How To Resolve the “GPU Not Supported” Error in OBS Studio

This error often pops up when OBS Studio can’t recognize your GPU or run smoothly with its current settings. Usually, it’s caused by either unsupported hardware or a canvas size that’s too big for your GPU to handle. Basically, if OBS tries to initialize with a resolution that your GPU can’t support, it throws this error and might even crash right after launching.

Another thing that trips it up is using the wrong version of OBS—say, trying to run a 64-bit build on a 32-bit system, or opting for a hardware-accelerated build that your GPU doesn’t support. Because, of course, Windows has to make things a little more complicated than necessary.

So, now that you get the basic idea of what might be causing this, here are some workable fixes. Follow these steps carefully, and hopefully one of them will get OBS running without the “GPU Not Supported” hiccup.

1. Set OBS to High Performance

It’s pretty common for Windows to default to using integrated graphics instead of your dedicated GPU, especially on laptops with switchable graphics. This can lead OBS to not get full access to your GPU resources, which might trigger the error. Setting OBS to run in High Performance mode forces Windows to prioritize your dedicated GPU (like Nvidia or AMD) whenever OBS starts, which often fixes the problem.

1. Open the Windows search bar (hit Windows + S), type “Graphics Settings”, and pick that setting from the list.
2. In the Graphics Settings window, look for the Options button beneath the app list (if OBS isn’t there, just add it via Browse).
3. Click the dropdown menu labeled Graphics preference, pick High Performance, then hit Save.

This tweak helps because it forces Windows to give OBS the full GPU attention it needs. On some setups, this fix doesn’t do much at first, and a reboot might be needed — but on others, it works right away. No promises, just experience talking.

2. Change Resolution from the Initialization File

If the GPU can’t cope with the default or user-specified canvas size—like, say, a 2560×1440 resolution—OBS might throw this error before even fully opening. Sometimes, this is because of a mismatch or a high resolution setting that your GPU just can’t handle, especially on older hardware.

I’ve run into this myself—on some rigs, OBS opens fine at lower resolutions, but higher ones just cause immediate crashes or errors. The tricky part? You can’t change these resolution settings from within OBS if it’s not opening at all. The workaround is tweaking a configuration file directly, which is a bit of a pain but works.

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type in %appdata%\obs-studio\basic\profiles\Untitled or replace “Untitled” with the profile name you’re using. Press Enter.
3. Right-click the basic file and choose Open with Notepad.
4. Look for the [Video] section—here’s where resolution settings live. Adjust these as needed:

   BaseCX=1920 BaseCY=1080 OutputCX=1920 OutputCY=1080 

   I’d recommend lowering everything to standard HD for a safe bet—like 1280×720 or 1920×1080—if your GPU just isn’t up for higher res.

This isn’t the most elegant solution, but it’s effective when OBS crashes at startup because of resolution issues. Just be aware, you might need to tweak the config more than once depending on your hardware.

3. Delete the OBS Settings Folder

If OBS has some corrupted or misconfigured settings—like a really weird canvas size or incompatible capture configs—it might refuse to start or throw that “GPU Not Supported” error. When OBS stalls or crashes early, resetting it to default can often fix this. Removing the settings folder is a quick way to do that, but be warned: it wipes all preset configs, scene collections, and custom settings. So, if you have important setups saved, backup those first.

1. Hit Windows Key + R, then enter %appdata%\obs-studio and press Enter.
2. Right-click the obs-studio folder and pick Delete.
3. Re-open OBS—you’ll get a fresh, default setup, which often clears up startup errors.

If this doesn’t do the trick, or if you want to keep your profiles, try reinstalling OBS with the latest stable version from the OBS Project site. That sometimes smokes out weird bugs or corrupted files.