OBS Not Capturing Game: Black Screen

Black Screen in OBS Game Capture

For Twitch, this is critical: viewers see a blank screen instead of gameplay. If you don't notice the problem in time, the streamer loses audience, retention and trust. That's why checking is mandatory before going live, not after starting recording or streaming.

The additional difficulty is that the problem may not appear immediately. Sometimes the screen seems to be working, but turns black when switching scenes or starting recording. The streamer may not notice the failure in time, especially if OBS is minimized or on another monitor. Therefore, it's important to always check how exactly the image is displayed before going live.

Main Causes of Black Screen in OBS Game Capture

The problem of black screen appearing in OBS almost always has a specific cause related to system or source settings. It's important to understand where it comes from before trying to configure and fix the situation.

Main causes:

• OBS not running as administrator
• graphics card conflict (especially on laptops)
• wrong recording source selected
• Windows Game Mode or Xbox Game Bar enabled
• outdated OBS version or drivers

Any of these causes can lead to game capture in OBS with black screen becoming a permanent problem.

Most often users try to fix the problem randomly, not understanding which specific cause caused the dark screen. This leads to chaotic actions and waste of time. It's much more effective to consistently check each possible cause, starting with launch permissions and recording mode, and only then moving on to OBS and Windows system settings.

Solution 1: Correct Source and Capture Mode Selection

The most common mistake is the wrong source. For most projects, game capture is recommended, not window capture. These sources are captured differently and react differently to display.

If the game is running in windowed mode or borderless, window capture sometimes works more stable. In fullscreen mode, it's better to use capture. Sometimes it's enough just to change the source for the image to appear immediately.

Practical recommendations:

• try different recording types
• make sure the right window is selected
• launch the game before selecting source

It's also important to consider how exactly the game is launched. Some projects default to windowed mode, even if they visually look like fullscreen. In such cases, capture may not show the image. Switching display directly in game settings often helps to capture without additional actions.

Solution 2: Running OBS as Administrator

Many modern games and anti-cheats block capture if OBS studio is not running with administrator rights. As a result, OBS doesn't interact correctly with Game Capture.

It's important that both OBS and the game are launched with the same access name. Run OBS as administrator, then reopen the game and check the screen in preview. In many cases, this immediately helps fix the problem without additional settings.

This method is especially relevant for online games and projects with anti-cheats. If OBS and the game are running with different rights, the screen may not be recorded or remain black. After changing rights, be sure to completely restart OBS, otherwise the changes will not take effect.

Solution 3: Choosing the Right Graphics Card for OBS

On laptops with two GPUs, black screen in OBS occurs especially often. The reason is simple: the game is not compatible with the discrete graphics card, and OBS is with the integrated one. Because of this, it's impossible to capture the image.

In Windows settings, you can manually specify which graphics card OBS will use. Assign OBS studio to 'high performance', then restart the program. After this, the screen starts displaying correctly, and recording becomes available again. This is one of the most effective fixes for laptops.

Even if the game was already correctly recorded before, updating drivers or Windows can change GPU priority. As a result, OBS starts using integrated graphics again and the screen turns black. Therefore, when the problem occurs again, it's worth checking the graphics settings again and making sure that OBS and the game use the same graphics processor.

Solution 4: OBS Compatibility Mode

After Windows updates, capture may suddenly stop working. In such cases, compatibility mode helps. It allows OBS to interact correctly with the system.

The function is enabled in the properties of OBS studio executable file. This is not the main method, but as a temporary fix it often helps restore normal screen without reinstallation.

It's recommended to use it primarily after major system updates. Sometimes Windows changes the way it works with graphics, which causes recording to stop displaying correctly. Enabling compatibility helps eliminate such conflicts without interfering with complex OBS parameters.

Solution 5: Disabling Game Mode and Xbox Game Bar

Windows Game Mode and Xbox Game Bar sometimes conflict with OBS and block image capture. For Twitch streaming, these functions are not mandatory, so they can be safely disabled.

After disabling and restarting the system, capture starts showing correctly. This reduces load and eliminates system conflicts affecting display.

Game Mode and Game Bar can intercept image capture, which causes OBS not to work and display empty or dark screen. Disabling these functions doesn't affect performance, but helps OBS studio correctly record and show what's happening without conflicts.

Additional Checks and Quick Fixes

If the main methods didn't help, use the checklist:

• recreate the capture source
• change mode: windowed / borderless / fullscreen
• remove third-party overlays (Discord, Steam, GeForce)
• update OBS and graphics card drivers
• check which monitor is selected as primary

These actions don't require deep knowledge and are suitable if you want to quickly check the system before streaming on Twitch. Often the problem is solved by one item from the list, especially if OBS previously correctly captured gameplay. Such a checklist is convenient to keep handy as a basic fixing algorithm.

If Nothing Helped: Temporary Solutions for Twitch Streaming

When you want to go live urgently and can't quickly remove the dark screen, use temporary options. Window or screen capture allow recording gameplay, albeit with loss of quality or FPS.

This is a compromise, but it saves the stream. Reinstalling OBS is a last resort if you want to completely reset settings and start from scratch.

It's important to understand that temporary solutions are used precisely to avoid disrupting the stream. They allow recording and showing the screen, even if full capture is temporarily unavailable. After the stream, it's worth returning to finding the main cause and complete fixing, so that OBS is stable in the future.

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