How To Export Your OBS Scene Collections: Save Your Stream...(And Your SANITY!!!)

Teacher Nine
Oct 6
2 min read

Updated: Nov 15

OBS scene collection export

How to export OBS scenes

Save OBS scene collection

Backup OBS scenes

OBS scene backup tutorial
Export OBS scene collection step by step

Move OBS scenes to a new PC

Restore OBS scene collection

How to import OBS scenes

OBS backup guide for streamers

Protect OBS overlays and layouts

Save OBS camera and overlay settings

HOW TO EXPORT YOUR OBS SCENE COLLECTION (DON’T LOSE YOUR STREAM VIBES)

Look, if you’re a streamer, you already know your scene collection is the soul of your whole setup. It’s not just a few screens you tossed together—it’s your camera angles, your overlays, your alerts, your transitions, your branding, your whole vibe in digital form. This is the part of OBS that makes your stream feel like you.

So when something goes wrong and your scenes vanish? Whew. You’re not just losing settings—you’re losing hours of creative work, layout tweaking, color matching, audio balancing, source layering, and that perfectly-timed stinger you finally nailed after fighting with it all night. Losing your scene collection feels like someone wiped your entire stream identity clean. Disrespectful.

But here’s the good news: OBS actually makes it ridiculously easy to protect yourself. All you have to do is export your OBS scene collection, and you can save your entire layout—sources, filters, transitions, overlays, everything. No rebuilding. No crying. No “I swear I had this set up yesterday…”.

And the best part? Exporting your OBS scene collection takes less than a minute once you know where to look.

So take a breath, relax those shoulders, and let’s walk through exactly how to lock your setup in for good. Let’s break it down.

OPEN OBS AND FIND YOUR SCENE COLLECTION

Fire up OBS.
Look at the top menu and click Scene Collection.
You’ll see a list of all your scene collections—maybe one for Twitch, one for YouTube, one for “messing around.”

Pick the one you want to save. This is the one you’ll take to the future.

EXPORT IT LIKE A PRO

Click Scene Collection → Export.
A window pops up asking where to save it.
Choose a folder you’ll remember—desktop, documents, a special “OBS Backups” folder.
Name the file something clear, like OBS_Scenes_Twitch_2025.zip.

Pro Tip: Include the date. Trust me—future you will thank present you.

DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR BACKUP

Make sure the .zip is actually there.
Optionally, open it to see the .json files inside—these are your scene layouts and settings.

IMPORT ON A NEW PC (OR AFTER A RESET)

Install OBS (same version or newer).
Go to Scene Collection → Import.
Select your .zip backup.
Boom. Your scenes, overlays, and camera layouts are exactly how you left them.

Pro Tip: If you move profiles too, do that first. Scene collections work hand-in-hand with profiles.

TIPS & BEST PRACTICES

Back up regularly. Every time you tweak your stream setup, export your scenes. Don’t wait for disaster.
Keep multiple versions. If you experiment with layouts or add crazy alerts, save a “before” version.
Combine with profiles. Scene collection + profile = total stream backup. Never leave home without it.
Use cloud storage. Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox—your scenes should survive even if your PC dies.

Your scene collection is your stream’s personality. Treat it like gold. Export it. Back it up. And never rebuild from scratch again.