How to Make OBS Only Record Game Audio

The essential answer

To make OBS record only game audio, give the game its own audio source and mute every other input that would be mixed into the file. On Windows, that usually means an Application Audio Capture source aimed at the running game, Desktop Audio muted so the rest of the system is not included, and Mic/Aux muted if you do not want your voice. Video capture is separate: Game Capture, Window Capture or Display Capture can still record the picture while you strip the soundtrack down to the game.

The request is easy to read in more than one way. Most people mean the finished file should contain the game’s music and effects and should omit the microphone, party chat, browsers and music players. Others want the microphone kept, but on a different audio track so they can edit it later. A third reading is an audio-only recording with no gameplay video. The steps below isolate the game’s sound. The notes after them cover a separate mic track and an audio-only file.

What you want	What to change in OBS
Only the game’s sound on the recording	Capture the game process, mute Desktop Audio, mute Mic/Aux
Game sound plus your voice in one mix	Capture the game process, mute Desktop Audio, leave Mic/Aux unmuted
Game and microphone on separate tracks	Keep both unmuted and assign them to different tracks in Advanced Audio Properties
No Discord, browser or music-player sound	Do not leave Desktop Audio unmuted; capture the game as its own source

What you should do

Have OBS open and the game running so its process can appear in capture lists. Plan a short test recording you will play back. You do not need a webcam for this. Camera permission, a live preview and call quality are separate from whether game sound is on the file. A microphone that merely appears in a device list is also separate from that mic being unmuted in the mixer, and a moving mic meter is separate from intelligible speech ending up in the recording.

• Open the Audio Mixer in OBS. This is the panel with volume meters for Desktop Audio, Mic/Aux and any audio sources you have already added.
• If you do not want voice on this recording, click the speaker control on Mic/Aux so the source is muted. Leaving the device listed is fine; mute is what keeps it off the file.
• Add a source and choose Application Audio Capture, then select the game’s process. If the list is empty, start the game and open the source properties again.
• Mute Desktop Audio. Desktop Audio is the mix of whatever your default output device is playing, so an unmuted desktop mix will pull in other programs.
• Confirm that a video source is already capturing the picture you want. Picture and sound are independent sources.
• Make sound in the game and watch the Application Audio Capture meter move. Play media in another app and speak if a mic is connected; muted or uncaptured sources should stay still.
• Make a short recording, stop it, and play the file. You should hear the game and not hear the sources you excluded.

Some games send sound from a launcher, overlay or helper process rather than from the window you are looking at. If the chosen process is silent, try the other related processes in Application Audio Capture. If that source type is not in the Add Source list, your OBS build or operating system does not offer it. In that case, use Desktop Audio and mute or pause every other app, or route the game into OBS through a dedicated virtual audio device. Exclusive-mode output, some anti-cheat stacks and protected media paths can fail to appear as a capturable application; those titles need a different capture path, and this guide cannot list which games are affected.

To keep a microphone for later editing, unmute Mic/Aux, open Advanced Audio Properties, and assign the game source and the mic to different tracks. Tracks are separate audio channels inside the recording. In Settings, under Output and then Recording, enable the tracks you want in the file. Party chat is another application: if it is not the game process, capturing only the game and muting Desktop Audio leaves chat out. For an audio-only file, keep the same mixer isolation and record with video sources unused or with an output setup that stores the isolated game track without relying on the picture.

How you will know it worked

• The game’s audio meter moves when the game makes sound and falls when the game is paused or muted in-game.
• After Desktop Audio is muted, other apps no longer move that meter.
• A muted Mic/Aux does not add sound to the recording, even if the microphone is still detected as a device.
• Playback of the test file contains game sound and omits the sources you excluded.
• If you split tracks, the game-only track has game sound and no microphone.

These checks establish that the armed sources match what you intended and that a sample file plays back that way. They do not prove every scene in the collection is configured the same way, they do not prove a long session will stay isolated if you later unmute Desktop Audio, and they do not test whether viewers on a stream hear the same mix as the recording. They also do not test video quality, camera access or whether a microphone would be intelligible if you turned it back on.

Limits and unverified details

No input-level target in decibels is verified for this setup. Treat the mixer as a rough guide: steady activity in the upper green or into yellow is typical; a meter held in the red is clipping. Exact loudness depends on the game, the system volume and any filters such as Gain or Compressor, which this guide does not measure. Button labels such as Application Audio Capture, Desktop Audio and Mic/Aux can differ by OBS version and language. macOS and Linux do not use the same Windows application-capture path; isolating one game there generally means muting other apps, using the operating system’s per-app volume, or routing the game through a virtual device. This article does not test a specific OBS version, capture method or game title.