How to Use OBS Browser Source for Captions

What Is OBS Browser Source?

OBS Studio includes a source type called Browser Source that renders any URL as a layer in your streaming scene. This is how StreamTranslate delivers real-time captions — through a lightweight webpage that displays your speech as text in real time.

Browser sources are standard in OBS, Streamlabs, and XSplit. They require no plugin installation and work on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

• Built into OBS Studio, Streamlabs, and XSplit
• Renders any URL as a transparent overlay
• No plugin or extension install required
• Works on all operating systems

Step-by-Step: Browser Source Captions

Step 1: Create a room at streamtranslate.live/control. Select your languages. Copy the overlay URL.

Step 2: Open OBS Studio. In your scene, click the + button under Sources.

Step 3: Select "Browser" (or "Browser Source" in Streamlabs). Name it "Captions" or similar.

Step 4: In the URL field, paste your StreamTranslate overlay URL.

Step 5: Set Width to 1920 and Height to 1080. Check "Refresh browser when scene becomes active."

Step 6: Click OK. Drag the browser source to the bottom of your scene. Make sure it's above your game capture or camera source in the layer stack so it renders on top.

Step 7: Start your stream. Captions appear in real time when you speak.

Browser Source Best Practices

• Place the caption source at the top of your source stack (highest layer) so it renders above everything
• Use 1920×1080 resolution for the browser source even if your stream is a different resolution — it scales properly
• Enable "Refresh browser when scene becomes active" to reconnect automatically when switching scenes
• If captions stop appearing, right-click the source and select "Refresh cache of current page"
• Test with a short mic check before going live to confirm captions display correctly

Frequently Asked Questions