Selective Recording in Streamlabs Desktop lets you choose which visual sources appear in a recording independently of what viewers see on the live broadcast. Enable it in the Studio tab, set each source’s destinations, then inspect the live and recording outputs before using the setup for a real stream.
This is useful when you want, for example, alerts on the livestream but not in a clean gameplay recording. The controls described here are per-source visual choices; they do not by themselves create separate audio mixes or change the live output when you only alter the recording destination.
Understand live output versus recorded output
Think of the live broadcast and the recording as two destinations for the sources in your scene. A source can go to both, to the live broadcast only, or to the recording only. That distinction is the point of Selective Recording: the recording need not be a copy of precisely what the audience saw.
A common example is a scene with a game capture, webcam, alert box and chat overlay. You might want all four visible live, but prefer the recording to contain only the game and webcam. In that case, the alert box and chat overlay remain available to viewers while being excluded from the recorded video. The reverse is also possible: a source can be included in the recording without appearing on the livestream.
These choices concern what is visible in each video output. Do not assume that hiding a source from the recording also mutes it there, or that selecting a visual destination changes audio routing. If you need different audio in the stream and recording, treat that as a separate configuration task and verify it independently.
If you are producing a long-running channel from a prepared video file rather than a desktop scene, this feature may not be relevant to the broadcast workflow. For example, a 24/7 lake ambience stream has different operational concerns from a live desktop production with alerts and overlays.
Enable Selective Recording
Open Streamlabs Desktop and switch to the Studio tab. Locate the Sources panel and click the Selective Recording icon. Streamlabs’ recording guide describes the control as an icon in that panel; once enabled, destination icons appear beside the sources.
The added icons are the important confirmation that the feature is active. Streamlabs says sources initially go to both the live stream and the recording. In other words, enabling the feature should not be treated as a command to remove every source from one output. You then make the desired change source by source.
Before adjusting anything, take a moment to identify the sources in the scene and what each is for. A source may represent a webcam, browser-based alert, game capture, image, text label, microphone-related visual indicator, or other scene element. Names can be unclear if you have accumulated scenes over time; selecting a source and observing the preview can help you confirm what it represents.
Use the current Streamlabs guide for the documented setup flow: Streamlabs Desktop Recording Functionality. Its instructions cover Selective Recording alongside recording configuration, so distinguish the source-destination controls from other recording options in that article.
Choose sources for the live broadcast
For each source, decide whether viewers should see it during the broadcast. The default described by Streamlabs is that a source is assigned to both destinations. Click the relevant destination icon beside a source to change its assignment, and do this individually for each item rather than assuming one click applies to a whole group or scene.
Suppose you have an alert box that should remain on the livestream. Keep its live destination enabled. If you also want the alert to appear in the recording, leave its recording destination enabled; if not, change only the recording destination. This preserves the alert for viewers while removing it from the recorded video. Do not toggle the live destination off just because you want a cleaner recording.
You may also have a source used only for a recording, such as a private note or a reference graphic that should not be sent to viewers. In that case, enable its recording destination and leave its live destination disabled. Check the source itself and the scene composition before going live, particularly if the material is not intended for an audience.
The decision is about output, not about whether the source exists in the scene. Keep a simple written map if there are several sources: “game: live and recording; alerts: live only; reference graphic: recording only”. This is often clearer than relying on memory after changing several icons. If you use a continuous stream, keeping scene choices documented also makes it easier to spot accidental changes during later maintenance.
Choose sources for the recording
Work through the same list, now asking what should be present in the recorded video. Click the recording destination icon for each source whose recorded visibility needs to differ from the live output. A typical clean gameplay recording keeps the game capture and perhaps the webcam, while excluding chat and alert graphics that were useful to the live audience.
Be precise about the outcome you want. “Remove alerts from the recording” means change the alert source’s recording assignment, not its live assignment. “Add a title card to the recording only” means include that source in the recording and exclude it from the live broadcast. The feature allows these destination choices to diverge; changing one destination does not inherently alter the other.
If a source is nested or grouped, confirm which individual source the icon belongs to before clicking. Avoid making several changes quickly and then trying to infer what changed. One-at-a-time adjustments, followed by a visual check, are easier to audit when your scene includes multiple browser sources or overlays with similar names.
This distinction matters for more than games. A local news loop could show a ticker live but omit it from an archive; a study stream might show a session timer to viewers while retaining a cleaner recording. These are examples of possible production choices, not guarantees about how a particular source behaves in every installed version. Check the output projectors and make a short test with your own scene.
Check source visibility and audio
After assigning destinations, inspect the actual outputs. Streamlabs’ support instructions describe right-clicking a source and choosing a Projector to view the live or recording output. Use the available projector options to check each destination rather than relying only on the small icons. Confirm that a source intended for the live broadcast appears there, and that a source excluded from the recording is absent from the recording view.
The check should cover both directions. If you want an alert live but not recorded, the live projector should show it and the recording projector should not. If you want an element in the recording only, verify that it appears in the recording view and is absent from the live view. The purpose is to establish the distinction you configured, not merely to confirm that the source is visible somewhere.
Visual selection and audio are separate. A browser alert may have both a visual component and sound. The per-source visual destination control does not, on its own, establish that the alert’s audio will be present in one output and absent from another. If separate audio is needed, Streamlabs documents a distinct workflow in Selective Recording Audio Routing, involving audio settings and virtual audio routing. That is an advanced and separate task; it is not required for the visual setup described here.
For multitrack recording, Streamlabs’ recording guide says to switch the Output settings from Simple to Advanced, open Recording, choose tracks, and assign sources in Advanced Audio Settings. It also says the software can record as many as six tracks. Because available formats and recommendations may differ between guides and versions, consult the installed version’s format options and the relevant Streamlabs documentation rather than assuming the visual Selective Recording controls create multiple audio tracks.
Record a test and inspect both results
Projectors are useful for checking composition, but make a brief test recording before relying on the configuration. The test should include the sources whose destinations differ: an alert or overlay that should be live-only, and, if applicable, a source intended to be recording-only. Trigger or display them during the test so you can inspect the actual result rather than an idle scene.
Then review the saved recording. Confirm that the intended elements are present and the excluded elements are absent. If audio matters, listen to the recording as well as watching it; visual source choices do not prove that the sound mix is correct. Also check the live output using its projector or a suitable private test arrangement, taking care not to expose material you intended to keep off air.
A useful check is to compare a short segment against your source map. For each source, note the expected destinations and whether the output matches. If an alert appears in the recording unexpectedly, check the alert’s recording icon. If a recording-only graphic appears to viewers, check its live icon. Avoid changing unrelated recording quality settings until you have confirmed that the problem is actually a destination assignment.
This verification habit applies to other production tasks too. If a long stream has a separate technical problem, such as audio drift, investigate that as its own issue; a guide to keeping audio in sync while looping video concerns playback synchronisation, not Selective Recording destinations. Keeping those questions separate avoids trying to solve the wrong problem by changing source visibility.
Troubleshoot mismatched outputs
If the live and recorded results look identical when they should differ, first confirm that Selective Recording is enabled and that the destination icons are visible beside sources. Then inspect the particular source’s assignment. It is easy to change the wrong icon or overlook a source with a similar name, especially if the scene has several browser elements.
If a source is missing from both outputs, check more than the Selective Recording assignment. Confirm that the source is enabled and visible in the scene, that the correct scene is active, and that the item has not been hidden or removed by another scene-level setting. Selective Recording determines destination inclusion; it is not a general repair for a source that is not functioning in the scene.
If a source is visible live but missing from the recording, verify its recording destination and make another short test. If it appears in the recording but not live, verify its live destination. Use the projectors as Streamlabs documents, and review the saved file when the question is specifically about recorded output. The two checks serve different purposes: one lets you inspect destination views, the other confirms what was actually captured.
Streamlabs’ support article states that Selective Recording works only with horizontal sources and disables the vertical output scene. This limitation is in an older support article, and the newer recording guide does not mention it. If you use dual output or a vertical scene, check the behaviour in your installed version before depending on the vertical output; do not assume the support article reflects every current version without testing.
If only the audio is wrong, do not keep toggling visual source destinations. Review audio monitoring, track assignments and source routing separately. Streamlabs’ audio-routing guide presents a more involved Windows workflow using VoiceMeeter Banana; that is an optional route for readers who specifically need different audio paths, not a prerequisite for Selective Recording’s visual controls.
For a production that runs unattended, a successful desktop test does not prove that every later session will behave identically after updates or scene edits. Keep the destination map with your scene notes, and repeat the brief check whenever you change overlays, sources or output configuration. This is a modest check that can prevent an unexpected alert or private graphic from being captured or broadcast.
If your broader project is to keep a YouTube channel running continuously, the production method may matter more than desktop source selection. For instance, running a podcast livestream from a NAS addresses a different way of organising a long-running broadcast, rather than changing what Selective Recording puts in a desktop recording.
When separate audio is the real requirement
A frequent source of confusion is expecting one icon to control both a source’s picture and its sound. The documented Selective Recording controls are described as choosing which sources appear in recorded video. Separate audio mixes require attention to audio routing and track assignments, and those settings can involve more steps than the visual setup.
If you only want to remove a graphic from a recording, leave audio settings alone and test the visual destination. If the alert sound should also be absent from the recording, investigate the documented audio-routing workflow and verify the resulting track or mix. Streamlabs’ guides describe different approaches and recording format advice; formats and options can vary, so use the guidance that matches your installed version.
Do not add routing software simply because it appears in an advanced guide. First state the requirement clearly: do you need a different picture, a different sound, or both? That question keeps a straightforward per-source visual task from turning into an unnecessary audio configuration project.
Before relying on the setup in a real broadcast, confirm that your channel and scene are ready, and that the material is appropriate for each destination. For a channel setup involving a long loop or other continuous programming, the practical checklist in how to stream a Tamil children’s video playlist to YouTube 24/7 addresses a different operational workflow, but does not replace checking these desktop outputs.
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FAQ
Does Selective Recording change what viewers see live?
It can change a source’s live destination if you change that destination, but changing only the recording destination does not change the live broadcast. Treat the two assignments separately and check both outputs after making changes.
Do I need to set every source individually?
Streamlabs describes destination icons beside sources and says sources initially go to both outputs. Make the choice for each source whose live and recording destinations need to differ, then verify the result rather than assuming a change applied to other sources.
Does Selective Recording separate audio automatically?
No. The visual destination controls and audio routing are separate tasks. If you need different audio in the stream and recording, consult Streamlabs’ audio-routing and recording guidance, then test what was captured.
Can I rely on it with a vertical output scene?
Streamlabs’ older support article says Selective Recording works only with horizontal sources and disables the vertical output scene, while its newer recording guide does not mention that limitation. Check the behaviour in your installed version before relying on vertical output.