A complete 2025 step-by-step guide to resetting OBS Studio on Windows, macOS, and Linux—plus how to rebuild your scenes with high-impact widgets.
Table of Contents
Important: Resetting OBS Studio removes all profiles, scenes, sources, and hotkeys. Always back up your configuration first.
- Profiles & Scene Collections: In OBS go to Profile → Export and Scene Collection → Export.
- Manual backup: Copy the entire
obs-studiofolder to a safe location (cloud or external drive). - Asset checklist: Save custom stingers, overlays, LUTs, and fonts used in your scenes.
Windows
Reset OBS Studio on Windows
- Close OBS Studio completely (check the tray to ensure it’s not still running).
- Press Win + R, type
%appdata%, and press Enter. - Open the
obs-studiofolder. - Backup (optional but recommended): Copy the entire folder elsewhere.
- Delete all contents of
obs-studio, including thebasicsubfolder contents. - Clear cache by deleting everything inside
cache. - Launch OBS Studio to generate a fresh, default configuration.
Path example:
C:\Users\<YourUser>\AppData\Roaming\obs-studiomacOS
Reset OBS Studio on macOS
- Quit OBS Studio from the menu bar (OBS Studio → Quit OBS Studio).
- In Finder, open Go → Go to Folder….
- Paste
~/.config/obs-studioand press Enter. - Backup (optional): Copy the
obs-studiofolder to a safe location. - Delete everything inside
obs-studio, including thebasicsubfolder contents. - Clear cache by deleting the contents of
cache. - Re-open OBS Studio to recreate defaults.
Tip: Use
Cmd + Shift + G to open “Go to Folder” quickly.Linux
Reset OBS Studio on Linux
- Close OBS Studio or run
pkill obsin your terminal. cd ~/.config/obs-studio- Backup (optional):
cp -r ~/.config/obs-studio ~/obs-studio-backup - Delete contents of
obs-studio, includingbasic. - Clear cache by removing all files in the
cachedirectory. - Start OBS Studio and it will generate a clean profile.
Paths may vary by distro; the config sits under your user’s
~/.config.Rebuild Your Studio
Create New Scenes & Add Useful Widgets
After a clean reset, rebuild your layout with focused scenes and interactive widgets to elevate engagement and polish.
- Holiday Countdown Timers — Timely seasonal hooks that keep viewers watching.
- Streamlabs Countdown Timers — Ideal for starting soon, breaks, and intermissions.
- Live Weather Forecast Widget — Local weather with auto-refresh for IRL or “Just Chatting.”
- Stream Poll Master — Drive real-time audience decisions with interactive polls.
Starter Scene Set
- Starting Soon: Countdown + music + brand card.
- Main: Camera + gameplay/screen + lower-third.
- BRB/Intermission: Timer + chat overlay + music.
- Ending: Social links + next stream tease.
Quality Boost Tips
- Use hardware encoder (NVENC/AMF/QSV) for headroom.
- Lock scene layers to avoid accidental shifts.
- Color-correct each camera for consistency.
- Export Profiles/Scene Collections as backups.
All scenes, sources, profiles, hotkeys, and most plugin settings. Media files on disk aren’t deleted, but their references in OBS are.
Yes. Instead of deleting the whole folder, remove items under
basic/profiles or basic/scenes to target a specific setup.
Plugin binaries stay installed, but their configs may reset. Reconfigure plugin settings or reinstall if versions mismatch.
Export your Profile and Scene Collection after major changes, keep a cloud copy, and snapshot your assets pack (stingers, overlays, LUTs).
Tags
OBS Factory Reset, OBS Studio reset 2025, clear OBS cache, reset OBS Windows macOS Linux, fix OBS issues, delete OBS config, OBS Studio troubleshooting, streaming setup, start fresh OBS