Fix 1 – Unmute OBS
If OBS Studio is muted in the Volume Mixer, no doubt you won’t hear any desktop sound. So the first troubleshooting step is to check your Volume Mixer.
1) Right-click the speaker icon at the taskbar and click Open Volume mixer.
2) Click the speaker icon under OBS to unmute this application.
Now see if OBS desktop audio comes back. If not, try the next fix below.
Fix 2 – Check the sound settings
If OBS fails to pick up your desktop audio, there might be something wrong with your headset or speaker settings. If you don’t know how to configure the settings correctly, follow the instruction below:
1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run command. Then, type control and click OK.
2) Select Small icons from the drop-down menu next to View by, and click Sound.
3) Right-click any empty space and tick Show Disabled Devices.
4) In the Playback tab, click the device (speaker or headset) you’re using and click Set Default.
5) Click the device and click Properties.
6) Select the Levels tab. Then, make sure the device is not muted and drag the slider to turn up its volume.
7) Select the Advanced tab, and untick Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device.
8) Click OK to save the changes.
9) Click your audio device and click Configure.
10) Select Stereo from the menu.
After going through the steps, launch OBS to test if the desktop audio is correctly detected and recorded. If not, please move on to the next fix below.
Fix 3 – Tweak OBS audio settings
If you’ve set everything up on PC but still fail to bring back the desktop audio, you should take a look at the audio settings in OBS and make sure to select the proper devices.
1) Launch OBS.
2) Click File at the upper left corner and click Settings.
3) Click Audio on the left pane. Then, select Stereo next to Channels.
4) Scroll to Global Audio Devices and make sure you’ve selected the actual device you’re using for Desktop Audio and Mic/Auxiliary Audio.
Now that you’ve made the tweaks, see if OBS desktop audio works the right way. If the no audio issue persists, keep reading to find out more solutions.