Use the official installer first.
- 1.Open the official OBS Project download page at obsproject.com/download and choose Select Your Operating System.
- 2.Choose Windows, Mac, or Linux.
- 3.On Windows, choose Download Installer. OBS also supports Microsoft Store, Steam, GitHub Releases,
winget, Chocolatey, and Scoop. - 4.On macOS, download the .dmg file, open it from Downloads if it does not mount, then drag OBS to Applications.
- 5.On Linux, use Flatpak Instructions for Flathub. On Ubuntu 24.04 and newer, use Ubuntu Instructions for the OBS Project PPA.
The current stable release verified in the research is OBS Studio 32.1.2, for Windows 10 and 11, macOS 12.0 or newer, and Linux through Flatpak or the Ubuntu 24.04 and newer PPA. Use OBS Studio for a current setup. OBS Classic is no longer supported.
2. Let the Auto-Configuration Wizard choose the baseline
- 1.Open OBS Studio.
- 2.Follow the Auto-Configuration Wizard on first launch.
- 3.To run it again later, open Tools and select Auto-Configuration Wizard.
The Auto-Configuration Wizard gives OBS a practical starting point for your hardware and network conditions. Run it before changing Output, Video, or Stream settings by hand, then keep the default baseline in place until your scene, capture source, and audio meters are working.
3. Build a scene and add the right capture source
OBS works through scenes and sources: a scene is the layout, and sources are the screen, window, game, camera, or capture device inside that layout.
In the Scenes box, click the + button, or right-click under Scenes and add a scene. In the Sources dock, click +. Choose Display Capture for a full monitor on Windows, or Display Capture (XSHM) or Screen Capture (PipeWire) on Linux, Window Capture for one app window on Windows, or Window Capture (Xcomposite) or Window Capture (PipeWire) on Linux, macOS Screen Capture for screen, window, or app capture on macOS 13 or newer, Game Capture for a Windows game, or Video Capture Device for a webcam or capture card, then select the camera or device. On macOS 12.6 or earlier, use Display Capture or Window Capture instead, since macOS Screen Capture is limited to macOS 12.3 through 12.6 and captures without audio there.
Click the source in the preview and drag the red bounding box to move or resize it. For a full-canvas fit, open Edit, choose Transform, then select Fit to Screen. For webcam background removal with a keyed setup, add the webcam as Video Capture Source and apply Chroma Key Filter.
4. Fix microphone and desktop audio before recording
Check the Audio Mixer before you press record or stream.
- Watch the meters in Audio Mixer.
- If the wrong device appears, open Settings and choose Audio.
- Select the correct Desktop Audio device.
- Select the correct Microphone/Auxiliary device.
Moving meters confirm that OBS is receiving audio from the selected devices.
For one-app audio on Windows 10 Version 2004 or later and Windows 11, open Sources, click +, choose Application Audio Capture (BETA), name the source, select the window from the dropdown, and choose the window match priority. In OBS Studio 30.1 and newer, Window Capture and Game Capture can also use Capture Audio (BETA).
On macOS 13 and newer with OBS Studio 30 or newer, add macOS Audio Capture, or use macOS Screen Capture and choose all desktop audio or a specific application. On OBS Studio 28 or 29 for macOS 13 and newer, use macOS Screen Capture, then switch the mode to application or window capture for single-app audio.
If OBS cannot see the screen, camera, microphone, or global hotkeys on macOS, open the OBS Studio menu, choose Review App Permissions, and enable Screen Recording, Camera, Microphone, and Input Monitoring as needed. On older installations, OBS may be listed under Accessibility instead of Input Monitoring.
5. Record your screen and choose where the file saves
- 1.Open Settings and choose Output.
- 2.Set Recording Path.
- 3.Choose a recording quality preset.
- 4.Select an encoder. Hardware encoder options appear only when the device supports them and the recording quality is not set to same as stream.
- 5.Return to the main OBS window.
- 6.In the Controls dock, click Start Recording.
- 7.When finished, click the matching Stop Recording button.
Recording is the most direct OBS workflow once the preview looks right and the Audio Mixer meters move. Set the save location first so the finished file is easy to find.
For replay clips, open Settings, choose Output, and enable Replay Buffer. Then open Settings, choose Hotkeys, and assign a hotkey to save the buffer.
6. Connect a streaming service and go live
OBS sends the stream, but the stream key belongs to the streaming service account or portal.
Open Settings and choose Stream. Select the correct Service. Turn on Show all services when the service is not visible. Select Server, or enter a custom streaming server URL for an RTMP-compatible service. Enter Stream Key. Use Get Stream Key when OBS shows it for your service. Return to the main window and click Start Streaming in the Controls dock. To end the broadcast, click the matching Stop Streaming button.
For WHIP streaming, get the WHIP URL and Bearer Token from the provider, then open Settings, choose Stream, set Service to WHIP, enter the provider Server, and enter the Bearer Token. Simulcast is configured in Settings then Stream and requires OBS 32.1.0 or newer. WHIP is not supported in the Ubuntu 24.04 PPA release, so use Flatpak when WHIP is required on Linux.
7. Start Virtual Camera for video calls
Build the scene first, then start the camera output.
- 1.In the Controls dock, click Start Virtual Camera.
- 2.In your video-call app, select the OBS virtual camera as the camera source.
- 3.To change what the virtual camera sends, click the gear icon next to Virtual Camera.
- 4.Choose Program, Preview, Scene, or Source.
- 5.To stop, return to the Controls dock and click Stop Virtual Camera.
Virtual Camera turns the OBS output into a webcam source for apps such as Zoom, Skype, Discord, and browsers.
On Windows, install or remove the virtual camera component from C:\Program Files\obs-studio\data\obs-plugins\win-dshow by right-clicking virtualcam-install.bat or virtualcam-uninstall.bat and choosing Run as Administrator. On macOS 13 and newer with OBS Studio 30 or newer, approve the blocked system extension in System Settings, then restart OBS. On Linux, install v4l2loopback.
8. Speed up OBS with hotkeys plugins and updates
- Select a source, drag the red bounding box to move or resize it, hold Alt (Windows or Linux) or Option (macOS) while dragging to crop, and hold Ctrl (Windows or Linux) or Command (macOS) to disable source or edge snapping.
- Open Settings and choose Hotkeys.
- Assign hotkeys for Start Streaming, Stop Streaming, Start Recording, Stop Recording, scene switching, source visibility, push-to-talk, push-to-mute, Game Capture active-window capture, and Replay Buffer controls.
- Use Ctrl-F or Command-F to fit to screen, Ctrl-S or Command-S to stretch to screen, Ctrl-D or Command-D to center to screen, and Ctrl-R or Command-R to reset transform.
- For remote control, open Tools, choose WebSocket Server Settings, enable authentication, and set a password.
- For plugins, use the plugin's installer when available, or use the current plugin folder for your platform.
- On Windows, use
C:\ProgramData\obs-studio\plugins. On macOS, use~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins. On Linux, use~/.config/obs-studio/plugins. For Linux Flatpak, install plugins through Flatpak.
Once the main workflow works, transforms and hotkeys make repeated recordings or streams faster. Current OBS Studio includes WebSocket under Tools then WebSocket Server Settings, so do not install a separate obs-websocket plugin for OBS Studio 28 or newer. For Windows plugins, use C:\ProgramData\obs-studio\plugins, not the legacy Program Files plugin folder.
To update OBS on Windows or macOS, open Help and choose Check for Updates, or download the latest installer from the official OBS download page and run it. Steam installations update through Steam. For official support, use the OBS Help Portal for Guides & Help, Official Discord, Forums, Source, Feedback, Certified Devices, and Developer Docs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run OBS Studio in portable mode on Windows?
Yes. Download the ZIP from the OBS download page, unzip it outside Program Files, place an empty portable_mode or portable_mode.txt file in the root directory, and open bin/64bit/obs64.exe. You can also launch bin/64bit/obs64.exe with --portable.
Can OBS start recording or streaming automatically when it opens?
Yes. Use OBS launch parameters such as --startrecording, --startstreaming, --startvirtualcam, --startreplaybuffer, --collection "name", --profile "name", --scene "name", --studio-mode, or --minimize-to-tray.
Can OBS show a scene on another display?
Yes. Right-click the scene or source, hover Fullscreen Projector for that scene or source, and choose an output. You can also use Windowed Projector for a windowed output.
Can OBS be controlled from a phone or control surface?
Yes. OBS Studio 28 and newer includes WebSocket. Open Tools, choose WebSocket Server Settings, enable authentication, set a password, and connect a compatible WebSocket client.
