Moving OBS Studio to another computer is quite a stressful process, especially if you have spent a long time customising scenes, audio filters, plugins, recording settings, and stream layouts. A lot of creators use OBS every single day as their primary workhorse, so the thought of rebuilding everything from scratch on a new system is not only stressful but also super time-consuming. The good news is that there is a much easier way to transfer your entire OBS Studio setup from one computer to another without manually recreating every scene and setting.
Takeaways:
- What's the easiest way to move OBS Studio to a new computer, whilst keeping all of your files and settings
- Is there a quick and easy way to move OBS to a new computer with all of your settings and data?
Table of Contents
Is it Possible to Move An Entire OBS Studio Setup to another Computer?
While OBS Studio does include some built-in export and backup options, they are pretty crap and take longer than manually moving everything. Most of the time, they fail to bring over plugins, advanced configurations, scripts, or custom assets properly anyway. The method in this guide is more thorough and gives you the best chance of creating a near-perfect clone of your existing OBS setup on another computer. Plus, it's pretty time-efficient as well.
Prepare Everything Before Moving OBS Studio
Before copying any OBS files, take a few minutes to prepare both systems properly. This is one of the most important parts of the entire process because your OBS probably depends heavily on external tools and plugins. So if your new computer is missing something your old setup used, certain scenes, filters, or audio devices may not function correctly. To prevent this, make a list of everything you installed:
- OBS plugins
- VST plugins and EQ tools
- Voice changers or voice enhancement software
- Audio routing software
- Stream overlays
- Scripts and automation tools
- Camera utilities
- Stream deck integrations
- Custom transitions
- Browser source tools
- Recording codecs
- Any additional third-party software connected to OBS
Essentially, if it did not come with OBS Studio by default and you actively use it inside OBS, write it down. Once you have your list, install all of these tools and plugins on the new computer before transferring any OBS files.
Note: It is also a good idea to make sure that both computers use the same version of OBS Studio. Using different OBS versions can sometimes create compatibility issues with plugins or scene collections.
How to Move OBS Studio to Another Computer With All Your Files and Settings
After preparing the new computer, you can start transferring the actual OBS Studio files.
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Open File Explorer on your old computer and go to:
C:\Program Files
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If you installed OBS Studio in a different location, go to that location instead, only you will know what it is.
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Inside the Program Files folder, find the folder named:
obs-studio
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Copy the entire folder.
- Next, move to your new computer and paste the folder into the exact same location. If Windows asks whether you want to overwrite files, choose to replace or overwrite everything.
This step is extremely important because it transfers many core OBS files, plugin folders, scripts, and everything else that your custom setup needs.
Copy OBS User Settings and Configuration Files
After transferring the installation folder, the next step is copying your OBS configuration data. This contains your scenes, profiles, hotkeys, layouts, recording settings, streaming settings, and many other important customisations.
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On your old computer, open File Explorer again and go to:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming
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Replace "username" with your actual Windows username if needed.
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Inside the Roaming folder, find the following folder:
obs-studio
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Copy the entire folder.
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Now go to the same location on your new computer and paste the folder there. Again, choose to overwrite or replace all files if prompted.
This folder is the most important part of the transfer process because it contains nearly all of your personal OBS configuration data. Without it, OBS would open with default settings and empty scene collections. Once both folders have been copied successfully, launch OBS Studio on the new computer. If you installed everything, then copied everything over it should work exactly the same as it did on your old PC without having to do anything else.
