Where apps hide your files
Your OBS scenes, profiles and settings are ordinary files in one folder in your Library. Copy that folder, or use OBS's own export, and you can move a whole setup to another Mac.
~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/Scenes and profiles are inside its basic folder:
~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/basic/scenes/
~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/basic/profiles/OBS Studio's source code builds its settings folder from your user Application Support folder plus obs-studio, and puts scene collections in basic/scenes and profiles in basic/profiles. Each scene collection is a JSON file, and each profile is a sub-folder of INI and JSON files.
The quickest way in is from OBS itself: File > Show Settings Folder opens the obs-studio folder in Finder, and File > Show Profile Folder opens the current profile. Without OBS running, use Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) in Finder and paste the first path, or list the names in Terminal:
ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/obs-studio
ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/obs-studio/basic/scenes| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
basic/scenes/*.json | One file per scene collection: scenes, sources and their settings |
basic/profiles/<name>/ | One folder per profile: output, video, encoder and stream settings |
global.ini | App-wide settings |
user.ini | Your own app settings, split out of global.ini in OBS 31 and later |
plugins | Plugins you installed yourself, one .plugin bundle each |
logs | Text logs, useful when OBS misbehaves |
Names follow what you typed in OBS. A collection called Gaming is a file named Gaming.json. The scenes folder may also hold .json.bak copies, which forum answers suggest swapping in when a collection is damaged.
OBS has an export route in its menus: Scene Collection > Export writes the current collection to a JSON file wherever you choose, and Profile > Export does the same for a profile folder. Import on the same menus loads them on another Mac. A 2020 forum thread reported the Export and Import entries missing in one Mac build; if you meet that, use the folder copy below.
An export is configuration only. Images, video clips and fonts used in your scenes are not packed into the file. A scene that points at ~/Pictures/logo.png shows a blank source on a new Mac until the file exists at the same path, and because the path includes your user name, a different user name breaks it too.
~/Library/Application Support.obs-studio folder to a drive or into a zip file. Hold ⌥ while dragging so it copies.That captures scenes, profiles, settings and your own plugins in one go. To restore on a new Mac, install OBS, quit it, and put the folder at the same path. Install the same OBS version or a newer one: a newer OBS can upgrade the files, while an older one may not read what a newer one wrote.
OBS's plugin guide gives ~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins as the macOS location, with one bundle ending in .plugin per plugin. A copied obs-studio folder brings them along, but a plugin built for an older OBS may not load in a newer one, so reinstall from the plugin's page if one goes missing after a move.
None of this folder holds your videos. Recordings go to the Recording Path in Settings > Output, which OBS sets to your Movies folder by default, and File > Show Recordings opens it. The related post on OBS recordings covers it.
People often back up the wrong half. A scene collection holds what appears on screen: scenes, sources, positions, filters and transitions. A profile holds how OBS captures and outputs: resolution, frame rate, encoder, bitrate, recording folder and stream settings. Moving a scene collection to a Mac with a different monitor keeps the layout but not the output settings, so move both if you want the same result.
Stream keys are part of a profile's stream settings, so a copied profile folder can contain a secret. Treat it like a password: do not post it online, share it, or open its files on a shared screen or in a support forum.
The Scene Collection and Profile menus switch between everything in those folders, so one install can hold a setup for streaming and another for recording. Each is a separate file or folder, which makes it easy to duplicate a collection from the menu, test changes, and fall back to the original.
The configuration is small, a few megabytes for most setups. The logs folder grows slowly and holds only text, so old logs are safe to move to the Trash with OBS closed. Do not delete basic unless you have a copy, since that is everything you built. A clean reset means quitting OBS and moving the whole obs-studio folder to your Desktop; OBS then starts fresh, and you can import your scenes back.
The folder is in ~/Library, which Spotlight does not show, and the files inside have names like basic.ini that say nothing about which setup they belong to.
Typing obs-studio in Everywhere shows the folder, and typing the name of a scene collection lists its .json file straight away, which is handy before you wipe a Mac. Press ⌘T to open Terminal in that folder. It searches names, not the settings inside the JSON.
In ~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/basic/scenes/, one JSON file per scene collection. Profiles are folders in basic/profiles, and File > Show Settings Folder in OBS opens the parent folder.
Quit OBS and copy the ~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio folder, or export each scene collection and profile from the OBS menus. Media files used in scenes are not included.
The scene file stores paths to images, videos and fonts, not the files. Put them at the same paths on the new Mac or re-select them.
Export or copy the scenes and profiles first, then move the obs-studio folder to your Desktop with OBS closed. OBS creates a fresh one on next launch.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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