Why Won't OBS Capture Your Game? 8 Proven Solutions That Actually Work

Is Your OBS Game Capture Broken? Here's How to Fix It Fast

Your game won't show up in OBS. The screen stays black. Audio plays but no video appears. Sound familiar? This happens to many streamers and content creators. The good news? Most OBS capture problems have easy fixes.

These eight solutions work for most capture issues. Try them one by one until your game appears properly.

Solution 1: Give OBS Admin Rights

Windows blocks programs from talking to each other sometimes. This causes the dreaded black screen. Games often run with special permissions. OBS needs the same level of access to see your game.

Quick Steps

1. Close OBS completely
2. Find the OBS icon on your desktop
3. Right-click and choose "Run as administrator"
4. Click "Yes" when Windows asks
5. Launch your game and try capturing again

This fix works for many users right away. If you still see a black screen, keep going.

Solution 2: Update Your Graphics Card Driver

Old or broken graphics drivers cause capture problems. Your graphics card handles the heavy work of recording games. When drivers get outdated, OBS can't connect properly to your GPU.

For NVIDIA cards

1. Open GeForce Experience
2. Click "Drivers" tab
3. Download and install updates

For AMD cards

1. Visit AMD's website
2. Download the latest driver for your card
3. Run the installer

For Intel graphics

1. Use Windows Update or Intel's website
2. Install the newest driver available
3. Restart your computer after updating. Then test OBS capture again.

Solution 3: Reinstall OBS (Clean Install)

Sometimes OBS files get corrupted. A fresh install often fixes stubborn capture issues. This method removes all old files and starts over.

Steps for clean reinstall

1. Uninstall OBS from Windows Settings
2. Delete the leftover "obs-studio-hook" folder
3. Download the latest OBS from the official website
4. Install the new version
5. Restart your computer

Rolling back to older version

Some anti-cheat systems don't like newer OBS versions. If you use games with Riot Vanguard or BattlEye, try OBS version 30.2.3 instead. Download it from the OBS GitHub releases page.

Solution 4: Change Game Display Mode

Full-screen games sometimes hide from OBS. The game takes complete control of your screen. OBS can't see what's happening. Switching to windowed mode fixes this.

How to change display mode

1. Open your game settings
2. Look for "Display Mode" or "Screen Mode"
3. Change from "Fullscreen" to "Windowed" or "Borderless"
4. Save settings and return to OBS

Borderless windowed mode works best. It looks like full-screen but lets OBS capture properly.

Solution 5: Turn Off Game Overlays

Multiple overlays fight with each other. Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, and Xbox Game Bar all add overlays. These can block OBS from working correctly.

Steam Overlay

1. Open Steam Library
2. Right-click your game
3. Choose Properties
4. Uncheck "Enable Steam Overlay"

Discord Overlay

1. Click Settings (gear icon)
2. Go to Game Overlay
3. Turn off "Enable in-game overlay"

GeForce Experience

1. Open GeForce Experience
2. Click Settings
3. Turn off "In-Game Overlay"

Xbox Game Bar

1. Press Windows + I
2. Go to Gaming > Game Bar
3. Turn off the controller toggle

Test OBS after disabling each overlay. This helps identify which one causes problems.

Solution 6: Match GPU Usage (Laptops Only)

Laptops have two graphics processors. One saves battery (integrated). The other gives better performance (dedicated). OBS and your game must use the same one.

Force both to use dedicated GPU

1. Press Windows + I for Settings
2. Go to System > Display > Graphics
3. Click "Browse" and find OBS.exe
4. Set OBS to "High performance"
5. Do the same for your game
6. Restart both programs

This fix helps laptop users who see black screens or no capture at all.

Solution 7: Check OBS Log Files

When nothing else works, log files show what's wrong. OBS creates detailed reports about errors and problems. These logs help experienced users find solutions.

Generate a clean log

1. Restart OBS
2. Try capturing your game for 30 seconds
3. Stop the capture
4. Go to Help > Log Files > Upload Current Log File
5. Copy the link and share it on OBS forums

Community members and support staff can read these logs. They often spot issues that aren't obvious.

Solution 8: Use Different Capture Methods

Game Capture is picky. It needs to hook directly into games. When this fails, other capture methods work as backups. Alternative capture options:

Window Capture

• Works with windowed games
• Captures specific program windows
• More reliable than Game Capture

Display Capture

• Records your entire screen
• Works with any game or program
• Uses more computer resources

To switch capture methods

• Click the "+" in Sources panel
• Choose "Window Capture" or "Display Capture"
• Select your game window or monitor
• Adjust size and position as needed

These methods aren't as efficient as Game Capture. But they work when nothing else does.

Most capture problems get fixed with the first few methods. The later fixes help with stubborn issues or specific setups.

Remember: OBS capture problems are common but solvable. Work through these fixes patiently. One of them will get your game showing up properly in OBS.