How to Mute Individual Audio Tracks in OBS Studio

Controlling your audio sources during a live stream or recording is crucial for maintaining a professional broadcast. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step walkthrough on how to assign custom hotkeys to mute and unmute individual audio sources in OBS Studio. By configuring these shortcuts, you can instantly silence specific inputs—such as your microphone, discord audio, or music—without needing to open the Advanced Audio Properties window during a live session.

Step 1: Identify Your Audio Sources and Tracks

In OBS Studio, hotkeys are assigned to specific Audio Sources rather than the numbered Tracks (1 through 6) seen in the Advanced Audio Properties. To mute a specific track, you must mute the source assigned to it.

  1. Click the gear icon next to any audio source in the Audio Mixer dock.
  2. Select Advanced Audio Properties.
  3. Look at the grid on the right to see which Sources are routed to which Tracks. Note the exact name of the source you want to control.

Step 2: Open the Hotkeys Settings

  1. Click on File in the top-left corner of OBS Studio and select Settings (or click the Settings button in the Controls dock on the bottom right).
  2. In the Settings window, click on the Hotkeys tab in the left-hand sidebar.

Step 3: Assign the Mute and Unmute Hotkeys

  1. Use the search bar at the top of the Hotkeys menu to type the name of the audio source you identified in Step 1.
  2. Scroll down to find the section dedicated to that specific source.
  3. You will see options for Mute and Unmute.
  4. Click inside the empty field next to Mute and press the key combination on your keyboard or stream deck that you wish to use (for example, Ctrl + F1).
  5. Click inside the field next to Unmute and assign a key combination (you can use the same key to toggle, or a different key like Ctrl + F2 for dedicated control).

Step 4: Save and Test Your Configuration

  1. Click Apply in the bottom-right corner of the Settings window, then click OK to close it.
  2. Test your new hotkeys while looking at the Audio Mixer in the main OBS window. When you press your designated hotkey, the volume bar for that specific source should turn red, indicating it is muted. Pressing it again should restore the audio levels.