How to Mute OBS Audio with Hotkeys

This article explains how to assign global hotkeys to mute and unmute your audio in OBS Studio. While OBS Studio uses “tracks” in the Advanced Audio Properties to route different audio sources to your stream or recording, you cannot mute an output track directly. Instead, you must assign hotkeys to the individual audio sources (such as your microphone or desktop audio) that feed into those tracks. Below, you will find the direct steps to configure these global hotkeys and manage your audio routing effectively.

Step 1: Locate Your Audio Sources in Settings

To assign hotkeys to your audio, you must access the main settings menu in OBS Studio.

  1. Open OBS Studio.
  2. Click on Settings in the bottom-right Controls dock, or go to File > Settings in the top menu.
  3. In the Settings window, click on the Hotkeys tab in the left-hand sidebar.

Step 2: Assign Mute and Unmute Hotkeys

The Hotkeys menu list is long, so utilizing the search filter is the fastest way to find your audio devices.

  1. At the top of the Hotkeys window, use the search bar to type the name of the audio source you want to control (e.g., “Mic/Aux” or “Desktop Audio”).
  2. Scroll down to the search results for that specific source. You will see options for Mute and Unmute.
  3. Click inside the empty text box next to Mute and press the key combination on your keyboard or stream deck that you want to use (for example, Ctrl + F10).
  4. Click inside the box next to Unmute and press the same key combination if you want a single key to toggle the mute state on and off, or choose a different key combination to keep them separate.
  5. Click Apply at the bottom of the window.

Step 3: Enable Global Functionality

By default, OBS Studio hotkeys are global, meaning they will function even when you are playing a game or using another application in full-screen mode.

If your hotkeys do not work while you are in-game, you need to run OBS with elevated permissions. Close OBS Studio entirely, right-click the OBS Studio desktop shortcut, and select Run as administrator.

Step 4: Verify Your Advanced Audio Track Routing

Once your hotkeys are configured, you should verify how your muted sources affect your overall audio tracks.

  1. In the main OBS window, click on the three vertical dots next to any audio source in the Audio Mixer dock.
  2. Select Advanced Audio Properties.
  3. On the right side of the active window, you will see a grid of checkboxes labeled Tracks (numbered 1 through 6).
  4. Ensure your sources are mapped to the correct tracks. When you press your newly assigned global hotkey to mute a source, that source will immediately go silent on every track it is assigned to, ensuring your stream, recordings, and VODs are muted simultaneously.