The Best Way to Backup Your OBS Settings
Finding out what are the best webcam settings, microphone settings, and OBS settings for your stream can be a real struggle since you need to fine-tune everything to your specific use case and remember what your sources looked like, where your overlays are, etc.
Nobody wants to deal with this process but unfortunately, if you are moving PCs or simply want to install a new Windows you will need to think about setting up OBS once again or preserving the settings somehow. Since we already hinted at the fact that nobody wants to deal with the settings again we will give you some tips on how to preserve your OBS fully from one install to another.
Files and Directories
When dealing with OBS overlays and other files you might be using with OBS it would be smart to keep them on a storage drive that will be left alone during wipes and Windows reinstalls. This will allow your new OBS install to immediately find the files and have your overlays ready since it will use the same pathways.
Usually, for most people, this is a hard drive where they keep all of the files that are not used for gaming, editing, etc.
If you are moving PCs you can always plug said hard drive into your new rig but if you do not want to use it anymore backup all of the files that you are using for your OBS and keep them safe. You will need to re-select them in OBS once you migrate to the new PC.
Back-Up Your OBS Files
The next important step is backing up OBS itself with all of the settings already applied. To find your files you need to find the Roaming folder on your PC (C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\obs-studio) and make a copy of the entire obs-studio folder.
This folder will preserve ALL of the settings and overlays exactly as you have left them on your old Windows or old OBS install.
All you have to do once you have moved onto the new platform is install OBS as per usual and launch it. You can close it right after opening it since we do not need to tweak anything. Once you have closed OBS, find the obs-studio folder you have copied from your old installation and simply paste it into the Roaming directory instead of the new folder OBS made.
Once done, the next time you open your OBS it will look exactly like you left it back on your old install.
Installing the Same Plugins
If you were using things like Reaper plugins, OBS Teleport, NDI, or any other sort of plugins on your old install, for them to work properly once you migrate your obs-studio folder you will need to install them again.
Since you migrated your obs-studio folder fully, once installed, the plugins will work like they were always there since the folder has the saved parameters from your old installation.
Finishing Touches
Once the obs-studio folder and the plugins were installed, your OBS interface should look exactly like you left it on your old installation. If you have some overlay files missing this is because you most likely have moved the files from the old directories that OBS was using and therefore your new install cannot find them using old file paths.
To fix this all you have to do is select the files once again in OBS and they will be displayed exactly the way you left them on your old install.