How to blur a webcam background in OBS

The short answer

OBS Studio has no single built-in setting that blurs a webcam background on every computer. You usually add the effect in one of two ways. The first is a third-party background removal plugin that includes a blur option. The second, on Windows PCs with a supported NVIDIA RTX graphics card, is NVIDIA's video effect filters, which OBS can use. Either way, the blur is applied as a filter on your camera source. That means it shows up in OBS recordings and streams. It only reaches a video call if you also send OBS's output to the call through the OBS Virtual Camera.

One distinction matters before you start. This guide covers a virtual effect: software guesses where you are in the frame and blurs everything else. That is different from optical background blur, which comes from a lens with a shallow depth of field, such as on some mirrorless cameras. It is also different from editing a background in a still photo after it is taken. Software blur can soften or smear edges around hair, hands and headphones. Optical blur does not have that problem.

Before you begin

• OBS Studio installed and updated to a current release, because plugins and filters are built for specific OBS versions.
• Your webcam already added to a scene as a Video Capture Device source, with a live image in the preview. If the preview is black, fix camera access first. Check that no other app is holding the camera and that your operating system allows OBS to use it.
• For the plugin route: a plugin release that matches your OBS version and operating system, downloaded from the developer's official release page.
• For the NVIDIA route: Windows, a supported NVIDIA RTX graphics card, and NVIDIA's video effects runtime installed. OBS only lists these filters when the runtime is present.

No verified figures are available here for minimum hardware, CPU or GPU load, or ideal filter settings. Treat any numbers you see in the filter dialog as starting points to adjust by eye, not as targets.

Option 1: Blur with a background removal plugin

• 1. Close OBS. Then install the plugin using the installer or the instructions provided for your operating system.
• 2. Reopen OBS. Right-click your webcam source in the Sources list and choose Filters.
• 3. Under Effect Filters, click the plus button and look for the background removal filter the plugin added. If it is missing, the plugin did not load. Check that the plugin matches your OBS version and that you restarted OBS.
• 4. Add the filter. By default it may remove the background or replace it with a solid color rather than blur it.
• 5. In the filter's settings, find the blur control (often labelled as a background blur amount or factor). Raise it above zero so the background is blurred instead of removed.
• 6. If the plugin lets you choose a segmentation model or an inference device (CPU or GPU), keep the default at first. Change it only if edge quality or performance is poor.
• 7. Adjust any threshold or smoothing settings while watching the preview. Stop when your outline stays stable without large areas of background showing through.

Option 2: Blur with NVIDIA video effects (Windows, RTX cards)

• 1. Install NVIDIA's video effects runtime for your graphics card, then restart OBS.
• 2. Right-click your webcam source, choose Filters, and click the plus button under Effect Filters.
• 3. Choose the NVIDIA background filter. In recent OBS versions it offers a background blur mode as well as removal. If no blur mode appears, your OBS version or runtime may not include it. In that case, use the plugin route.
• 4. Set the mode to background blur and adjust its strength while watching the preview.

If your camera is rotated to portrait

If you mounted the camera sideways for a vertical frame, keep in mind that filters process the image the camera sends, before any rotation you apply in the scene with Transform. A segmentation model may track a sideways image less reliably than an upright one. After setting up the blur, check your outline carefully. If tracking is noticeably worse, see whether your camera's own software or driver can rotate the image before it reaches OBS. That way the filter receives an upright picture. Then apply any remaining layout changes in the scene.

How to know it worked

• In the OBS preview, the background is softened while your face stays sharp.
• Move your hands, turn your head and lean toward the camera. Your outline should follow you without parts of you blurring or chunks of background turning sharp.
• Open the Stats dock (View, then Docks, then Stats) during a test recording. Watch for rising rendering lag or skipped frames. Either sign means the filter is straining your computer, so try a lighter model, a different inference device or a lower output resolution.
• Record a short clip and play it back. That is closer to what viewers will see than the live preview.

These checks confirm that OBS is producing a blurred image on your machine. They do not show how the image looks after a streaming service or call app compresses it. They also do not test lighting changes later in the day, or anything about your microphone or audio.

Using the blurred camera in a video call

• 1. In OBS, click Start Virtual Camera in the Controls area.
• 2. In your call app's video settings, choose OBS Virtual Camera as the camera instead of your physical webcam.
• 3. Turn off the call app's own background effect, so you are not applying two layers of blur or replacement on top of each other.
• 4. Use the app's camera preview, or a test call with someone else, to confirm the blurred image arrives.

Seeing OBS Virtual Camera in the call app's camera list only means the app can access it. A moving, blurred picture in the app's preview confirms that video is actually being captured. How it looks to other people still depends on their connection and the app's compression, so a test call is the only way to check that.

Common problems

• The filter is not in the list: the plugin or runtime is missing, is for the wrong OBS version, or OBS was not restarted after installation.
• The background disappears instead of blurring: the filter is set to remove or replace the background. Switch it to blur, or raise the blur amount.
• Edges flicker or halo: improve the lighting on your face, add contrast between you and the background, and adjust the threshold or smoothing settings.
• The call app shows a black or frozen image: confirm the virtual camera is started in OBS. Then reselect it in the call app or restart the app.