How to Fix OBS Black Screen (Game Capture & Display Capture) 2026, by Tenorshare 4DDiG on YouTube. 3 min 51 s.
- Video length
- 3 min 51 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 7
What you need
Steps
Close OBS completely, then right-click the OBS shortcut and choose Run as administrator. Approve the prompt and check if the preview now shows your game.
Open Windows Settings, go to System, then Display, then Graphics. Add the OBS executable and set it to High performance, then restart OBS.
In OBS, add a Game Capture source. Set Mode to Capture specific window and pick your game from the Window list.
If Game Capture still shows black, add a Window Capture source instead and select the game window from the dropdown.
As a backup, add a Display Capture source to record the whole monitor. This works for most full-screen games.
Open Task Manager, go to the Details tab, right-click obs64.exe, choose Set priority and pick High.
Test each capture source one at a time and remove the ones you do not need so they do not conflict.
Tips and common mistakes
Run OBS as administrator every time, or set it to always launch elevated in the shortcut properties.
On laptops with two graphics chips, the High performance setting is the most common fix for black Game Capture.
Do not stack Game Capture and Display Capture on the same scene, as they can fight over the same window.
If a recording is already corrupted, a file repair tool may recover it, but fix the capture settings first.
Questions
Why does OBS show a black screen only in Game Capture?
Game Capture needs permission to hook into the game process. Running OBS as administrator and setting it to High performance graphics usually fixes it.
Does Display Capture work for full-screen games?
It often does, but it records your whole monitor including desktop icons. Window Capture is cleaner if you only want the game.
Will these fixes work on Windows 11?
Yes. The Graphics settings page and Task Manager priority options are in the same places on Windows 11.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
