How to Group and Move Alerts in OBS Studio

This guide explains how to use the “Group” feature in OBS Studio to bind an alert and its background text together. By grouping these sources, you can easily move, resize, or hide them simultaneously, keeping your stream layout perfectly aligned and saving time during scene customization.

Step-by-Step Guide to Grouping Sources in OBS

Step 1: Select the Sources

Navigate to the Sources dock at the bottom of your OBS Studio window. Locate the alert source and the text source you want to link. Hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or Cmd key (Mac) and click on both sources so they are highlighted simultaneously.

Step 2: Create the Group

With both sources highlighted, right-click on either of them. From the context menu that appears, select Group Selected Items. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + G (Windows) or Cmd + G (Mac).

Step 3: Name Your Group

A new folder-like item will appear in your Sources dock containing both of your selected layers. Type in a descriptive name for this group, such as “Alert and Background Text,” and press Enter.

Step 4: Move and Resize Together

To move or resize the alert and text simultaneously, click directly on the newly created Group folder in your Sources list, or click on the red bounding box surrounding the grouped elements in the preview window. Dragging this bounding box will now scale and position both the alert and the background text as a single unit, ensuring they never fall out of alignment.

Modifying Individual Elements Within the Group

If you need to adjust the position of the text relative to the alert afterward, click the arrow icon next to the Group folder in the Sources dock to expand it. Select only the source you want to adjust and move it independently. Once adjusted, clicking back on the main Group folder will allow you to move them together once again.