How to set up OBS Studio for recording and streaming

How do you set up OBS Studio the first time?

1. Download OBS Studio from obsproject.com. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13 or newer, and Linux.
2. On the first launch the Auto-Configuration Wizard opens. It sets OBS up for what you plan to do, taking your hardware into account, and your network if you stream. You can run it again from Tools → Auto-Configuration Wizard.
3. OBS starts with one empty scene. Use it or create a new one.
4. Add sources with the + button in the Sources dock: Display Capture or Window Capture for the screen or a window (macOS Screen Capture on a Mac) and a Video Capture Device for a webcam. OBS captures desktop audio and your microphone by default.
5. Drag and resize the sources in the preview until the layout looks right.
6. Check that the meters in the Audio Mixer move. If they do not, choose the devices in Settings → Audio.
7. Check Settings → Output, then record a test of a few minutes with Start Recording and watch it back before the real thing.

The same steps, with pictures, are in the official Quick Start Guide, and the requirements of each capture source are on the pages for Display Capture, Window Capture and macOS Screen Capture. On macOS 13 and newer, Display Capture and Window Capture are deprecated, and OBS points to macOS Screen Capture instead.

Which OBS settings should you use for recording?

MKV is the safer format while you record. The Standard Recording Output Guide explains that an MKV file is not corrupted as a whole if the recording stops unexpectedly. If your editor or player needs MP4, remux the file afterwards. Any quality preset other than Same as stream uses extra computer resources, so test it on a long recording.

OBS 30.2 also introduced Hybrid MP4. The OBS guide to the format says such a file can be recovered even after a system crash or a power cut.

How do you record your screen with audio, including a Zoom or Teams call?

Screen recording in OBS works like any other recording: add a screen or window source, keep Desktop Audio on for the other people's voices and the microphone on for yours. The same set-up records any video on the computer, such as a presentation or a tutorial. These options give you more control over the sound:

• on Windows 10 (version 2004 and later) and Windows 11, Application Audio Capture, a beta source in OBS 28 and later, records the sound of a single app, such as the call, so other programs stay out of the recording; if you use it, disable the global Desktop Audio in Settings → Audio to avoid echo;
• on Windows, since OBS 30.1 a Window Capture source can record the sound of the app it captures: tick Capture Audio (BETA);
• on a Mac, macOS Screen Capture records a display, a window or one application, with its audio on macOS 13 and later; on macOS 12.3 to 12.6 it captures no audio.

You can also record without OBS:

• on a Mac, press Shift-Command-5, choose to record the entire screen or a selected portion, and pick a microphone under Options to record your voice, as Apple's guide shows; system audio can be included only on macOS 27 or later;
• Zoom's computer recording saves the meeting to your computer in the Zoom desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, on free and paid accounts. The host can record, and participants can with the host's permission. It is not available on phones or tablets, where the same page points to cloud recording on paid accounts;
• Teams records from More actions in the meeting controls if you have a qualifying licence and your IT admin allows it; every participant is notified, and the file is saved to OneDrive or SharePoint (Microsoft's guide).

Tell everyone on the call that you are recording, because their voices and faces are personal data.

How do you set up the microphone, noise suppression and levels in OBS?

1. Choose the microphone in Settings → Audio.
2. Speak at your normal volume and set the level in the Audio Mixer. The Audio Mixer guide says speech should sit in the upper part of the yellow zone, with peaks reaching only the lower end of the red, where the sound is close to clipping. The dot at the top of the meter shows the loudest point of the last 20 seconds.
3. Open the filters: right-click the microphone source and choose Filters, or click the cogwheel next to its volume bar in the Audio Mixer, as the OBS Studio Overview Guide shows.
4. Start with the Noise Suppression filter. It has three methods. RNNoise is the default, with higher quality but more CPU use. Speex can be adjusted but may distort the voice. NVIDIA Noise Removal needs the NVIDIA Broadcast SDK. The filter handles mild noise such as a computer fan, but it does little in a loud room.
5. If you need more, add other audio filters: a Noise Gate cuts background noise while you are not speaking, a Compressor keeps the level under a set threshold, and a Limiter prevents distortion. The guide sets no order, so listen after each filter you add.
6. Listen on headphones. Audio Monitoring is set in Edit → Advanced Audio Properties.
7. Mute Desktop Audio with its speaker icon when you do not need it, so notification sounds stay out of the recording.

A good microphone close to your mouth leaves the filters less to do. The guide to podcast equipment helps you choose one.

How do you stream to YouTube from OBS?

1. Make sure your channel can stream. YouTube's guide to getting started asks for a verified channel with no live streaming restrictions in the last 90 days. Enabling live streaming for the first time can take up to 24 hours, so set this up well before the first stream.
2. In OBS, open Settings → Stream, choose YouTube as the service and paste the stream key from YouTube Studio.
3. In Settings → Output, set the video bitrate and keyframe interval YouTube recommends for your resolution and frame rate. For H.264, its live encoder settings give 14 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps (at least 5), 17 Mbps at 60 fps (at least 6) and 8 Mbps for 720p. Set the keyframe interval to 2 seconds, never more than 4, and the audio to AAC at 128 kbps for stereo.
4. Check your upload speed with a speed test. The OBS stream connection guide suggests starting with a bitrate of about 75% of your total upload speed.
5. In YouTube Studio, choose CREATE → Go Live, set the stream to private or unlisted and start streaming from OBS. Wait for the stream preview, click Go live, watch on a second device and click End Stream at the end, as YouTube's encoder guide describes.
6. Watch the test back, then go public.

For the planning side, such as the internet connection, a backup and a rehearsal, see the guide to live streaming an event.

Why does an OBS recording or stream lag or drop frames?

These are the usual problems and the fixes the OBS Knowledge Base gives for them:

When is one computer with OBS not enough?

One computer running OBS is enough for one speaker with a screen and a camera. It becomes hard to manage when there are:

• several cameras to switch between;
• several guests, each with their own microphone;
• a stream that someone has to watch while you speak;
• an event at a venue.

At that point a second person helps more than a faster computer. Live streaming from our studio in Riga goes to YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and other platforms, with the equipment and an operator included, and costs from €320 for the first hour, then €70/h. For a lesson or webinar that is recorded rather than streamed, the course and webinar recording package costs from €310 and includes the studio, light, sound, an operator, a teleprompter and basic editing.

Screen recording inside a course is covered in the guide to recording an online course, and running a live session in the guide to hosting a webinar.