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OBS Studio is the free, open-source standard for screen recording and live streaming, but two things trip up new users: getting a clean offline install, and the infamous "black screen" that appears the first time you add a Display or Game Capture source. This guide covers both — a verified offline install on all three platforms, then a step-by-step fix for the black screen, which is almost always a GPU-switching issue on laptops rather than a broken install.
1 Download the official offline installer
OBS Studio is published by the OBS Project at obsproject.com, with full standalone installers for Windows (.exe), macOS (.dmg, separate Intel and Apple Silicon builds), and Linux (official Ubuntu PPA, Flatpak, and an AppImage). All of these bundle the whole application — there is no web-installer stub to worry about. Download the build matching your OS on a connected machine, and only from obsproject.com or the project's GitHub releases; "OBS download" search ads and mirror sites are a common source of bundled junk. On Windows, confirm the installer is signed before running it.
2 Install on each platform
Windows: run the .exe; if it offers to install a virtual-camera driver, accept it (you will want OBS Virtual Camera later). macOS: open the .dmg and drag OBS into Applications — pick the Apple Silicon build on M-series Macs for far better performance. Linux: on Ubuntu, sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio then sudo apt install obs-studio; on other distros the Flatpak (flatpak install flathub com.obsproject.Studio) or the AppImage works offline once downloaded. After install, launch OBS and let the Auto-Configuration Wizard set sensible defaults for your use case.
3 Why you get a black screen
If you add a Display Capture or Game Capture source and see only black, your install is fine — the issue is that modern laptops have two GPUs (a power-saving integrated GPU and a high-performance discrete GPU). OBS captures the screen using whichever GPU it is running on, but the thing you are trying to capture may be rendering on the other GPU. OBS cannot capture across that boundary, so you get black. The fix is to make OBS and the captured app use the same GPU.
4 Fix it on Windows (the common case)
Open Windows Settings → System → Display → Graphics. Click Browse, add OBS (obs64.exe, usually in C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit), select it, click Options, and set its GPU preference. For Display Capture of the whole desktop, set OBS to Power saving (integrated GPU). For Game Capture of a specific game, instead set OBS to High performance (discrete GPU) so it matches the game. Restart OBS after changing this. On NVIDIA Optimus systems you can also force this from the NVIDIA Control Panel under Manage 3D Settings → Program Settings → OBS.
5 If it is still black
Try these in order: (1) Use Window Capture instead of Game/Display Capture for a specific app — it is less GPU-sensitive. (2) Run OBS as administrator (right-click → Run as administrator) so it can capture elevated apps. (3) For fullscreen games, switch the game to Borderless Windowed mode, which Display/Window Capture handles more reliably. (4) Update your GPU drivers. (5) On macOS, grant OBS Screen Recording permission under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, then fully restart OBS — a fresh install will show black until you do this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is OBS Studio free?
Yes. OBS Studio is completely free and open source (GPLv2), with no paid tier, watermark, or time limit. It is funded by donations and sponsors.
Why is my OBS capture a black screen?
Almost always a GPU mismatch on a laptop with two GPUs: OBS and the captured app are running on different GPUs, and OBS cannot capture across them. Set OBS to the same GPU as the target (power-saving for desktop capture, high-performance for games) in Windows Graphics settings.
Do I need the offline installer for OBS?
The standard OBS installer is already a full offline installer — it contains the whole app. You only need to download it once and can run it on offline machines. There is no web-stub version to avoid.
Which OBS build should I pick on a Mac?
On Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs, download the Apple Silicon build for native performance. Use the Intel build only on older Intel Macs.
Conclusion
OBS Studio installs cleanly offline on every platform from the official obsproject.com download, so the only real hurdle is the black-screen capture bug — and that is a GPU-matching fix, not a reinstall. Set OBS to the right GPU for what you are capturing, grant screen-recording permission on macOS, and your sources will appear. From there the Auto-Configuration Wizard gets you streaming or recording in minutes.
