Copy Layered Overlays Between OBS Scenes

Managing complex stream overlays in OBS Studio can be tedious when setting up multiple scenes. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step tutorial on how to use the “Group” feature to bundle, copy, and paste an entire layered overlay setup from one scene to another, saving you time and maintaining visual consistency across your stream.

Step 1: Group Your Overlay Sources

Before you can copy your overlay setup, you need to bundle the individual layers into a single group.

  1. Go to the Sources dock in the scene containing your overlay.
  2. Hold down the Ctrl key (or Cmd on Mac) and click on each source that makes up your overlay setup to select them simultaneously.
  3. Right-click on any of the highlighted sources and select Group Selected Items from the context menu (or press Ctrl + G).
  4. Double-click the newly created group to rename it to something easily identifiable, like “Alert Overlay Group.”

Step 2: Copy the Group

Once your sources are organized inside the folder, copying them is simple.

  1. Right-click on the Group folder you just created.
  2. Select Copy from the menu (or highlight the group and press Ctrl + C).

Step 3: Paste the Group into Your New Scene

Now, you can transfer the grouped layers to your target scene.

  1. In the Scenes dock, click on the destination scene where you want to place the overlay.
  2. Move your cursor to the Sources dock of this new scene.
  3. Right-click in the empty space of the dock to open the menu.
  4. Choose one of the following paste options depending on your needs:
    • Paste (Reference): Select this if you want the overlays to remain linked. Any changes you make to the sources (like resizing or changing a text source) in one scene will automatically update in the other.
    • Paste (Duplicate): Select this if you want to edit the overlays in the new scene independently without affecting the original scene’s setup.