How to Fix Screen Tearing Only in OBS Preview

Screen tearing that appears strictly within your OBS Studio preview window—while your output recordings and livestreams remain perfectly smooth—is a common issue usually caused by conflicts between your graphics card settings, Windows display configuration, and OBS’s rendering engine. This guide provides direct, actionable solutions to resolve this preview-specific visual glitch so you can monitor your broadcasts without distracting horizontal tears.

Enable V-Sync in your GPU Control Panel

The most common cause of OBS preview tearing is your graphics card forcing V-Sync off globally, which bypasses the synchronization needed for the OBS UI helper application.

For NVIDIA Users:

  1. Right-click your desktop and open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
  2. Navigate to Manage 3D settings on the left menu.
  3. Click the Program Settings tab.
  4. Click Add and select OBS Studio (obs64.exe) from the list. If it is not there, browse to its installation path.
  5. Scroll down to Vertical sync and set it to Use the 3D application setting or On.
  6. Click Apply and restart OBS.

For AMD Users:

  1. Open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition.
  2. Go to Gaming > Games and add OBS Studio if it is not listed.
  3. Under the OBS profile, locate Wait for Vertical Refresh (V-Sync).
  4. Set it to Always on or Off, unless application specifies.

Toggle Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)

Windows’ Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) can cause rendering synchronization conflicts between your desktop and OBS Studio. Turning this setting off (or on, depending on your system’s current state) often resolves preview tearing.

  1. Open the Windows Start Menu and select Settings (gear icon).
  2. Go to System > Display.
  3. Scroll down and click on Graphics settings (or Default graphics settings in Windows 11).
  4. Locate the toggle for Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.
  5. Turn the setting Off (if it was on) or On (if it was off).
  6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Match Monitor Refresh Rates

If you are using a multi-monitor setup with different refresh rates (e.g., a 144Hz gaming monitor and a 60Hz secondary monitor displaying OBS), Windows can struggle to sync the preview window correctly.

  1. Right-click your desktop and select Display settings.
  2. Click on your primary monitor, scroll down, and select Advanced display settings. Note the refresh rate.
  3. Repeat this for your secondary monitor.
  4. If your monitors have vastly mismatched rates, try lowering your high-refresh-rate monitor to an even multiple of the other (e.g., setting a 144Hz monitor to 120Hz to match a 60Hz secondary monitor). This helps the Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM) sync both screens without tearing.

Change the OBS Renderer API

Force OBS to use a different rendering method to bypass display driver conflicts.

  1. Open OBS Studio.
  2. Go to Settings in the bottom-right corner.
  3. Click on the Advanced tab in the left-hand menu.
  4. Under the Video section, locate Renderer.
  5. If it is set to Direct3D 11, and you have other options available, try switching them. If no other options are available, ensuring your DirectX installation is fully updated via Windows Update can also resolve hidden rendering bugs.