by Creating content for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts requires a vertical video format. While OBS Studio is a powerful tool for horizontal video, it doesn’t have a single “vertical mode” button. Luckily, there’s a simple trick you can use to seamlessly switch between vertical and horizontal setups.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through a two-part solution that lets you quickly set up OBS for vertical video. The best part? It doesn’t require any extra plugins or third-party software!
Step 1: Duplicate Your Profile and Change the Resolution
First, we need to adjust the core video settings to a vertical aspect ratio. To do this without messing up your existing horizontal setup, we’ll duplicate your current profile.
- Duplicate Your Profile: In OBS, go to the Profile menu at the top. Click Duplicate and give it a new name, such as “Vertical.” This creates a copy of all your program settings, including your stream keys and recording paths.
- Adjust the Video Settings: Now, with your new “Vertical” profile selected, click on Settings in the bottom right corner. Navigate to the Video tab.
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Change the Resolution: You’ll see two main resolution fields: Base (Canvas) Resolution and Output (Scaled) Resolution. By default, they’re likely set to
1920x1080. To get a vertical video, you just need to swap the values. Type in1080x1920for both fields. Click Apply and then OK.
You’ll notice your OBS canvas immediately switches to a vertical orientation. Your horizontal scenes, however, will still look small and off-center. That’s where the next step comes in.
Step 2: Duplicate Your Scene Collection and Realign Your Sources
Now that the canvas is vertical, we need to adjust your scenes to fit the new layout. Just like with the profile, we’ll duplicate your scene collection so you don’t lose your original horizontal layouts.
- Duplicate Your Scene Collection: Go to the Scene Collection menu at the top. Click Duplicate and name it “Vertical.”
- Realign Your Scene Sources: Now you can go into each scene and manually adjust your sources (like your webcam, screen capture, or images) to fit the new vertical canvas. Simply click and drag your sources to resize and reposition them as needed.
This might take a few minutes, but once you’ve set them up, you won’t have to do it again.
How to Switch Between Vertical and Horizontal
With your new profile and scene collection created, switching between your vertical and horizontal setups is incredibly easy:
- For Vertical: In the top menu, click Profile > Vertical and then Scene Collection > Vertical.
- For Horizontal: Simply switch back to your original profile and scene collection (e.g., Profile > Default and Scene Collection > Default).
By following these two simple steps, you can create a dedicated vertical workflow in OBS, making it easy to produce content for all of your favorite platforms without having to start from scratch every time.
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