What Does Restart Media When Active Do in OBS?
In OBS Studio, the “Restart Media when active” option controls how a video or audio source behaves when it transitions on and off your screen. This setting determines whether a media file starts playing from the very beginning every time it becomes visible, or if it resumes from where it last stopped. Understanding this feature is essential for seamless scene transitions, smooth alerts, and efficient resource management during live streams and recordings.
How the Option Works
When you add a Media Source (such as an MP4 video or WAV audio file) to OBS Studio, you will find the “Restart Media when active” checkbox in the source’s properties.
- When Enabled (Checked): Every time the media source becomes “active”—meaning you switch to a scene containing the source, or you toggle the “eye” icon to make the source visible—the media file will automatically restart and play from the very beginning (0:00).
- When Disabled (Unchecked): When the source becomes inactive (hidden or switched away from), the media file will either pause or continue playing in the background. When you return to the scene or make it visible again, the file will resume playing from the exact timestamp where it was last left off, rather than starting over.
When to Enable “Restart Media when active”
You should keep this option turned on for media assets that require a consistent, predictable start every time they appear on screen.
- Intro and Outro Screens: If you have a “Starting Soon” or “Be Right Back” video, you want it to play from the beginning every time you switch to that scene.
- Stinger Transitions and Stingers: Video transitions must start from the first frame to sync perfectly with your scene cuts.
- Overlays and Alerts: Short animations, lower-thirds, or alert graphics need to play from start to finish to display the correct information to your viewers.
When to Disable “Restart Media when active”
There are specific scenarios where restarting the media is undesirable, and disabling the feature is the better choice.
- Background Music or Ambient Videos: If you have a long music track or a looping ambient background video playing across multiple scenes, disabling this option ensures the media keeps playing continuously without jarring restarts when you switch scenes.
- Preventing CPU/GPU Spikes: On lower-end computers, restarting a large, high-resolution video file can cause a temporary hardware spike, leading to dropped frames during transitions. Disabling the restart option can sometimes make scene transitions smoother.