How to Screen Share in OBS Studio and Use Camera Masks

Learn how to screen share in OBS, capture a display or window, add your camera in the corner and create a circular webcam mask for presentations.

Screen sharing in OBS lets you present your desktop while keeping control of your camera and audio. You can even place yourself neatly over the presentation.

We've built quite a lot by this point.

You know how to set up OBS Studio.

Your audio is routed.

You've added images and video.

And in the previous tutorial, we looked at using a green screen in OBS.

Now we can put all of those pieces together for something most online educators use constantly:

Screen sharing.

The difference is that we're not going to rely on Zoom to control the whole presentation.

We're building the screen-sharing layout inside OBS first.

That gives you far more control over what the audience sees.

Quick answer: How to Screen Share in OBS Studio and Use Camera Masks explains how to screen share in OBS, capture a display or window, add your camera in the corner and create a circular webcam mask for presentations.

How Does Screen Sharing Work in OBS?

Screen sharing is just another source.

That's an important point.

You create a Screen Share scene and then decide what belongs inside it.

That scene might contain:

• your shared monitor
• your microphone
• your camera
• a circular camera mask
• branding or graphics

Then you switch to that scene when you're ready to demonstrate something.

OBS sends the finished composition onwards to Zoom, your recording or your stream.

You're not asking OBS to stop being OBS and suddenly become a screen-sharing application.

You're simply adding another source.

Create a Dedicated Screen Share Scene

If you followed the OBS scenes and sources tutorial, you should already have an empty scene called something like:

Screen Share

Select it.

At the moment, it's probably black because we haven't added anything.

That's fine.

We're going to build it now.

Add Your Microphone to the Screen Share Scene First

Think about what happens when you switch away from your Main Camera scene.

If your screen-sharing scene doesn't contain your microphone, you may be showing the screen perfectly while nobody can hear you explaining it.

We've already dealt with this idea when we learned how to add video to OBS.

The same approach works here.

You already have your microphone set up.

You don't need to configure another one from scratch.

Add your existing microphone source to the Screen Share scene.

Now when you switch to screen sharing, your microphone remains part of the presentation.

That's one job done.

The Main Ways to Share Content in OBS

The workshop looks at several ways of bringing computer content into OBS.

The important ones for this workflow are:

Display Capture — captures an entire monitor.

Window Capture — captures a particular application window.

The workshop also looks briefly at using a Browser Source, but it isn't the method I normally use for this kind of presentation.

My preference is Display Capture.

And there's a practical reason.

Why I Prefer Display Capture in OBS

I nearly always work with more than one monitor.

If I dedicate one entire monitor to presentation content, I can capture that display in OBS.

Then anything I intentionally put on that monitor is what the audience sees.

I can:

• change browser tabs
• open another application
• move from a website to a document
• show a demonstration
• move back to the browser

without repeatedly changing the OBS capture source.

For live teaching, I find that much easier.

Your OBS controls can stay on another monitor.

Zoom can stay somewhere else.

And your audience sees the monitor you've deliberately set aside for the presentation.

Why Multiple Monitors Make Screen Sharing Easier

I recommend multiple monitors several times throughout the workshop.

This is one of the sections where the reason becomes obvious.

Imagine trying to manage:

OBS.

Zoom.

Your browser.

Slides.

Notes.

Chat.

And the actual screen you're presenting.

All on one laptop display.

You can do it.

I wouldn't choose to.

It becomes cramped very quickly.

With a second monitor, you can put your presentation on one screen and your controls on the other.

With three, you've got even more room.

When I'm travelling, I'll even use a portable additional monitor because once you've become used to that extra space, working from one small screen feels extremely limiting.

Be Careful What You Put on a Shared Display

There is another reason to think carefully about your screen-sharing workflow.

Privacy.

We've all seen presenters share the wrong window or tab.

If you've got customer information, email, private messages or something commercially sensitive open and you accidentally put it in front of a live audience, you can't rewind the live stream.

So prepare the display you're going to share.

Keep private material off it.

If Display Capture is active, assume anything you deliberately move onto that display may be visible to the audience.

That's not something to become paranoid about.

It's simply a good presentation habit.

How to Add Display Capture in OBS

Select your Screen Share scene.

Go to Sources and click:

+ → Display Capture

Create the source.

OBS will show you the displays currently available on your computer.

Choose the monitor you want to share.

Click OK.

The display appears on the OBS canvas.

If the monitor resolution is different from your OBS canvas, you may need to resize the source so it fits properly.

Now anything shown on that selected display can appear inside the Screen Share scene.

Should You Capture the Mouse Cursor?

When setting up Display Capture, OBS gives you control over whether the mouse cursor is included.

There are situations where you want the cursor visible.

For example, if you're teaching software and saying:

"Click this button here."

The audience needs to see where you're pointing.

Other times, you may prefer a cleaner screen without the cursor.

Choose whichever makes sense for the presentation.

Don't switch it off because somebody told you that's the “professional” setting.

If the mouse is part of the demonstration, show it.

How Display Capture Helps With Browser Demonstrations

Suppose the monitor you're sharing contains your browser.

You've got one tab open on your Zenler tutorial site.

Then you move to another tab.

Because OBS is capturing the display, the audience sees whatever is on that display.

You don't need to keep rebuilding the OBS source every time you move between things.

That's why I like this workflow.

It's simple.

OBS is sharing the monitor.

You decide what appears on the monitor.

What if You Only Have One Monitor?

You can still screen share.

Don't abandon OBS because you haven't got a second display.

This is where Window Capture becomes useful.

Instead of sharing an entire monitor, you can tell OBS to capture a particular application window.

Go to:

Sources → + → Window Capture

Then choose the application window you want.

For example, you might choose a Chrome window.

OBS captures that selected window rather than your whole desktop.

Resize it to fit your canvas.

Now you've got a more controlled capture if you're working on one screen.

Display Capture vs Window Capture in OBS

Neither is automatically better in every situation.

For my own workflow, I prefer Display Capture because it gives me a dedicated presentation screen that I can work across freely.

Window Capture is useful when you only want a specific application shown.

A simple way to think about it is:

Display Capture = show this monitor.

Window Capture = show this application window.

Choose based on how you're presenting.

What About Browser Source?

OBS also has a Browser Source.

In the workshop, I briefly experiment with using it to bring web content directly into the scene.

It can display browser-based content from a URL and has its own uses inside OBS.

But for the screen-sharing workflow we're building here, it isn't my preferred approach.

For a normal live website demonstration, I prefer capturing the display or relevant window.

That's what I actually use.

There's no point pretending every OBS option is equally useful to me simply because it exists.

Add Your Camera to the Screen Share Scene

Now you've got the screen.

You've got your microphone.

What if you want yourself in the corner too?

This is where OBS gets much better than a basic full-screen share.

You already created your camera as a Video Capture Device earlier.

So you don't need another physical camera.

Inside the Screen Share scene, add your existing video capture source.

Your camera appears over the shared screen.

It will probably be far too large at first.

Resize it and move it into a corner.

Now you've got:

Shared screen + camera + microphone

inside one scene.

That is already a useful presentation layout.

Create a Picture-in-Picture Camera in OBS

This is essentially a picture-in-picture setup.

Your main content fills most of the canvas.

Your camera appears smaller in a corner.

Choose the camera position carefully.

Don't automatically dump yourself in the bottom-right corner if that's where the software you're demonstrating keeps its important buttons.

Look at your presentation.

Find an area where your camera won't constantly cover what you're trying to teach.

Again, this is why preparing the scene before going live matters.

You can position everything once.

Then reuse it.

How to Crop Your Camera in the Screen Share Scene

If you want your camera box to be tighter, use the technique from the OBS green screen tutorial.

Select the camera.

Hold Alt while dragging an edge.

That crops the source rather than merely resizing it.

You might remove unnecessary space around yourself before putting the camera in the corner.

Just don't crop so tightly that normal movement gets chopped off.

How Do People Make Their Webcam Circular in OBS?

This is a question I get quite a lot.

You've probably seen presentations where the speaker isn't inside a rectangular webcam box.

They're inside a neat little circle.

You can do that in OBS with an Image Mask/Blend filter.

But there's an important detail.

If you're reusing the same camera source from your Main Camera scene, you probably don't want to apply the circular mask directly to that source.

Why?

Because you may change the camera everywhere else too.

We need a way of applying the mask to this version of the camera without destroying the Main Camera layout we've already built.

Put the Camera Into a Group Before Applying the Mask

Inside your Screen Share scene, select the camera source.

Group it.

You can right-click and use:

Group Selected Items

Even if the group currently contains only the camera, that's okay.

Give the group a sensible name such as:

Circular Camera

Now we'll apply the mask to the group, not directly to the original camera source.

That means we're manipulating how this grouped version appears inside the Screen Share scene.

Your main camera setup can remain as it was.

This is a very handy technique.

How to Add a Circular Camera Mask in OBS

Select the Circular Camera group.

Open:

Filters

Click:

+ → Image Mask/Blend

Add the filter.

Then browse to a circular mask image.

In the workshop asset pack, there's a circular mask supplied for this purpose.

Once the mask is applied, the rectangular camera becomes a circle.

Now resize the group and move it into position.

There you go.

You have the familiar circular presenter view sitting over your screen share.

What Is an OBS Image Mask?

An image mask controls which part of a source remains visible.

For our circular camera example, the mask defines a circular visible area.

Everything outside that area is hidden.

You don't have to use a circle.

The same principle can be used with other mask shapes.

You could experiment with different designs if they genuinely suit your presentation.

But don't create a seven-sided neon webcam window simply because you discovered you can.

The circle works because it's simple and doesn't take up much space.

Can You Use Different Mask Shapes?

Yes.

If you create suitable mask images, you can experiment with shapes such as:

• circles
• rounded shapes
• squares
• other custom shapes

The workshop supplies the circular example so you can understand the technique.

Once you know how the Image Mask/Blend filter works, the principle is reusable.

But keep the audience in mind.

The mask should help the presentation, not distract from it.

Circular Mask or Green Screen?

Now we have two ways to get your camera onto the presentation.

Without a green screen

Use your normal camera and apply a circular mask.

You'll appear inside a defined shape.

With a green screen

You can bring your already keyed camera into the Screen Share scene and simply resize and position yourself.

No circle required.

Because the background is already transparent, you can appear as a clean cut-out over the presentation.

Personally, that's the setup that gives you the most flexibility.

But the circular mask works extremely well if you don't have a green screen.

Add Your Green-Screen Camera to the Screen Share Scene

If you've already followed How to Use a Green Screen in OBS, your camera can already have its background removed.

Go into the Screen Share scene.

Add your existing camera source.

Resize it.

Move yourself into position.

That's it.

Because you've already done the hard work on the green screen, you can appear directly over the shared display without the rectangular background.

Now you have a layout that could look something like:

Screen content across the canvas

You in the lower corner

Microphone active

Optional branding over the top

All controlled inside OBS.

Be Careful When Reusing Existing Sources

We're using existing camera and microphone sources because we've already configured them.

That's efficient.

But remember what we learned earlier about shared sources.

If you change certain properties of the original source, those changes can affect where else it's being used.

That's why the masking example uses a group.

It gives us somewhere to apply the mask without unnecessarily altering the original camera source.

Think about whether you're changing:

the source itself

or:

how that source appears in this particular scene.

That distinction becomes increasingly useful as your OBS setup grows.

Build the Screen Share Before the Audience Arrives

Don't create this while you're live.

You can.

But why would you?

Build your Screen Share scene beforehand.

Add the microphone.

Add Display Capture.

Choose the correct monitor.

Add the camera.

Mask it if needed.

Resize everything.

Check the stack order.

Then run a test.

When your workshop starts, screen sharing becomes one click.

That's the point.

A Simple OBS Teaching Workflow

Imagine you're teaching how to build a course inside Zenler.

You start on your Splash Screen.

Then:

Main Camera

"Welcome. Today I'm going to show you how to set this up."

Then:

Screen Share

Your Zenler interface appears and you're in the corner.

You explain the process.

Then maybe you switch to a prepared video using what we covered in How to Add Video to OBS.

Then back to Main Camera.

You aren't manually changing Zoom screen shares during every transition.

The presentation lives inside OBS.

That's a much cleaner workflow.

Screen Sharing and Privacy

One thing I want you to take seriously is what gets shown during a live session.

If you're sharing a whole monitor, know what's on that monitor.

If you're using Window Capture, make sure the correct window is selected.

Close things you don't need.

Don't leave sensitive information ready to pop onto the shared screen.

I've watched experienced presenters share the wrong content simply because they've got too many tabs and windows open.

Preparation reduces that risk dramatically.

Common OBS Screen Sharing Problems

OBS is showing the wrong monitor

Open the Display Capture properties and select the correct display.

My screen share doesn't fill the canvas

Resize the Display Capture source until it fits the OBS canvas correctly.

People can see my screen but can't hear me

Make sure your existing microphone source has been added to the Screen Share scene and isn't muted.

My camera covers important content

Resize it or move it to another corner. Design the layout around the actual material you're teaching.

My camera is rectangular and I want a circle

Place the camera into a group and apply an Image Mask/Blend filter using a circular mask.

The circular mask changed my main camera

Avoid applying the mask directly to a shared camera source if you want the original version unchanged. Apply it to a group in your Screen Share scene.

My mouse pointer isn't visible

Check the cursor-capture setting on the Display Capture source if you need the audience to see where you're pointing.

I'm accidentally showing private information

Stop the presentation and clean up the display you're capturing. Use a dedicated presentation monitor where possible and keep sensitive material elsewhere.

My green-screen camera has a background again

Check that you're using the camera/source setup with the correct Chroma Key filtering from your green-screen workflow.

OBS Screen Sharing Checklist

Before using the Screen Share scene live, make sure you can:

• create or select your Screen Share scene
• add your existing microphone
• add a Display Capture source
• select the correct monitor
• resize the display to fit your canvas
• choose whether the mouse cursor should show
• use Window Capture when a specific application is more appropriate
• add your existing camera source
• resize your camera into a picture-in-picture position
• group your camera when you want a scene-specific mask
• apply an Image Mask/Blend filter
• create a circular camera view
• use your keyed green-screen camera instead if preferred
• check that no sensitive content is visible
• run a private test before your real presentation

Once that's done, you've got a proper teaching scene.

Not simply a screen share.

A complete presentation layout.

Learn OBS With Me in the Free Workshop

Screen sharing is much easier to understand when you can see the different capture methods and watch the camera move from a normal rectangle into a circular mask.

That's exactly what we work through in the free Learn OBS Workshop.

You'll see how the scenes, camera, microphone, media, green screen and screen sharing all fit together.

Learn OBS Workshop | Present, Stream & Record Better

You can also return to the complete Learn OBS beginner's guide whenever you want the full series in one place.

FAQ About Screen Sharing in OBS

How do I screen share in OBS?

Create or select a Screen Share scene, click the + button under Sources and add Display Capture. Choose the monitor you want to show and resize the source to fit your OBS canvas.

What is the difference between Display Capture and Window Capture in OBS?

Display Capture shows an entire monitor, while Window Capture focuses on a particular application window. The workshop mainly uses Display Capture because it makes it easier to move between applications on a dedicated presentation monitor.

Can I screen share and show my camera at the same time in OBS?

Yes. Add your screen capture source, then add your existing camera source to the same scene. Resize the camera and position it over the shared screen.

How do I make my webcam circular in OBS?

Put the camera into a group, add an Image Mask/Blend filter to that group and select a circular mask image. The camera will then display inside the circular visible area.

Why should I apply the mask to a group instead of the camera?

If you're reusing the same camera source in other scenes, applying a filter directly to the source may affect that source elsewhere. A group lets you apply the mask to the screen-sharing version without unnecessarily changing the original setup.

Can I use a green screen instead of a circular webcam?

Yes. If your camera background has already been removed with a Chroma Key, add that camera to the Screen Share scene and resize it. You can appear as a clean cut-out rather than inside a circle.

Do I need two monitors to screen share with OBS?

No, but multiple monitors make the workflow much easier. A dedicated presentation display lets you separate the content your audience sees from OBS, Zoom and your other controls.

Should I use Display Capture or Window Capture?

I prefer Display Capture when I have a dedicated presentation monitor because I can move between applications without changing the OBS source. Window Capture can be useful when you only want one application shown.

Can people hear my microphone when I switch to the Screen Share scene?

Only if the microphone is part of the audio setup for that scene. In this workshop, we add the existing microphone source to the Screen Share scene so the presenter can keep talking.

Is screen sharing through OBS safer than sharing a tab?

OBS gives you more control over the presentation layout, but you still need to be careful. Whatever your capture source can see may be shown to the audience, so prepare your screen and keep private information away from the shared area.

What To Do Next

At this point, you've built the essential presentation workflow.

You can show yourself.

Play videos.

Replace your background.

Share your screen.

Put your camera over the presentation.

And keep your microphone running while you do it.

Now we can use the same collection of scenes to create finished video.

Continue with How to Record Video in OBS Studio.

We'll set the recording location, record a complete presentation through multiple scenes, check the audio balance and look at the workshop setup used to pause and continue a recording.

This is where OBS moves from being your live presentation tool to becoming a very fast content creation system too.

Join the free Learn OBS Workshop and build the complete setup with me.

FAQ

Who is How to Screen Share in OBS Studio and Use Camera Masks for?

How to Screen Share in OBS Studio and Use Camera Masks is for course creators, coaches and educators who want a clearer OBS setup for recording lessons, streaming sessions or creating better video content for their online business.

How does this OBS workflow connect with New Zenler?

Creators can use OBS to improve video and live-session production, then use New Zenler to host courses, deliver memberships, run live sessions, build funnels and manage learners in one platform.

What should creators check before recording or streaming with OBS?

Check the scene layout, microphone input, audio filters, camera framing, recording settings, internet connection and where the finished lesson or live replay will be delivered in New Zenler.

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