Guide

What Shows on Stream If You Alt-Tab?

Alt-tab is where streams die. Display capture is a live feed of your monitor — every window, notification, and filename you reveal when you leave the game. Game capture is safer; display capture is honest about your whole desktop.

What each OBS source shows

  • Game capture: usually just the game. Discord overlay can still appear if it is injected.
  • Window capture: one window. Alt-tab away and viewers stare at a freeze or black frame — better than your inbox.
  • Display capture: the entire monitor. Alt-tab shows Discord, browsers, folders, everything.

Pre-live desk reset

  1. Save anything you care about.
  2. Close every app you do not need on camera.
  3. Open only game + OBS + chat + music.
  4. Preview the exact scene you will go live on, then deliberately alt-tab once to see what leaks.

Full Discord ritual: hide Discord messages while streaming. One-click close: Captain Kill Switch, covered in close all apps before going live.