How to blur the background in OBS

The short answer

OBS Studio does not include a standard filter that blurs only the background behind you. To get that effect, you need one of three things: a third-party background-removal plugin that offers a blur mode, a GPU-based effect on supported hardware, or a camera or operating-system effect that blurs the image before it reaches OBS. The most common route is a free, open-source plugin called Background Removal. It adds a filter to your camera source that separates you from the background and can blur the background instead of replacing it.

One ambiguity matters here. If you want to blur an entire source, such as a window or screen capture that shows private information, you are not looking for person segmentation. Segmentation is software that detects which pixels belong to a person. For blurring a whole source, a general blur plugin such as Composite Blur is the better fit. The rest of this guide covers blurring the area behind a person on a webcam.

Choose your approach

Approach | What it does | Main limitation

Background Removal plugin | Adds a filter to the camera source in OBS that detects you and blurs or replaces everything else | Uses CPU or GPU power; the plugin version must match your OBS version and operating system

NVIDIA effect in OBS | Some OBS builds for Windows include an NVIDIA background-removal filter | Requires a supported NVIDIA graphics card and NVIDIA's separately installed effects runtime; check whether your version offers blur or only removal

Camera or system effect | Laptop or OS camera effects, or camera vendor software, blur the image before OBS receives it | Only available on certain devices; the effect may apply to every app that uses the camera

Physical blur | A real out-of-focus background from camera optics and distance | Not a software effect; depends on your camera, lens and room

If you have no special hardware, start with the plugin. The steps below use it.

Before you start

• OBS Studio installed and working, with your webcam added as a Video Capture Device source.
• The Background Removal plugin release that matches your OBS version and operating system. Get it from the project's official release page and nowhere else.
• Permission for OBS to use the camera. On macOS, check System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Camera, and make sure OBS is enabled.
• Even, front-facing light on your face if possible. Segmentation works best when you stand out clearly from the background.

Step by step: blur your background with the plugin

• 1. Close OBS, run the plugin installer or package for your system, then reopen OBS.
• 2. Check that the camera works first. The webcam source should show live, moving video in the preview. If it is black, fix the camera access before you continue.
• 3. In the Sources dock, right-click your camera source and choose Filters.
• 4. Under Effect Filters, click the plus button and choose Background Removal. If it isn't in the list, the plugin didn't load. See the troubleshooting section.
• 5. In the filter settings, find the background blur option. Some versions label it as a blur factor, where zero means no blur. Raise the value until the background looks as soft as you want.
• 6. Adjust the threshold and smoothing or feathering settings if the edge around your head and shoulders looks jagged or flickers.
• 7. If the filter lets you choose an inference device, try your GPU. Inference is the processing that detects you in each frame. Moving it to the GPU often reduces the load on your processor, but this depends on your hardware.
• 8. Close the Filters window. The preview should now show the blurred background.

Setting names and available models change between plugin releases, so the labels above may not match yours exactly. If an option is missing, check the plugin's own documentation for your version. This guide doesn't provide tested values for blur strength, threshold or performance. No verified measurements were available, so tune by eye using the checks below.

How to tell it worked

• In the OBS preview, you stay sharp and the background is blurred.
• Move your head, turn sideways and raise a hand. Edges should follow you without large patches of background staying sharp or parts of you blurring away.
• Open View, then Stats, and watch CPU usage and skipped or dropped frames while the filter runs. If frames are skipped only when the filter is on, the effect is too heavy for your current settings.
• Record a short test clip and play it back to see the effect at full speed, not just in the preview.

These checks confirm that OBS is producing the blurred image on your computer. They don't show what call participants or stream viewers will see after network compression. To check that, do a test call or a private test stream.

Use the blurred camera in a video call

• 1. In the OBS Controls dock, click Start Virtual Camera.
• 2. In your call app's video settings, choose OBS Virtual Camera as the camera.
• 3. Turn off the call app's own background blur or virtual background so the image isn't processed twice.
• 4. Check the call app's self-view. It should match the OBS preview.

If the call app shows a blank or placeholder image, make sure the virtual camera is actually started in OBS and that the call app was restarted after you started it. Some apps only detect cameras at launch.

Common problems

• Background Removal isn't in the filter list: the plugin version may not match your OBS version, or it may have been built for a different processor architecture. On Linux, Flatpak and other sandboxed installs of OBS need plugin packages made for that format. Reinstall the matching release and restart OBS.
• The camera source is black: another app may be using the camera, or OBS may lack camera permission. This is a camera access problem, not a blur problem, so fix it first.
• Edges flicker or hair disappears: improve lighting on your face, add contrast between you and the background, and adjust the threshold and smoothing settings.
• OBS lags or skips frames: switch inference to the GPU if available, choose a lighter segmentation model if the plugin offers one, or lower the camera resolution or frame rate.
• The blur looks fine in OBS but poor in the call: the call app is compressing the video or adding its own effect. Turn off the app's effects and test your connection separately.

What this guide can't confirm

No specific evidence was available on plugin version compatibility, exact setting names in current releases, which NVIDIA cards and OBS versions support a blur mode, or how much processing power the effect uses on any particular computer. Check those details against the plugin's release notes and your hardware vendor's documentation, then confirm the result with the preview, stats and test-call checks above.