Record Zoom with OBS Without Participant List

Recording a Zoom meeting using OBS Studio is an excellent way to capture high-quality video, but keeping the participant list out of the final recording is essential for a clean, professional look. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step walkthrough on how to configure OBS Studio to record only your Zoom meeting window while excluding the participant panel using two simple methods: popping out the participant list or cropping the capture source.

The easiest way to keep the participant list out of your OBS recording is to separate it from the main Zoom meeting window. Since OBS Window Capture only targets a single specific window, separating the participant list ensures it will not be recorded.

  1. Start your Zoom meeting and open the participant panel by clicking Participants at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Click the small dropdown arrow at the top-left of the participant panel and select Pop Out.
  3. Move the popped-out participant window to another area of your screen (or a second monitor).
  4. Open OBS Studio.
  5. In the Sources dock, click the + icon and select Window Capture.
  6. Name the source (e.g., “Zoom Meeting”) and click OK.
  7. In the Window dropdown menu, select the main Zoom meeting window (usually labeled Zoom Meeting).
  8. Click OK. Because the participant list is in a separate window, OBS will only display and record the active video stream or shared screen.

Method 2: Crop the Participant List in OBS

If you prefer to keep the participant list docked inside the main Zoom window, you can use OBS’s built-in cropping feature to hide it from the recording.

  1. Keep your Zoom meeting window open with the participant list docked on the right side.
  2. In OBS Studio, add a Window Capture source and select your Zoom window.
  3. In the OBS preview screen, select the Zoom source so that a red bounding box appears around it.
  4. Hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (macOS) on your keyboard.
  5. Click and drag the handle on the right edge of the red bounding box inward. Drag it until the participant list is completely cropped out of the frame.
  6. Release the key. You can now resize and reposition the remaining meeting video to fit your OBS canvas by dragging the corners without holding the Alt/Option key.