Fix OBS Studio External SSD Sleep Recording Issues

If OBS Studio stops recording or throws an error because your external SSD has entered a power-saving sleep mode, you can resolve this conflict by adjusting your operating system’s power management settings. This guide provides clear, step-by-step instructions for both Windows and macOS to prevent external drives from going to sleep, ensuring uninterrupted OBS Studio recording sessions.

Solution for Windows Users

Windows often aggressive manages power to external USB devices. Follow these steps to disable USB selective suspend and prevent your external SSD from sleeping.

1. Disable USB Selective Suspend

  1. Open the Start Menu, type Control Panel, and press Enter.
  2. Go to Hardware and Sound > Power Options.
  3. Next to your active power plan, click Change plan settings.
  4. Click Change advanced power settings.
  5. In the pop-up window, expand USB settings and then USB selective suspend setting.
  6. Change the setting to Disabled for both “On battery” and “Plugged in” (or just “Setting” if on a desktop).
  7. Click Apply and then OK.

2. Adjust Device Manager Properties

  1. Right-click the Start Button and select Device Manager.
  2. Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section.
  3. Right-click on your USB Root Hub (you may have to repeat this for multiple USB Root Hubs or USB Mass Storage Devices) and select Properties.
  4. Navigate to the Power Management tab.
  5. Uncheck the box that says Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
  6. Click OK to save changes.

Solution for macOS Users

macOS includes a feature that automatically puts hard drives to sleep when they are not actively reading or writing, which can disrupt OBS Studio’s continuous buffer write cycle.

Disable “Put Hard Disks to Sleep”

  1. Click the Apple Menu in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions).
  2. Scroll down and click on Energy Saver (on desktop Macs) or Battery (on MacBooks).
  3. If you are on a MacBook, click on the Options… button in the bottom right of the Battery menu.
  4. Locate the setting Put hard disks to sleep when possible and set it to Never (or toggle it Off).

Alternative Workaround: Keep-Alive Software

If system settings do not resolve the issue, some external SSD controllers have hardcoded sleep timers built into their firmware. You can bypass this firmware limitation by using utility software that writes a dummy file to the drive at regular intervals.