OBS Studio Shortcuts: The Complete Keyboard Shortcut List

OBS Studio ships with a small set of fixed keyboard shortcuts for editing sources, plus a Hotkeys system that lets you assign your own key combination to almost any action, including starting a stream, muting your mic, or switching scenes. This guide covers both: the shortcuts that come built in, and the custom hotkeys every streamer should set up before going live.

Quick answer: does OBS have default shortcuts for recording and streaming?

No. OBS Studio does not ship with default keyboard shortcuts for starting or stopping a recording, starting or stopping a stream, or muting your microphone. Those have to be assigned manually in Settings > Hotkeys. The only shortcuts OBS assigns automatically are for editing sources in the preview window and the sources list, covered in the tables below. If you searched for “OBS record shortcut key” or “OBS studio shortcut keys start recording” expecting a default combo, this is why nothing has worked so far, and the section below on setting custom hotkeys will fix that in under two minutes.

How to set up custom hotkeys in OBS Studio

1. Open OBS Studio and go to File > Settings (or just Settings on Mac).
2. Click the Hotkeys tab in the left-hand menu.
3. Use the search bar at the top to find the action you want, for example “Start Recording” or “Mute.”
4. Click into the empty field next to that action and press the key combination you want to assign.
5. If a combination is already in use elsewhere in OBS, it will show a conflict warning. Choose a different combination.
6. Click Apply, then OK to save.

Hotkeys you set here work globally by default, meaning they’ll trigger even when OBS isn’t the focused window, which is what makes them useful while you’re in a game or another app.

Streaming and recording shortcuts (set these yourself)

These are not built into OBS. They are recommended combinations you assign in Settings > Hotkeys, chosen to avoid common conflicts with games and other software.

Before assigning any of these, check that your game or streaming platform doesn’t already use the same combination.

Scene switching shortcuts (set these yourself)

OBS lets you assign a hotkey to every individual scene under Settings > Hotkeys, where each scene has its own “Switch to Scene” field. There’s no single default combination, but a common, low-conflict pattern is:

If your game already uses number keys, bind scenes to F-keys or numpad keys instead.

Audio and mic shortcuts (set these yourself)

Push-to-talk and push-to-mute are set as “while pressed” hotkeys in the same Hotkeys panel; look for the Push-to-Talk and Push-to-Mute fields under your microphone source.

Sources list shortcuts (built in, no setup needed)

These only work when a source is selected in the Sources list.

Order shortcuts

Transform shortcuts (built in, no setup needed)

Preview window shortcuts (built in, no setup needed)

Active when a bounding box is selected in the preview window.

Alt-drag crops a source, and Shift-drag stretches it, two shortcuts that are easy to mix up but simple once memorized.

The next two only work when the preview is set to Fixed Scaling.

Screenshot shortcut

OBS doesn’t assign a default key for taking a screenshot of a source or the preview. To set one, search “Screenshot” in Settings > Hotkeys, where you’ll find separate fields for “Screenshot Output,” “Screenshot Source,” and “Screenshot Scene.” A common binding is:

General shortcuts (built in, no setup needed)

OBS Studio vs ShareX vs Movavi shortcuts

Most streamers land on OBS Studio because it’s free and handles both recording and live streaming in one app. Its trade-off is a steeper setup curve, since almost every useful hotkey (recording, muting, scene switching) has to be assigned manually rather than working out of the box. If you find that setup process frustrating, ShareX is a popular free alternative for screen capture, though it’s Windows-only and doesn’t handle live streaming the way OBS does. Movavi is another option worth comparing if you want a more guided, paid editing experience. See the full ShareX Shortcuts list and Movavi Shortcuts list for a side-by-side comparison.

FAQs

What are the default OBS Studio keyboard shortcuts?

OBS Studio’s only built-in defaults are for editing sources: copy, paste, remove, reorder, transform (edit, reset, fit, stretch, center), and preview window actions like nudging, cropping, and stretching. Recording, streaming, muting, and scene switching all require you to assign your own hotkeys in Settings > Hotkeys.

How do I set a hotkey to start recording in OBS?

Go to Settings > Hotkeys, search “Start Recording,” click into the empty field, and press your chosen key combination. Repeat for “Stop Recording,” or search “Toggle Recording” to use a single key for both.

Why don’t my OBS hotkeys work while I’m in a game?

By default, most OBS hotkeys are global and should work even when OBS isn’t focused. If they stop working while another window is active, check Settings > General under “Hotkey Focus Behavior” and confirm it isn’t set to disable hotkeys when OBS isn’t in focus. Combinations that conflict with your game’s own bindings also won’t register correctly, since the game intercepts them first.

What’s the shortcut to crop a source in OBS?

Hold Alt (Option on Mac) and drag one of the bounding box handles around a selected source in the preview window. This is a built-in shortcut and doesn’t need to be set up separately.

Can I use the same hotkey for two different actions?

No, OBS will flag a conflict if you try to assign a combination that’s already in use and won’t let you save it until you either remove the existing binding or choose a different combination.

Is there a default shortcut to take a screenshot in OBS?

No. Search “Screenshot” in Settings > Hotkeys to find Screenshot Output, Screenshot Source, and Screenshot Scene fields, then assign your own key combination to whichever one matches what you want to capture.

Quick recap

• Built-in shortcuts only cover source editing: copy, paste, remove, reorder, transform, and preview window actions.
• Recording, streaming, muting, scene switching, and screenshots all require you to assign hotkeys yourself in Settings > Hotkeys.
• Alt-drag crops a source, Shift-drag stretches it, Ctrl-drag disables snapping.
• Set global hotkeys so they work even when OBS isn’t the active window, ideal for muting or switching scenes mid-game.

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