How to Capture a Specific Screen Region in OBS Studio

OBS Studio is a powerful tool for recording and streaming, but sometimes you only want to share a specific portion of your screen instead of an entire window or display. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step tutorial on how to use the built-in cropping features in OBS Studio to isolate and capture only a selected region of your monitor.

Step 1: Add a Display Capture Source

Before you can crop your screen, you need to add your monitor as a source in OBS Studio.

  1. Open OBS Studio.
  2. Go to the Sources dock at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Click the + (plus) icon and select Display Capture.
  4. Name the source (e.g., “My Monitor”) and click OK.
  5. Select the display you want to capture from the dropdown menu and click OK.

Step 2: Crop to a Specific Region (Two Methods)

You can choose between a quick visual crop or a precise pixel-based crop.

Method A: The Keyboard Shortcut (Fastest)

This is the easiest way to visually select a region directly in the preview window.

  1. Click on the Display Capture source in your preview window to highlight it with a red bounding box.
  2. Hold down the Alt key on your keyboard (Option key on Mac).
  3. Click and drag the red circular handles on the edges of the bounding box inward.
  4. The border of the cropped sides will turn green, indicating that the source is cropped.
  5. Release the Alt key once you have isolated the desired region.
  6. Click and drag the selection to position it anywhere on your canvas, or drag the corners (without holding Alt) to resize it.

Method B: The Crop/Pad Filter (Precise)

If you need exact pixel dimensions for your captured region, use the filter method.

  1. Right-click on your Display Capture source in the Sources list.
  2. Select Filters from the context menu.
  3. Click the + icon in the bottom-left corner of the “Effect Filters” section.
  4. Select Crop/Pad and click OK.
  5. Adjust the pixel values for Left, Top, Right, and Bottom to trim the screen to your exact specifications.
  6. Click Close once you are satisfied with the cropped area.