Troubleshooting Capture Source issues on Laptops

The first step you need to know in order to follow this guide is which (high-performance) GPU manufacturer your laptop uses- this can be either Nvidia or AMD/ATI. If you don't know exactly which manufacturer the GPU in your laptop was made by you can find it the following way:

1. Open Task Manager (right-click on an empty spot in the taskbar)
2. Navigate to the Performance tab (click on "more details" if needed)
3. Check all available GPUs listed in the left menu, and you can see which GPU is installed in the top-right once selected.

The graphics card that you run the Streamlabs application dictates what capture sources will be able to be used.  High-performance graphics will only show a Game Capture source. This is typically the default graphics card that your laptop will choose.  If you wish to use Display or Window capture you will need to use Integrated (Power Saving) Graphics.  Unfortunately, this is a limitation of laptops when trying to use Game Capture and Window/Display Capture because Streamlabs Desktop can only be run by one of the two graphics processors at any given moment on a laptop.

How to select the GPU to use

Windows 10 prior to the version 2004 update:

1. Close Streamlabs Desktop
2. Right-click the Streamlabs Desktop shortcut on your desktop and hover Run with graphics processor> Choose either High-Performance Graphics (Game Capture) or Integrated Graphics (Display/Window Capture)
   
   

If you cannot find the option Run with graphics processor in the context menu then complete the following extra steps:

1. Open up Nvidia Control Panel(normally found by right-clicking on the desktop if added to the context menu). Can also be found in the system Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization.
2. Select Desktop in the menu bar.
3. Enable Add "Run with graphics processor" to Context Menu option.

If you receive an error saying you do not have the privilege to select the graphics processor in this menu:

Right click Streamlabs Desktop > Properties > in the Shortcut tab or in the Compatability tab > Untick Always run as admin

Windows 10, version 2004 and higher:

1. Click on the Start Menu and search GPU and select Graphics Settings
   
2. In the Graphics Performance Preference click Browse
   
3. Locate Streamlabs Desktop and add it
4. Click on the Options button for Streamlabs Desktop on the list
5. Choose either High-Performance Graphics (Game Capture) or Integrated Graphics (Display/Window Capture)
   
   
6. Repeat steps 3-5 and search obs64.exe. You can also use the filepath here if needed: Streamlabs Desktop/resources/app.asar.unpacked/node_modules/obs-studio-node

If you are still struggling to capture using Game Capture, please try these additional troubleshooting steps here.

Display Capture Troubleshooting

First, try disabling "Force GPU as render device" in Settings > Advanced (Video section) and restart Streamlabs Desktop.

If that does not resolve the display capture issue then also do the following:

1. Open Windows 10 settings
2. Select System
3. Select Graphic settings (found at the bottom of the Display settings page).
4. This is in the Display settings that should be selected by default.
5. Select the Classic app and browse to the Streamlabs Desktop executable.
6. Default location: C:\Program Files\Streamlabs Desktop\ > Streamlabs Desktop.exe
7. Select the newly created Streamlabs Desktop and hit options.
8. Select Power Saving Mode and Save.

If you have issues with any of this or something isn't working as intended, please submit a ticket here for assistance.