Virtual camera

OBS Studio Virtual Camera on Windows — use OBS as webcam in Zoom

OBS Studio Virtual Camera lets you use OBS as a webcam source in Zoom, Teams, Discord and other apps. Click Start Virtual Camera in OBS, then select "OBS Virtual Camera" as your camera in any video app.

Use OBS Virtual Camera on Windows

  • 1

    Start Virtual Camera in OBS

    In OBS: click Start Virtual Camera in the Controls panel (bottom right). The button turns blue when active.

  • 2

    Select in your video app

    Open Zoom, Teams, Discord or any other app. Go to the camera settings and select OBS Virtual Camera from the device list.

  • 3

    What it sends

    Virtual Camera outputs your current active OBS scene — including your webcam, game capture, overlays, everything visible in the OBS preview window.

Fix OBS Virtual Camera not working

OBS Virtual Camera not showing in Zoom/Teams
App was open before Virtual Camera started
Close and reopen the video app after starting Virtual Camera in OBS
Virtual Camera install failed
OBS needs administrator to install the camera driver
Run OBS as administrator, then start Virtual Camera
Black screen in video app with OBS camera
No active scene or scene is empty
Make sure a scene with sources is active in OBS

Virtual camera questions

Does OBS Virtual Camera require a green screen?

No. Virtual Camera outputs your entire OBS scene — you can use any background, effects or filters. If you want background removal without a green screen, install the obs-backgroundremoval plugin and add it as a filter to your webcam source in OBS.

OBS Virtual Camera not working after Windows update

Windows updates sometimes remove the virtual camera driver. Fix: open OBS as administrator, go to Tools → Virtual Camera → Configure Virtual Camera and click Install/Reinstall. This reinstalls the camera driver.

Setting up for video calls?

Audio setup for microphone in OBS.

Audio guide