How to Group and Toggle OBS Overlays Using Nested Scenes

Managing multiple branding elements like logos, social media handles, and stream frames in OBS Studio can be tedious when you need to turn them on or off simultaneously across different scenes. This guide explains how to use nested scenes—the practice of placing one scene inside another—to group your branding overlays into a single, easily controllable source. By the end of this article, you will know how to organize your assets and toggle your entire visual brand identity on and off with a single click.

Step 1: Create Your Branding Container Scene

Instead of adding your overlays directly to your live stream scenes, you must first create a dedicated “container” scene that will hold only your branding assets.

1. In the Scenes dock of OBS Studio, click the + (plus) icon to create a new scene.
2. Name this scene something recognizable, such as [SUB] Branding Overlays. (Using a prefix like [SUB] or [GRP] helps distinguish utility scenes from your main live scenes).
3. Select this new scene.

Step 2: Add Your Branding Assets

Next, populate your container scene with all the graphics and text sources that make up your branding.

1. In the Sources dock, click the + (plus) icon.
2. Add your branding elements one by one (e.g., Image sources for logos, Text sources for social handles, Browser sources for alerts).
3. Arrange and scale these assets in the preview window exactly where you want them to appear on your screen.

Step 3: Nest the Branding Scene into Your Active Scenes

Now, you will import your container scene into your actual streaming scenes (like your “Gameplay” or “Just Chatting” scenes).

1. Select your primary live scene (e.g., “Gameplay”) from the Scenes dock.
2. In the Sources dock of that scene, click the + (plus) icon.
3. Select Scene from the source list.
4. Choose Add Existing, select your [SUB] Branding Overlays scene, and click OK.

Repeat this process for any other scenes where you want your branding overlays to appear. The nested scene will render exactly as you configured it in Step 2.

Step 4: Toggle and Manage Your Overlays

With the hierarchy established, you can now control your branding assets globally.

• Toggle Everything At Once: To hide or show all branding elements across all your active scenes, go to your primary scene, locate [SUB] Branding Overlays in the Sources dock, and click the Eye icon next to it. Toggling this eye icon will instantly show or hide the entire group.
• Make Global Edits: If you need to update a social media handle or change a logo, you only need to edit it once inside the [SUB] Branding Overlays scene. The changes will automatically update across every scene where the branding scene is nested.