Click Start Virtual Camera in OBS, then choose OBS Virtual Camera in Discord’s User Settings > Voice & Video to put your scene into a video call. For a separate Go Live stream, share an OBS projector window instead. Virtual Camera carries video only, so choose your microphone or an audio bridge separately.
I’d use the camera route for a composed webcam scene because it avoids capturing another window. Use the projector route when you want viewers to open your scene as a Discord screen share. Both routes start with the picture already working in OBS.
Choose where the scene should appear
| You want | Video route | Sound route |
|---|---|---|
| Your OBS scene as your camera in a call | OBS Virtual Camera → Discord camera | Your normal Discord mic, or the complete-mix bridge below |
| A separate stream people can watch in a voice channel | OBS projector window → Discord screen share → Go Live | Plan sound separately; sharing the picture window doesn’t establish a full OBS audio route |
| Only a game or app, with its own audio | Share that app directly in Discord | Discord’s supported application-audio sharing; this bypasses your OBS scene layout |
Discord’s camera controls and Go Live window sharing are separate outputs. Start with the route you need; the OBS Start Streaming button isn’t part of either procedure.
Find the hop that isn’t working
| What you see or hear | Where it stops | Jump to |
|---|---|---|
| The scene is right in OBS, but Discord shows another camera | Discord device selection | Select Virtual Camera |
| Discord shows OBS edits or the wrong scene | OBS Virtual Camera output selection | Choose Program or a fixed scene |
| Your picture works, but the game or music is silent | No audio path to Discord | Choose the sound route |
| Your voice disappears after choosing a virtual audio device | The mic isn’t in the bridged OBS mix | Include the mic in the monitored sources |
| Virtual Camera is missing, or the selected device stays blank | Camera registration, permission or output state | Check the camera path |
| Other people hear themselves, or quiet sound cuts out | Return audio or Discord voice processing | Check feedback and cutouts |
Send the scene through Virtual Camera
OBS includes Virtual Camera. Use its Controls dock button and gear; an old tutorial’s Tools > VirtualCam plugin route isn’t needed for the built-in output.
- Make the intended scene visible in OBS. Check the picture before opening the Discord camera settings.
- In the OBS Controls dock, click Start Virtual Camera. The button becomes Stop Virtual Camera while the output is running.
- In Discord, open the cogwheel for User Settings, then Voice & Video. Select OBS Virtual Camera in the camera dropdown and click Test Video.
- Join the intended call. Click Turn on Camera, or Video in the server voice panel. The scene should now appear as your camera feed.
The Discord video-call instructions cover both DM and server controls. A browser also needs permission to access the camera. In a server, your role needs the Video permission. Discord experiments with call layouts, so use the camera control’s label if its position differs.
Choose what Virtual Camera sends
Click the gear beside Start Virtual Camera. For the scene that follows your normal OBS output, leave Output Type on Program (Default). In Studio Mode, this sends the Program side, keeping your Preview edits out of the call.
Choose Scene and its Output Selection when the call should keep one particular composition while you work elsewhere in OBS. Source sends a single source. Preview exposes the Studio Mode preview, including changes you’re preparing; use it only when that’s what the call should see.
Follow any restart prompt when changing the output type. In OBS 33’s configuration logic, an active camera needs a restart when crossing between Program and a non-Program type. It doesn’t require a restart for every Scene or Source selection change.
Share an OBS projector with Go Live
A projector gives Discord a window containing the OBS picture. Choose the window itself in the share picker to keep the OBS controls and the rest of your desktop out of the stream.
- In the normal OBS view, right-click the preview and choose Open Preview Projector > New window. In Studio Mode, right-click the Program picture and choose Open Program Projector > New window to share the output rather than your preparation view.
- Check the new projector window. You can right-click it and choose Fit window to content to match the window to the picture.
- Join a Discord voice channel and click its screen-sharing control. In a DM, start a call first and click Share Your Screen.
- Select the projector’s application window, check the available stream settings, then click Go Live. Confirm the stream preview contains only the intended picture.
Those are the OBS 33 menu names: its preview projector menu and Program projector menu differ from older guides that say Windowed Projector (Preview). Keep the projector open while sharing it. On macOS, Discord’s screen-share picker can also require Next and the system’s Make Selection step.
Discord documents a standard Go Live stream of 720p at 30 fps and Nitro streaming up to 4K at 60 fps in its stream-quality settings. Choose from the options offered to your account and channel. These are screen-share specifications; they don’t establish the resolution of a Virtual Camera call. The browser client doesn’t offer stream-quality adjustment.
Choose how sound reaches Discord
Virtual Camera is a video-only output on Windows, macOS and Linux. An OBS audio meter can move while Discord remains silent: the sound reached OBS, but it still needs its own route into Discord.
For speech, I’d keep your normal microphone selected as Discord’s Input Device because that leaves the fewest audio hops. Your video can come from OBS while Discord captures the mic directly. Choose your headphones as Output Device and use Discord’s Mic Test to check the selected input.
To send just a game or app and its own sound, share the app directly in Discord. Its application-audio capture supports the Windows and macOS desktop clients and Chrome; it isn’t supported on Linux or other browsers. On Mac, app and game audio sharing needs macOS 13 or later. This route won’t carry your composed OBS scene.
The scene plus an OBS mix of mic, game and other sources needs a separate sound path. Use a compatible virtual audio device as the bridge below. Sharing an OBS projector alone doesn’t give you a dependable full-mix audio path.
Bridge the complete OBS mix into Discord’s input
A virtual audio device accepts playback from OBS and presents that sound as a recording input for Discord. VB-CABLE is one example with Windows and macOS packages. Use the vendor’s installation instructions for your OS; the Windows driver setup requires a reboot. The routing steps begin once your bridge is available to both apps.
- In OBS 33, open Settings > Audio > Advanced > Monitoring Device. Select the virtual device’s playback endpoint.
- Open Edit > Advanced Audio Properties. In the Audio Monitoring column, tick Enable for each source the call should hear, including your microphone if Discord will receive the whole mix.
- In Discord’s Voice & Video settings, select the bridge’s recording endpoint as Input Device. Keep Output Device on your physical headphones.
- Use Mic Test, then have a person in the call confirm both your speech and the intended program sound. If the mic disappears, check that its OBS source reaches the monitored mix.
The VB-CABLE Windows manual distinguishes the playback CABLE Input from the recording CABLE output. In that setup, OBS sends monitoring to CABLE Input and Discord listens to CABLE Output. Read the endpoint names provided by your chosen Mac or Linux bridge rather than copying Windows device labels.
OBS 33 uses an Enable checkbox for monitoring. Older screenshots showing a Monitor and Output dropdown don’t describe this dialog. The monitoring target is on the Audio settings page’s Advanced group.
Keep Discord’s return audio out of this bridge. If OBS captures the same desktop output that plays the call and you monitor that source back to Discord, other participants hear themselves. Use only the intended mic and program sources in the monitored mix; a broad Desktop Audio capture can bring the call back in. Don’t send Discord’s own Output Device into the bridge.
Fix a missing or blank camera at the right hop
First compare the OBS scene with Discord’s Test Video. A wrong or blank scene inside OBS needs a source/scene fix. A correct scene with a wrong Discord feed points to the selected camera, the Virtual Camera output type or access to that device.
Check that OBS says Stop Virtual Camera, select OBS Virtual Camera again in Discord, and check the gear’s output selection. After registering or approving a camera component, fully quit and reopen Discord so it can refresh its device list. For a browser call, allow camera access for Discord.
- Windows, button missing: the OBS registration procedure names
C:\Program Files\obs-studio\data\obs-plugins\win-dshow\virtualcam-install.bat. Run that specific registration batch as administrator, using your actual OBS installation folder if it differs. This is a targeted registration repair. - macOS, extension blocked: on macOS 13 and 14, check System Settings > Privacy & Security. On macOS 15 or later, use General > Login Items & Extensions > Camera Extensions. Allow OBS’s camera component and restart OBS, following the same OBS troubleshooting page.
- Linux, output unavailable: OBS’s virtual camera depends on v4l2loopback. Follow the distribution-specific instructions linked by OBS; a missing loopback device won’t be fixed by changing Discord’s camera selection.
For the supported Mac desktop route, Discord requires macOS 13 or later. On an older Mac, its compatible browser route is separate from support for an old desktop app. Check the camera permission in the client you’re using.
On Windows, if the selected feed still stays blank, try Discord’s documented video troubleshooting step under Voice & Video > Video > Advanced > Hardware Acceleration. Change that video setting as a bounded check after device selection and permissions, then retest.
Check quiet sound, feedback and missing speech
With an audio bridge, Discord receives the OBS mix through its voice input. If Mic Test hears nothing, check the bridge endpoint and each OBS source’s monitoring checkbox before changing voice processing.
If quiet passages disappear, check Input Mode. Push to Talk transmits only while its key is held. For a continuous mix, use Voice Activity and adjust input sensitivity so the quiet material you want to send clears the threshold. If automatic sensitivity cuts the sound, turn it off and adjust the slider while listening.
For music or other non-speech audio that gets suppressed, try disabling Noise Suppression under Discord’s desktop Voice & Video > Voice tab, then compare the result in the call. Discord’s desktop troubleshooting steps identify this Krisp control. Keep the route audible before fine-tuning it.
Echo that repeats another person’s speech means return audio has re-entered the path. Check Discord’s physical headphone output and remove the call’s sound from the OBS monitored mix. If only your own voice doubles, check whether the call is receiving it through both the bridge and an additional shared-audio route.
Check the receiving end in a private call
Start a DM call with someone who can confirm the result. Enable the chosen camera or projector share, speak into the mic, then play a quiet passage from the intended audio source. Ask the receiver to check the complete scene, your voice, program sound and any repeated return audio.
Switch an OBS scene if the call should follow Program, or verify the pinned Scene stays fixed. The useful proof is what arrives at the other end: a correct picture in OBS and a moving mixer meter establish only the earlier hops.