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To replace the live camera feed in a video call with your own image, video, or composed layout, put that content in an OBS Studio scene, start OBS Virtual Camera, then select it as the camera in your meeting app. Choose your microphone separately: the ordinary OBS virtual-camera setup sends video, not microphone audio. You do not need to buy a webcam to show a still image or other media already available on your computer.

What replacing your camera feed means

OBS Virtual Camera makes an OBS scene available to other applications as a webcam device. The meeting app receives the scene you select in OBS rather than the image from your physical webcam. That scene can contain an image, video, a live camera source, or a layout you have assembled in OBS.

This is different from sharing your screen or a window: the virtual camera is selected as the camera input. It is also different from Google Meet’s separate option to present content from a camera, described below.

Set up OBS Virtual Camera

  1. Open OBS Studio and prepare a scene. Add the image, video, camera, or other source you want to show, and arrange it in a scene. A physical webcam is optional; it is only needed if you want live camera footage as one of the scene’s sources.
  2. Choose the virtual-camera output. In OBS’s Controls dock, open the Virtual Camera settings and select an output mode. Use Program when you want the meeting to receive OBS’s normal output. Choose Preview, Scene, or Source only if you specifically intend to send that preview or fixed scene/source instead.
  3. Start the virtual camera. Click Start Virtual Camera in the Controls dock.
  4. Select the camera in your meeting app. In the app’s camera-device settings, choose OBS Virtual Camera, then inspect its preview before joining or presenting.
  5. Set your microphone separately. Select the microphone you want to use in the meeting app’s audio settings if you want other participants to hear you.

OBS’s Virtual Camera Guide, dated August 31, 2022, documents the scene-to-webcam workflow and the Program, Preview, Scene, and Source output choices. The output mode matters: if the app shows an unintended image or scene, check that setting in OBS before changing other meeting controls.

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Choose the right OBS output

  • Program: Sends OBS’s normal output. This is the usual choice when the scene currently going out from OBS is the one you want the meeting to see.
  • Preview: Sends the preview used in Studio Mode. Use it only when you deliberately want that preview as the camera feed.
  • Scene or Source: Holds output to a selected scene or source rather than following OBS’s normal output. Select these only when that fixed output is intentional.

Check the receiving app’s camera preview before going live. That gives you a chance to catch a wrong scene or output mode before other participants see it.

Use OBS Virtual Camera in Google Meet

For an ordinary participant-camera replacement, select OBS Virtual Camera in Google Meet’s camera settings. Open Settings → Video, choose the camera device, and inspect the preview. Google’s computer video and audio guidance also describes reducing the sent video quality when that is useful for delay, network quality, battery, data use, or other quality concerns.

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Present camera content instead of replacing your participant camera

Meet also has a distinct Present content from a camera workflow. It is intended for presenting camera-originated content to the meeting, not simply changing the camera device used for your participant feed. Google’s instructions are to enable Share content from camera in meeting settings, then choose Present now → Camera and select an external or virtual camera.

Google limits this presentation feature to specified Workspace editions; availability depends on the edition listed in Google’s current help documentation. For the documented video-production-tool path, Google states that content is uncropped and encoded at up to 1080p and 30 FPS. Those figures describe the stated product capability, not a guarantee of the quality you will experience in every meeting.

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If OBS Virtual Camera does not appear

  • Start OBS Virtual Camera first. A third-party guide published August 18, 2026 recommends starting the virtual camera before opening the meeting app. If the app was already open, close and reopen it so it can check for the device again. This is troubleshooting advice, not a universal official requirement.
  • Check OBS’s output mode. If the device is available but shows the wrong content, return to the Virtual Camera settings and verify whether Program, Preview, Scene, or Source is selected.
  • Check the meeting preview. Confirm the app is using OBS Virtual Camera rather than a different camera device, and verify that the intended OBS scene is visible.
  • Check audio separately. If people cannot hear you, choose the intended microphone in the meeting app; do not assume the virtual camera also supplies microphone audio.

Exact current Zoom and Microsoft Teams menu paths and platform-specific permission fixes are not established here, so this guide does not give unverified click-by-click instructions for those apps. The general workflow is to start OBS Virtual Camera and choose it as the camera in an app that accepts webcam devices; consult the app’s own current help for its device and permission controls.

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What you need—and what you do not

You need OBS Studio, content to place in an OBS scene, and a receiving app that accepts a webcam device. You do not need a purchased camera to show a still image or other available media. A USB webcam is an optional scene source if the scene should include live footage.

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