How to Fix OBS Studio Screen Capture Permissions on macOS

If OBS Studio is showing a black or blank screen on your Mac, the issue is almost always caused by missing macOS system permissions. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step walkthrough to grant OBS Studio the necessary Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions in macOS, resolving the blank screen issue and getting your display capture working immediately.

Step 1: Grant Screen Recording Permissions

macOS requires explicit user permission for applications to record or capture the screen. If this permission was denied or glitched during installation, OBS will only display a blank screen.

  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. Click on Privacy & Security in the left sidebar.
  3. Scroll down on the right side and click on Screen & System Audio Recording (or Screen Recording on older macOS versions).
  4. Look for OBS in the list of applications.
  5. Toggle the switch next to OBS to the ON position.
  6. If prompted, enter your Mac’s administrator password.
  7. A prompt will appear stating that OBS needs to be closed to apply these changes. Click Quit & Reopen.

Step 2: Grant Accessibility Permissions

Some capture methods and hotkey functions in OBS Studio require Accessibility access to function correctly.

  1. Go back to the main Privacy & Security menu in System Settings.
  2. Click on Accessibility.
  3. Locate OBS in the list and toggle the switch to the ON position.
  4. If OBS is not in the list, click the + (plus) icon at the bottom of the list, navigate to your Applications folder, select OBS, and click Open.

Step 3: Reset Permissions via Terminal (If OBS is missing from the list)

If OBS Studio does not appear in your Screen Recording privacy list, you can force macOS to reset its permission database using the Terminal.

  1. Close OBS Studio if it is open.
  2. Open the Terminal app (press Command + Space, type “Terminal”, and press Enter).
  3. Copy and paste the following command into Terminal, then press Enter: tccutil reset ScreenCapture com.obsproject.obs-studio
  4. Close Terminal and reopen OBS Studio.
  5. macOS should now prompt you with a dialog box asking for screen recording permissions. Click Open System Settings and enable the toggle for OBS.

Step 4: Recreate the Display Capture Source in OBS

Once the system permissions are corrected, you may need to refresh the source inside OBS to clear the cached blank screen.

  1. Open OBS Studio.
  2. Go to the Sources dock at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select your existing Display Capture source and click the Trash icon (Delete) to remove it.
  4. Click the + (plus) icon in the Sources dock and select Display Capture.
  5. Name the source, click OK, and select your primary monitor from the Method/Display dropdown menu. Your Mac screen should now be visible in the preview window.