How to Transfer OBS Scenes to Another Computer

Before you start

Moving OBS scenes to a new computer is a local file operation. You export files in OBS Studio on the old machine, carry them over by any method you trust, such as a USB drive, a network share or your own storage, and import them on the new machine. No OBS account or online service is involved.

OBS keeps two kinds of setup separately, and you usually want both. A scene collection holds your scenes, sources, filters and transitions. A profile holds settings such as encoding, bitrate, recording format, output resolution and frame rate.

• Install OBS Studio on the new computer, ideally the same version as the old one or newer. An older release may not read a collection saved by a newer one correctly.
• Install the same third-party plugins if any scene uses plugin sources, filters or transitions.
• Collect copies of every file your scenes reference: images, videos, overlays, local files used by browser sources, stinger transitions and similar media.
• Check which fonts your text sources use and install them on the new computer if they are missing.

Treat an exported profile as sensitive. Stream service settings, which can include your stream key, may be saved in it. Check what the folder contains before you place it anywhere shared, and remove temporary copies once the move is finished.

Step-by-step instructions

Export from the old computer

• Open OBS Studio and select the collection you want to move from the Scene Collection menu.
• Choose Scene Collection > Export and save the .json file. Repeat for each collection you need.
• Choose Profile > Export and pick an empty folder. OBS writes the profile as a set of settings files in that folder. Repeat for each profile.
• Copy the media files your scenes use and note where each one was stored.

The exported collection stores the full path to each file-based source, not the file itself. If you recreate the same folder structure on the new computer, including the drive letter and user folder name on Windows, sources should find their files without relinking. If the paths will differ, plan to point each source to its new location after import.

Import on the new computer

• Copy the media files into place first, using the original paths where possible.
• Choose Scene Collection > Import, browse to the .json file, make sure it is ticked in the list and confirm.
• Choose Profile > Import and select the exported profile folder.
• Switch to the imported collection from the Scene Collection menu and to the imported profile from the Profile menu.

Importing adds new entries alongside any existing collections and profiles rather than replacing them, so you can switch back if something looks wrong.

Alternative: copy the whole settings folder

To move every collection and profile at once, close OBS on both computers and copy the OBS settings folder. On Windows it is %APPDATA%\obs-studio, on macOS ~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio, and on Linux ~/.config/obs-studio for a standard install; a Flatpak install keeps its settings in a different location. File > Show Settings Folder opens it from within OBS. Collections are in basic/scenes and profiles in basic/profiles. Rename or back up the existing folder on the new computer before overwriting it so you can restore it.

Moving between Windows, macOS and Linux

A collection can be imported on a different operating system, but platform-specific capture sources will not work there. For example, Game Capture exists only on Windows, while macOS and Linux use their own screen and window capture sources. Replace each such capture source with the equivalent on the new system, relink file paths, and expect to choose a different encoder if the hardware differs.

Check the output

• Click through every scene and look for blank or missing sources. If OBS reports missing files, use that dialog to point to the new locations, or open each source's properties and browse to the file.
• Open the properties of each camera and capture source and reselect the device. Device identifiers often differ between computers even for the same model.
• In Settings > Audio, confirm the desktop audio and microphone devices.
• In Settings > Output, confirm the encoder, bitrate, recording format and recording path. A folder from the old computer may not exist on the new one.
• In Settings > Video, check base and output resolution and frame rate, especially if the new display has a different resolution.
• Make a short test recording and play it back, checking picture, audio levels and sync.

Matching settings do not guarantee the same performance. New hardware may handle the encoding load differently, so watch for dropped or skipped frames in the OBS stats during your first recording or stream.

Common problems and next steps

Sources appear in the list but show nothing: the file path from the old computer is not valid. Move the file to the original path or update the path in the source properties.

A source or filter is missing or cannot be edited: it probably comes from a plugin that is not installed on the new computer. Install the plugin, preferably the same version, restart OBS and reselect the collection.

The webcam source stays black: reselect the device in its properties and make sure no other application is using the camera.

Recording or streaming fails to start: the profile may point to a hardware encoder that the new computer does not have. Choose an available encoder in Settings > Output and review the bitrate for it.

Streaming does not connect: check Settings > Stream. If you used a connected account rather than a stream key, you may need to sign in again on the new computer.

OBS does not keep two computers in sync. If you keep editing scenes on the old machine, export and import the collection again after each change you want to carry over.