Isolate Game Audio in OBS with Application Audio Capture

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough on how to use the “Application Audio Capture” feature in OBS Studio to isolate your game audio on Windows. By targeting specific software executables, you can stream or record your gameplay sounds and music without capturing background audio from Discord, web browsers, music players, or Windows system notifications.

Step 1: Open Your Game and OBS Studio

To successfully target your game, it must be running in the background. Launch the game you wish to stream or record, and then open OBS Studio (ensure you are running OBS Studio version 28.0 or newer, as this feature is natively integrated into these versions).

Step 2: Add the Application Audio Capture Source

  1. Navigate to the Sources dock at the bottom of the OBS window.
  2. Click the + (Add) icon at the bottom of the dock.
  3. Select Application Audio Capture (BETA) from the dropdown list.
  4. Name the source something recognizable (e.g., “Game Audio”) and click OK.

Step 3: Target the Game Executable

  1. In the properties window that automatically opens, locate the Window dropdown menu.
  2. Click the dropdown and select the executable process of your running game (for example, [steam.exe]: Cyberpunk 2077 or [valheim.exe]: Valheim).
  3. Under Window Match Priority, leave it at the default Match title, otherwise find window of same type to ensure OBS automatically finds the game the next time you launch it.
  4. Click OK to save the settings.

Step 4: Disable Default Desktop Audio

To prevent OBS from capturing duplicate audio (once from the game-specific capture and once from your overall system audio), you must disable your master desktop audio. 1. Go to Settings in the bottom-right corner of OBS. 2. Click the Audio tab on the left. 3. Under the Global Audio Devices section, set Desktop Audio to Disabled. 4. Click Apply and then OK.

Step 5: Test and Adjust Levels

With the setup complete, make some noise in your game. Look at the Audio Mixer dock in OBS. You should see the volume bar for your new “Game Audio” source moving in response to the game, while other programs like Discord or Spotify remain completely silent in your stream or recording. Adjust the volume slider as needed to balance your game volume with your microphone.