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Keep your captions across scene changes

Your captions should follow the conversation from gameplay to camera to screen share. Reuse the same subtitle source, choose deliberate browser settings and check every scene before your broadcast.

Open subtitle controlsSet up source reuse

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One source, all your speaking scenes

  1. Finish one working scene first

    Follow the OBS and Streamlabs setup guide. Select your audio and languages in Control, then confirm speech appears in your scene.

  2. Reuse it in OBS Studio

    Open the next scene. Choose Sources → + → Browser → Add Existing, select your subtitle source and click OK. Repeat for each speaking scene, referencing the same browser page.

  3. Reuse it in Streamlabs Desktop

    Choose Sources → + → Browser Source → Add Source, select the subtitle source under Add Existing Source and confirm. Keep it visible above your video layers. Streamlabs also recommends existing-source reuse for its own browser widgets.

  4. Check each layout

    Each scene can use a different transform. Keep captions on-canvas and clear of game UI, slides and alerts. Shared URL and browser dimensions affect the source in every scene.

Give the browser a steady connection

Automatic shutdown when hidden: off
Keep the browser page available when you switch away. Turning shutdown on unloads it while hidden; returning then requires the page to load again.
Refresh on scene activation: off
Avoid reloading the caption page at each return to a scene. Enable this only when you intentionally need a fresh page and have rehearsed the interruption.
URL and dimensions: consistent
Use your complete overlay URL and a browser viewport that matches your intended canvas, usually 1920 × 1080 for landscape.

Open Browser Source properties to find these options. The recommendation follows the behavior documented by OBS and Streamlabs; it reduces avoidable reloads but cannot prevent every network interruption.

  1. One caption sessionYour chosen mic and languages in Control
  2. One Browser SourceYour saved overlay URL
  3. Several scene referencesGameplay, camera and screen share
Conceptual workflow: each speaking scene displays the same caption source.

Decide what happens on a break

Leave the overlay out of a silent BRB scene if you want it hidden. This does not stop browser-microphone captioning: Control can still receive audio when your broadcast mixer is muted.

Before a private conversation, end the caption session in Control and mute the broadcast audio. On returning, verify your microphone, restart captions and say a harmless test sentence. For OBS audio plugin mode, rehearse its actual source and mute routing separately.

Rehearse the whole scene loop

  1. Record a speaking transition

    Start the Control caption session and a local recording. Say a different short phrase in gameplay, camera and screen-share scenes. Move through your normal transitions while speaking at a natural pace.

  2. Try your break and return

    Stop captions and mute for the break. Say a harmless phrase to test privacy, then return, restart and speak again. Replay the recording to confirm the private-test phrase never appears in your video.

  3. Check the audience view

    For a broadcast rehearsal, open the platform player on another device with sound down to avoid feedback. Check line placement at the viewing size your audience uses. A local preview alone does not establish what a platform player received.

If captions disappear in just one scene, inspect its source reference, eye icon, layer order and transform. If they pause every time you return, inspect browser lifecycle options. If all scenes stop updating, check Control’s audio, session and connection before duplicating sources or repeatedly refreshing.

Keep the caption outputs straight

This guide covers a video overlay in 65 languages. A Twitch extension is a separate player experience; native Twitch CC is separate caption data sent by a compatible encoder. To combine translated overlays with a viewer-toggleable track, follow the native CC and overlay guide.

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Questions about this setup

Should I paste the overlay URL into a new source in every scene?

Usually reuse the existing subtitle Browser Source. Separate browser sources have independent page instances and settings, which makes a consistent scene setup harder to maintain.

Should I refresh the browser every time the scene changes?

For continuous captions, leave refresh on scene activation off. Use a manual refresh when troubleshooting an actual stuck page, after checking the caption session and connection.

Does hiding the subtitle source stop microphone captioning?

No. Hiding the video layer does not end a browser-microphone caption session in Control. Stop the caption session before a private break and test your microphone routing.

Can different scenes place the same captions differently?

Yes. Check the source transform in each scene. Shared browser settings, including its URL and viewport size, affect the existing source referenced across scenes.

Set up your first subtitle source

Exact OBS Studio and Streamlabs Desktop instructions.

Combine native CC and translation

Two outputs, one planned microphone workflow.

All desktop setup choices

Choose your software and add an overlay.

Understand the caption formats

Compare extensions, video overlays and native CC.

Official references

Reviewed October 12, 2026. Provider features and offers can change; use the linked provider pages for current details.

Put captions on your next stream

65 live translation languages. A Browser Source overlay and an official Twitch extension.

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