OBS Black Screen Fix
Last updated: September 1, 2026
A black capture almost always means OBS cannot read from the surface it was pointed at. On Windows there are three usual causes, and they are quick to rule out one at a time.
Laptops with two GPUs
On a laptop with integrated and discrete graphics, display capture only works when OBS runs on the GPU driving that display. Open Windows Settings → System → Display → Graphics, add OBS and set it to Power saving for desktop capture, or High performance when you are capturing a game running on the discrete card.
Wrong capture method
Window Capture offers several methods. Switch to Windows 10 (1903 and up) for most modern applications, and enable Client Area if only part of the window appears. For a full-screen game, use Game Capture instead of Window Capture.
Elevated applications
A program running as administrator cannot be captured by a program that is not. If the target requires elevation, run OBS as administrator too, then restart both.
Browser and hardware acceleration
Some browsers and Electron apps render in a way that window capture cannot read. Disabling hardware acceleration in that application, or capturing the whole display instead, resolves it.
If the preview is fine but the file is black, the problem is the recording path rather than the capture — see recording will not start.