What causes a Black Screen in OBS Studio?
We did an extensive survey and analyzed all the user cases where the black screen was occurring when streaming using OBS. Based on our analysis, we came across several different culprits which might be causing the issue. Some of them are listed here: Make sure that you follow the solutions from the top and work your way down effectively. They are ordered in terms of difficulty and efficiency. Happy troubleshooting!
1. Power cycle your computer
Before we start troubleshooting extensively, it is worth power cycling your computer. There were several cases where simply power cycling solved OBS black screen instantly. Power cycling involves shutting down your computer completely and removing its power source as well. This forces the computer to remove all temporary configurations so whenever you start it again, everything will be initialized fresh. After waiting 2-4 minutes, plug everything back in and check if the issue gets resolved.
2. Select the Correct Version of OBS Studio
OBS usually comes in two versions i.e. 32 and 64 bits. The software is shipped in two versions because the Windows operating system is also shipped in two versions. A big difference between 32-bit processors and 64-bit processors is the number of calculations per second they can perform, which affects the speed at which they can complete tasks. In this solution, we will navigate to OBS’s installation directory and select the correct version of the software after checking your bit version. First, we will check the version of the operating system installed on your computer. Now we will be navigating to the installation folder of OBS and launching the correct version of the application according to the bit architecture in your computer.
3. Change Compatibility mode
We received mixed reports of the compatibility mode option present in the application. According to some users, the latest version of Windows was not supported by the application, hence they had to change the compatibility to Windows 7 while some users reported that disabling the compatibility mode solved the issue instantly. Here you can try both methods and check which one works for you. If it doesn’t, revert the setting to default and move on with the other solutions.
4. Grant Administrator Rights
Another issue for why you might not be able to stream your screen or game properly is because your application doesn’t have proper administrator privileges. Since OBS is in effect sharing all your content and computer usage online, it is essential that you have granted it administrator rights. In this solution, we will be doing that and checking whether this solves the issue. Even if it doesn’t, make sure that you keep the option checked for all time.
5. Select the Correct GPU for Resources
Another interesting phenomenon we came across was where not selecting the correct GPU according to the capture you are using caused several issues including the black screen. The breakdown on which GPU to select according to the display selected is as follows:
Game capture: Dedicated graphics (NVIDIA or AMD).Monitor/display capture: Intel’s stock GPU
Note: This solution is only for users who have a dedicated graphics card installed on their computer. Here we will signify the methods on how to cater to both situations. Make sure that you follow them according to your case.
6. Change Drive Permission Settings
If your OBS is installed in your primary drive (C), there are chances that probably even your user might not have full permission to edit and modify its contents. This is the usual case and the reason why a conventional user is not allowed access to the drive is because of security reasons because all the core operating system files are present. However, according to some user reports, changing the ownership settings of the drive solved the issue instantly. Make sure that you are logged in as an administrator before following this solution.
7. Change Settings of OBS
Another workaround to consider is changing some specific settings of OBS. Usually, OBS allows users to set the configurations according to their preferences or will. However, in some cases, the custom settings might conflict with the software and cause a black screen. Here we have listed down some of the changes in settings that you have to do in order for OBS to run in optimal settings. After you have made changes to the settings of OBS, restart it and check if you can stream your screen/games properly without any issues. Note: You can also change the mode from “Capture any fullscreen application” to “Capture specific window“.
8. Enable Multi-adapter compatibility
OBS has a setting of Multi-adapter compatibility which is meant for computers involving SLI or Crossfire technology. SLI/Crossfire is technology by NVIDIA/AMD which allows users to connect two graphics cards instead of one and utilize them both in their gameplay or applications. Enabling this feature seemed to have fixed the issue of black screen in OBS instantly. The funny thing is that this fixed the black screen in computers that don’t even have SLI/Crossfire technology installed. To conclude, we can safely say this is a bug in OBS and you have to enable multi-adapter compatibility whether or not you have SLI/Crossfire. You can easily enable this option by selecting the stream and clicking on the gears icon. A new window will pop up from where you can check the option.
9. Disable Overclocking
Overclocking allows you to increase the clock rate of your processor until it reaches the threshold temperature set by the manufacturer. Once it reaches the temperature, the clock speed returns to default so it is cooled down. After it reaches the optimal temperature, its clock speed is increased again and the cycle continues. Overclocking allows users to have better framerates and performance but they aren’t without their share of issues. We observed that PCs that had overclocking enabled were having the black screen issue in OBS. You should try disabling overclocking and also overclocking related software such as MSI Afterburner and try launching OBS again. If the black screen issue is resolved, consider disabling overclocking for good whenever you are using OBS. Note: Also try disabling Overlay from GeForce Experience and Windows game bar features. Take into account any additional software features which may provide additional controls over games or video.
10. Check for conflicting software
Another reason why you might be experiencing the black screen on your OBS software is that you have additional software running in the background which is also related to screen capture and video recording. This is a very common scenario for users where they ‘think’ that the other third-party software is not running but in reality, it is in the background. In this solution, we will go through all the different software installed on your computer and uninstall all extra software which might be causing the issue.
11. Reinstall the application
If all the above methods don’t work and you are still unable to stream your game/screen successfully using OBS, you should consider reinstalling the application entirely. You may have a corrupt/outdated copy with issues with several modules. All your preset configurations will be lost during this solution so make sure that you have saved all the work that you need.
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