How to Mute OBS Desktop Audio When Game Closes

This article explains how to automatically mute or silence audio in OBS Studio when a specific game application closes. You will learn the two most effective methods to achieve this: using OBS Studio’s built-in Application Audio Capture to isolate game sound, and using the Advanced Scene Switcher plugin to automate mute toggles based on active system processes.

Instead of capturing your entire desktop audio and trying to mute it, the most efficient method is to capture only the specific game’s audio. When the game closes, the audio source naturally ceases, achieving the same result without affecting your other desktop sounds (like Discord or music).

  1. Open OBS Studio.
  2. Go to the Sources dock at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Click the + (Add) icon and select Application Audio Capture (BETA).
  4. Name the source (e.g., “Game Audio”) and click OK.
  5. In the properties window, change the Mode to Capture specific window.
  6. Under the Window dropdown, select your active game application.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Go to Settings > Audio in OBS, and set Desktop Audio to Disabled to prevent duplicate audio capture.

Now, OBS will only capture audio from that specific game. Once the game application closes, the audio stream stops immediately.

Method 2: Automate Muting with the Advanced Scene Switcher Plugin

If you must capture global desktop audio but want OBS to automatically mute the source when a game closes, you can use the free, widely-used Advanced Scene Switcher plugin for OBS.

Step 1: Install the Plugin

  1. Download and install the Advanced Scene Switcher plugin from the official OBS Studio resources forum.
  2. Restart OBS Studio.

Step 2: Create the Mute Macro

  1. In OBS, go to the top menu and select Tools > Advanced Scene Switcher.
  2. Navigate to the Macro tab.
  3. Click the + button at the bottom left to create a new macro and name it “Mute Desktop Audio”.
  4. Set up the condition (the “If” statement):
    • Select Process from the first dropdown.
    • Choose your game executable (e.g., game.exe) from the list.
    • Set the state to is not running.
  5. Set up the action (the “Then” statement):
    • Select Source from the action dropdown.
    • Choose your Desktop Audio source.
    • Set the action to Mute.

Step 3: Create the Unmute Macro (Optional)

To ensure your desktop audio automatically unmutes when you launch the game again, create a second macro.

  1. Click the + button to create another macro and name it “Unmute Desktop Audio”.
  2. Set the condition: If Process [your_game.exe] is running.
  3. Set the action: Then Source [Desktop Audio] -> Unmute.
  4. Go to the General tab of the plugin and click Start to enable the automation.