How to Fix OBS Not Recording Full Screen Issue?

If OBS just records a small window instead of the full screen, you may choose the incorrect capturing source. Just follow the steps below to fix it.

Step 1. Click on the “+" button under the “Source” tab. Select “Display Capture” from the source options.
Step 2. It will open a small “Create/Select Source” window. You can name the source as “Full Screen” or leave it as default. Press “OK” to go to the next step.
Step 3. In the “Properties for ‘Display Capture’” window, you can uncheck the “Capture Cursor” window if you don’t want to capture the cursor. Click “OK” to add the “Display Capture” source.
Step 4. The capturing window will show the full screen and you can press “Start Recording” to make OBS record full screen now.

The other reason OBS full screen not working may be due to the incorrect base and output resolutions you set accidentally. When recording a game, if the OBS capturing resolution doesn’t match your game resolution, it may display a small window instead of the full screen. And you need to change the resolution to match your display resolution to get OBS to record full-screen games.

Set the proper resolution as follows:

Step 1. Click the “Settings” button below the “Control” panel or press “File” > “Settings” to bring up the “Settings” window.
Step 2. Select the “Video” tab and then change the “Base (Canvas) Resolution” to the highest 1920 x 1080 or match your display resolution. The “Output (Scaled) Resolution” also needs to be set to match the game resolution.
Step 3. Click on “Apply” and then press “OK” to save the changes.
Step 4. Then you can add the capturing source and start recording in full screen.

If you have two graphics devices and one is NVIDIA, that may be because OBS and the game you need to capture run on different graphics cards. As they are on separate connectors, the image of the game cannot be obtained because it is not available on the device OBS is on.

So follow the steps below to switch OBS’s GPU.

Step 1. Right-click on the desktop screen and select “Show more options”.
Step 2. Choose “NVIDIA Control Panel” and open it.
Step 3. Click on “Manage 3D settings” on the left side panel and select “Program Settings” on the right board. Press “Add”.
Step 4. Select OBS Studio under the “Select a program to customize” section.
Step 5: Pick “Superior NVIDIA processor” under the “Select the preferred graphics processor for this program” drop-down menu. Press “Apply”.
Step 6. Close the NVIDIA Control Panel and restart OBS to check whether the issue is fixed or not.

If other recording programs are running on your PC and have taken precedence in capturing the window or screen, OBS may also fail to record the full screen. To fix that, you need to enable the Compatibility mode for OBS Studio.

To run OBS Studio in compatibility mode, you need:

Step 1. Right-click on the OBS Studio shortcut on your desktop or in the Start menu and select “Properties”.
Step 2. Switch to the “Compatibility” tab at the top of the “OBS Studio Properties” window.
Step 3. Under the “Compatibility mode” section, check the box beside “Run this program in compatibility mode for:”.
Step 4. Click on “Apply” and then press “OK”.
Step 5. Restart OBS Studio and add the capturing source to check if the OBS not recording full screen issue is fixed or not.

If the solutions listed above cannot fix the OBS fullscreen not working issue, you can locate the folder where you installed OBS and uninstall it as well as the leftover files of OBS Studio. Then install it and launch it to see if it works now.

Hope those fixes can be helpful to your problems. But if the problem still persists or you encounter other screen recording issues with OBS, like OBS recording black screen, not recording audio, etc., it's highly recommended that you try a different screen recorder. The following part will show you a handy and easy-to-use screen recorder as one of the best OBS alternatives. Just read on!

Also Read: OBS Video Editor | OBS Crop Video | OBS MKV to MP4 | OBS not Recording Audio

WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is an all-in-one application that features a built-in screen recorder that can help users start recording without issue. It aims to offer the most straightforward screen recording workflow that enables users, even beginners to quickly get started. With it, users can easily record full-screen activities or gameplay in high quality. Both the system sound and your voice can also be recorded simultaneously or separately.
Once you finish recording, you can also use it to do further editing, compressing, etc.

The following content will show you the simple steps to capture full screen with HD Video Converter Factory Pro. So download and installdownload and install it here now to get started.

Launch HD Video Converter Factory Pro on your PC and choose the “Recorder” module.

At the top of the “Screen Recorder” interface, choose the Full-screen mode. If you want to record gameplay in full screen mode, select “Game recording mode” and then choose “Full-screen” mode. Then press “OK” to confirm the recording region.

By default, the recording format, quality, frame rate, and GPU acceleration are optimized as MP4, Default, 30FPS (the game recording frame rate is 60FPS), and Off. However, you can manually change the settings to your liking. Then select the audio sources you want to record along with the screen activities. Also, don’t forget to specify an output folder for your recordings at the bottom of the recorder interface.

When everything is set OK, click the red “REC” button. It will start recording after a five-countdown. And when it is over, press the hotkey “Ctrl+F1” to stop recording. You can also click the square icon on the floating recording bar.

That’s how to record full screen with an OBS alternative when OBS fullscreen not working. WonderFox Screen Recorder enables you to record a screen without time limit and no watermark. It even allows you to record high-quality videos in 4K at 60 fps. Other practical video processing features are also supported in HD Video Converter Factory Pro.

OBS Studio is practical for screen recording and streaming, but there are some errors with OBS while recording or streaming. If your OBS fails to record the full screen, you can follow the solutions listed in this post or just try the recommended screen recorder. Thanks for your reading. Have a nice day!