How to update OBS Studio, and how to go back to an older version

To update OBS Studio on Windows, open Help > Check For Updates, choose Update Now, then launch OBS again. On a Mac, use OBS Studio > Check For Updates; Steam and Linux copies update through the store or package tool that installed them. Export your profile and scene collection before changing versions, and keep a copy of the settings folder for a rollback.

I'd update between sessions because a plugin or capture source that fails after the restart needs time to sort out. Write down the version, Profile and Scenes names in the OBS title bar first. The useful result is the new version running the same scenes and output settings, followed by a short recording that confirms the picture and sound still reach the file.

Check the current version and your operating system

The current stable release is OBS Studio 33.0.1, released on 29 October 2026. The official download page lists Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13 or newer, and Linux through Flathub or the official PPA for Ubuntu 26.04 or newer. Version 33 is a stable release, so you don't need a beta channel to get it.

Release	What matters for an update	Decision
33.0.1 - 29 October 2026	Fixes startup crashes with service integrations, Twitch login crashes, a YouTube login deadlock, Flatpak plugins failing to load and the Plugin Manager save prompt.	If you're already on 33.0.0, choose this hotfix rather than stopping at the initial release.
33.0.0 - 23 October 2026	Changes plugin loading and folder structure, updates browser-source components and stops supporting Ubuntu 24.04.	Check plugin compatibility and Linux distribution support before crossing from 32.x.

Those changes are documented in the 33.0.1 release notes and the initial 33.0 release notes. Older macOS versions have a separate ceiling: OBS's macOS compatibility table puts Monterey 12 on 32.1.2, Big Sur 11 on 31.0.4 and Catalina 10.15 on 29.0.2. Use those ceilings for an older Mac and the current download page for supported systems.

On Ubuntu 24.04, don't install a 33.x package built for 26.04. Keep a compatible package or consider the official Flatpak route after checking its requirements and plugin availability. Changing from a native package to Flatpak is a separate installation, so carry over your exports and check media access rather than assuming the old configuration will appear.

Save the profile, scenes and settings before updating

A profile holds output settings; a scene collection holds the sources that feed those outputs. Back up both. I would also keep the whole settings folder because exports alone don't preserve every application setting, plugin or external media file.

1. Choose Profile > Export... and select a destination folder. OBS writes a subfolder named after the active profile. When you restore it later, select that exported subfolder itself, the one containing basic.ini, rather than its parent folder. Repeat for each profile you need. The profile export implementation copies basic.ini and any existing service and encoder configuration files; it doesn't produce a single scene JSON file. Since a profile includes Stream settings and the connected account, keep the backup private.
2. Choose Scene Collection > Export... and save the .json file. Repeat for each collection. Scene collections include scenes, sources and Global Audio Sources. They reference images and media at their existing paths; OBS's portable-mode guidance confirms those media files don't travel inside the collection. Copy irreplaceable media separately.
3. Open File > Show Settings Folder. Note the location, close OBS, then copy that whole folder to a clearly named backup outside it. Closing OBS first avoids copying a configuration while it's being changed.
4. Record your plugins and their versions. In OBS 33, open Tools > Plugin Manager > Installed. For an older build, use the plugin list or its installation records. Keep the matching installers or official release links; the settings-folder copy isn't a backup of every plugin binary.

For each plugin, check its author's release page for the OBS version, operating system and processor it supports. The OBS plugins guide identifies mismatched OBS versions, platforms and architectures as reasons a plugin won't work. If an essential plugin hasn't caught up, postpone the update instead of hoping its old binary will load.

Update a Windows installer or Store copy

1. Stop streaming and recording, finish the backup, then choose Help > Check For Updates.
2. If an update is offered, select Update Now. Let OBS close so the updater can replace its files.
3. When the updater finishes, select Launch OBS. Check the title-bar version before changing settings.

These are the Windows steps in Tagboard's OBS update instructions, with the menu and prompt labels also present in OBS's English interface strings. If OBS says no updates are available, check that you're running the intended copy and channel before downloading another installer.

The Microsoft Store listing for OBS Studio delivers a desktop installer, so that copy also uses OBS's built-in update route. A Steam installation is different: leave its files under Steam's control.

Under Settings > General > Updates, Automatically check for updates on startup controls the launch-time check. On Windows, that check offers the update; installation still starts with Update Now. Keep the Update Channel on the stable channel for an ordinary streaming setup.

If the built-in updater fails, close OBS and use the current installer from obsproject.com for the same installation. Don't uninstall OBS or delete its settings to make an update happen. Keep the backup until the new build has passed the recording check below.

Update the Mac .dmg build

Choose OBS Studio > Check For Updates in the macOS menu bar. Select Install Update, then Install and Relaunch when the download is ready. The menu sits beside the Apple menu, so looking only under Help misses it. Tagboard's Mac instructions show that sequence.

Choose the build for your processor if you download a .dmg manually: Apple Silicon for an M-series Mac, Intel for an Intel Mac. The OBS updater can migrate an Intel build running on Apple Silicon to the native build. Plugins must match the architecture of OBS too; an Intel-only plugin doesn't become an Apple Silicon plugin during the application update.

Mac updates use Sparkle, which can offer automatic downloading and installation. Sparkle's update settings distinguish that permission from merely checking for a new version. Leave automatic installation off if you need the application version to stay fixed between sessions. A Homebrew-managed copy should be updated through Homebrew; a Steam copy through Steam.

Update Steam, Flatpak or the Ubuntu PPA

Steam

Close OBS and let Steam finish its update before launching it again from the Library. The Windows Steam build disables OBS's built-in updater, so a grey Check For Updates entry is expected. I would leave Mac Steam copies to Steam as well because it keeps the installed files aligned with the store's version.

Flatpak

Linux OBS builds have no built-in update menu. For the official Flathub app, close OBS and update the scope that owns it: run flatpak update --user com.obsproject.Studio for a per-user install or flatpak update --system com.obsproject.Studio for a system install, or choose that scope in your distribution's software app. Flatpak's update command accepts an application ID; running flatpak update without a scope can update matching apps and runtimes in both standard installations.

Use Flatpak-compatible plugins with that installation. The Flatpak user guide explains that applications run in a sandbox, so a plugin installed for a native Linux package doesn't automatically appear inside the Flatpak app. Check the plugin author's Flathub or Flatpak instructions before adding it.

Official Ubuntu PPA

For an existing PPA installation on supported Ubuntu, close OBS, run sudo apt update, then sudo apt install obs-studio. The first command refreshes package information; the second installs the available OBS package and required dependencies. Review apt's proposed changes before confirming. This is the package route on the OBS download page; there's no need to add the PPA again just to update an existing installation.

A package repository can offer a different version from GitHub. Read the version apt proposes, then confirm the installed version in OBS's title bar. Don't mix packages for different Ubuntu releases to chase a higher number.

When the update menu is missing or the restart fails

What you see	Where to check	Next action
No update item under Help on a Mac	The macOS application menu	Open OBS Studio > Check For Updates.
No update menu on Linux	The package that installed OBS	Use Flatpak, apt or that package manager.
Grey update item on Windows Steam	Steam's update queue	Finish the Steam update and relaunch from the Library.
Updater waits for OBS to exit	Other open OBS instances	Close each instance normally. If the updater still waits, cancel it, then use the official installer with OBS closed.
A file is still in use	The application holding the named file	Close it and retry. Don't delete the locked file.
The new build won't run on an older Mac or Ubuntu release	The operating-system limits above	Return to a supported OBS build; use the matching operating-system package.
Plugin Load Error after opening OBS	The named plugins and their release pages	Update compatible plugins or disable them, then restart OBS.

On Windows or Mac, check for --disable-updater in the launch options if the update entry is grey. On Windows, also check the installation's root folder for disable_updater or disable_updater.txt. Remove only a flag or marker you added yourself, after confirming the copy isn't managed by Steam or another administrator.

A Legacy label in OBS 33's Plugin Manager doesn't mean a plugin has already failed. OBS's legacy-location guidance says these locations continue working until at least OBS 34.0. Follow the plugin author's updated installer when available; don't shuffle individual files into guessed folders.

If OBS opens unreliably, use Help > Restart in Safe Mode, or accept Run in Safe Mode after an unclean shutdown. In OBS 33, Safe Mode loads no third-party plugins and doesn't start the WebSocket server, as the 33.x release notes specify. If a basic scene works there, investigate the disabled plugins and automation before rolling back. A scene that requires a disabled plugin will still be incomplete in Safe Mode; that alone doesn't identify the cause.

Go back to an older OBS version

Use Previous Releases on the download page to reach OBS's official release archive. Choose a stable build that supports your operating system and plugins. Keep a copy of the current configuration too: restoring the pre-update backup replaces changes made since that backup.

Windows: keep the older build separate

1. Download the older Windows ZIP for your processor and extract it into a new folder under your user folder, outside Program Files.
2. Before the first launch, create an empty file named portable_mode or portable_mode.txt in the extracted root folder.
3. Start bin/64bit/obs64.exe. Check that the title bar shows the older version and Portable Mode. Cancel the Auto-Configuration Wizard if it appears; you're restoring your existing setup.
4. Import the profile and scene collection you exported before updating. If the portable copy's fresh profile has the same name, rename that fresh profile first with Profile > Rename..., then use Profile > Import.... Use Scene Collection > Import... for the scene JSON and select the imported collection.

This follows OBS's Windows portable-mode method, which keeps that copy's configuration separate from the installed copy. Restore compatible plugin versions separately. A profile with the same folder name is rejected on import; a collection with a taken name can arrive with a numbered suffix, so check the selected names rather than assuming the import replaced them.

Mac: stop automatic installation before the rollback

Close OBS and preserve the current application and settings backup before replacing the application with the older official .dmg for your processor. OBS's Mac installation steps use the Applications folder. Disable Sparkle's automatic-install preference before opening the older copy, so it doesn't replace the version you're restoring. The Sparkle updater settings store that choice as SUAutomaticallyUpdate; OBS uses the com.obsproject.obs-studio bundle identifier in its Mac build, so with OBS closed run defaults write com.obsproject.obs-studio SUAutomaticallyUpdate -bool false in Terminal. This controls background installation; it doesn't disable manual update checks.

Keep automatic installation unticked in any later update prompt and choose Skip This Version for a release you're avoiding. To allow background installation again after a fixed release, enable that choice in the update prompt. On macOS 12, restore 32.1.2 rather than a 33.x .dmg.

Linux and Steam: use the same distribution channel

First identify the installation that owns OBS with flatpak list --user --app and flatpak list --system --app. Use one scope consistently. For a per-user install, run flatpak remote-info --user --log flathub com.obsproject.Studio, then flatpak update --user --commit=COMMIT com.obsproject.Studio, replacing COMMIT with the real identifier. For the system install, use the same commands with --system and the permissions your system requires. Flatpak documents the commit option and its user/system scopes; an old release is usable only while its commit remains available.

Keep the same scope when you pin the rollback: flatpak mask --user com.obsproject.Studio for a per-user install or flatpak mask --system com.obsproject.Studio for the default system install. Lift the matching mask with flatpak mask --user --remove com.obsproject.Studio or flatpak mask --system --remove com.obsproject.Studio when you're ready to update again, as the Flatpak mask reference describes. Keep plugin extensions compatible with the chosen OBS branch.

For apt, first run apt list --all-versions obs-studio. If the required compatible version is listed, sudo apt install obs-studio=VERSION selects it; replace VERSION with the exact package version, including its suffix. The apt manual documents both operations. Cancel if dependencies can't be satisfied or apt proposes unexpected removals. If the older version isn't available, don't substitute a .deb built for another Ubuntu release.

sudo apt-mark hold obs-studio holds that package; sudo apt-mark unhold obs-studio permits updates again. The apt-mark reference explains the hold. Use it only while you need the rollback, so future fixes aren't silently left behind.

On Steam, choose an older branch only if OBS offers one in Properties > Game Versions & Betas. Steam's branch documentation explains that selecting a branch replaces the installed files. If no suitable branch is offered, use an official standalone build outside Steam.

Restore settings without overwriting your only copy

A rollback in place can open the configuration saved by the newer OBS build. Don't assume older software understands every newer setting. With OBS closed, move the current settings folder aside and restore the whole pre-update copy to its original location. The separate Windows portable copy instead uses its own configuration and the exports described above. On either route, retain both backups until recovery is complete.

Check the path from source to recording

Read the version, Profile and Scenes names in the title bar. Select the intended profile and collection if needed, then check the preview, each important source and the audio meters. Record a short sample and play the file back: confirm the expected picture, microphone and desktop audio, plus any plugin-dependent filters or transitions you use. A moving meter proves audio entered OBS; playback confirms it reached the recording.

If that check fails, keep the logs under Help > Log Files and identify the first missing part of the signal path before changing more settings. The other guides in Setup, platforms and updates cover the next configuration decision once the intended build opens reliably.