One effective way to hide the taskbar when capturing your display in OBS Studio is by cropping the source preview window directly within the OBS interface using the Alt key.
Understanding Display Capture and the Taskbar
When using a Display Capture source in OBS Studio, it captures everything visible on your chosen monitor, including the taskbar. For a clean recording or stream where you don't want your taskbar visible, you need to exclude this area from the capture. The provided method focuses on precisely adjusting the capture area within OBS itself.
Cropping Your OBS Display Capture to Exclude the Taskbar
OBS allows you to easily crop sources directly in the preview window. When you select a source like Display Capture, you see a red border around it in the preview. By holding the Alt key, you can drag these borders inwards to crop the source.
Using the Alt Key and Dragging to Crop
This technique utilizes the keyboard shortcut for cropping in OBS. Here's how to do it based on the provided reference:
- Select your Display Capture source in the "Sources" dock.
- Look at the OBS Preview window. You will see your captured display within a red border.
- Hover your mouse cursor over the middle handle at the bottom of this red source border. The cursor should change to a double arrow pointing up and down.
- Press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard.
- While holding Alt, left-click and drag the bottom border upwards.
- As you drag, you will see a green line moving up from the bottom of the source. This green line indicates the new cropped boundary.
- Drag the border upwards just enough to clear the taskbar from the bottom of the captured area.
- Release the mouse button and then the Alt key.
Your Display Capture source is now cropped to exclude the taskbar from the bottom. The red border will still represent the source's original dimensions, but the visible content within it will be limited by the green cropping lines.
Visual Guide: Cropping Handles
| Border Handle | Action Required | Key Used | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corner | Drag | Normal | Resizes source |
| Middle Edge | Drag | Normal | Stretches/Skews source |
| Corner | Drag | Alt | Crops Top/Bottom & Side |
| Middle Edge | Drag | Alt | Crops that edge |
(Note: The reference specifically details using the middle bottom handle with Alt for vertical cropping.)
Why Crop the Taskbar in OBS?
Cropping the taskbar provides a cleaner look for your viewers or recordings. It ensures that notifications, running applications icons, or accidental clicks on the taskbar are not visible. This is particularly useful for:
- Tutorials or presentations where you want the focus purely on the main screen content.
- Streaming where screen real estate is crucial, and the taskbar is unnecessary clutter.
- Recording gameplay that runs in a windowed mode where the taskbar might overlap or be visible at the bottom.
Alternative Approaches (Briefly)
While the Alt+drag method is excellent for precise cropping, other techniques can also help manage what's captured:
- Window Capture: Capture only a specific application window, inherently excluding the taskbar and other desktop elements.
- Running OBS on a Second Monitor: If you have multiple displays, you can run OBS on one and perform your activities on the other, capturing the full activity monitor without OBS or the taskbar from the primary monitor interfering.
- Full Screen Applications: Many games and applications run in true full-screen mode, which automatically hides the taskbar.
However, for capturing the entire desktop area minus the taskbar specifically using Display Capture, the Alt+drag cropping method as described is a straightforward and effective solution.
