Migrate OBS Studio Intel to Apple Silicon Mac

Migrating your OBS Studio settings from an Intel-based Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, or M3) requires transferring your profile and scene collection data while ensuring system compatibility. This guide provides a direct, step-by-step process to safely copy your configurations, locate the correct system folders, and address potential compatibility issues with plugins during the transition to Apple’s native ARM architecture.

Step 1: Locate and Backup OBS Files on the Intel Mac

Your OBS Studio profiles and scenes are stored in a hidden system folder. You need to copy these files to an external drive or cloud storage.

1. Open Finder on your Intel Mac.
2. Click Go in the top menu bar, hold down the Option (⌥) key, and click Library when it appears.
3. Navigate to Application Support > obs-studio.
4. Inside the obs-studio folder, locate two critical folders:
   • basic/profiles: Contains your stream settings, bitrates, and encoder configurations.
   • basic/scenes: Contains your overlays, sources, and scene layouts.
5. Copy the entire obs-studio folder to an external USB drive or upload it to a cloud service.

Step 2: Install OBS Studio on the Apple Silicon Mac

To get the best performance, you must install the native Apple Silicon version of OBS Studio rather than running the Intel version via Rosetta 2 translation.

1. Download the latest macOS installer from the official OBS Studio website.
2. Select the Apple Silicon installer (usually labeled arm64 or Apple Silicon).
3. Open the .dmg file and drag OBS Studio to your Applications folder.
4. Launch OBS Studio once to let it generate the necessary system folders, then close it completely.

Step 3: Transfer Settings to the New Mac

Now, place your backed-up settings into the library folder of your new Apple Silicon Mac.

1. Open Finder on your Apple Silicon Mac.
2. Click Go in the top menu bar, hold down the Option (⌥) key, and click Library.
3. Navigate to Application Support > obs-studio.
4. Copy the basic folder from your backup and paste it into this folder, replacing any default folders if prompted.

When you reopen OBS Studio on your new Mac, your profiles and scenes should appear exactly as they did on your Intel Mac.

Step 4: Resolve Plugin and Encoder Compatibility

Because you are moving from an Intel (x86_64) architecture to Apple Silicon (ARM64), some components of your old setup will require manual adjustment:

• Plugins: Intel-based OBS plugins will not run natively on Apple Silicon. You must visit the creators’ websites for your specific plugins (like virtual cameras, NDI, or audio filters) and download their native Apple Silicon (ARM64) versions.
• Hardware Encoders: If your Intel Mac was set to use hardware encoders specific to AMD or older Intel chips, you must update your output settings. Go to Settings > Output and change your video encoder to Apple VT H.264 Hardware or Apple VT HEVC Hardware for optimal performance on Apple Silicon.
• File Paths: If your scenes contain media sources (videos, images, music) stored in different folder paths on your new Mac, you may need to double-click those sources in OBS and re-link them to their new locations.