Fix: OBS “An Unspecified Error Occurred While Recording” issue

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This article will show you how to Fix OBS “An Unspecified Error Occurred While Recording” issue is a common OBS Studio recording error. OBS Studio is a great tool for recording and streaming online. But some users can’t use OBS Studio because when they try to record their screens, a video error happens. Instead of recording, OBS Studio shows this message: “An unspecified error occurred while recording.”

The error generally shows up when an important DLL file is missing or when there is a problem in the directory where OBS Studio is installed. So, if you see the same error, try one of the methods below to get rid of it for good. OBS Studio is a free, open-source program that lets you record and share your screen in real time. Some users, on the other hand, got an error message when they tried to start recording their screen. “An unspecified error occurred while recording” is what the error message says.

Ways to Fix OBS “An Unspecified Error Occurred While Recording” issue

You’ll often get the “An Unspecified Error Occurred while Recording” error when OBS’s recording function switches to a Custom Output (FFmpeg) instead of the standard recording mode. When you use a custom, the usual encoder will be changed from H265/HEVC Encoder (AMD Advanced Media Framework) to something else. Follow the steps below to change the recording type settings before starting the recording again if you are just starting to look into the problem:

1. Open OBS and make sure you’re not actively streaming or performing any other task. If your OBS application is busy, the certain settings menu will not be available.
2. Load your project, then click on the Settings menu from the bottom-left section of the screen.
3. Inside the Settings menu, click on Output from the left-hand side menu, then go over to the right-hand pane and select the Recording tab.
4. Next, see the currently used option for the Recoding Type:
   • If it’s set to Standard, change it to Custom Output (FFmpeg)
   • If it’s set to Custom Output, change it to Standard.
5. Once you successfully changed the type, move down below to the Encoder section and set it to H265 / HEVC Encoder (AMD Advanced Media Framework).
6. Click Apply to save the changes, then restart OBS and see if the issue is now fixed.

Update the variable PATH

If you’ve already tried reinstalling OBS and are still getting the same “unspecified error,” it’s likely because the ffmpeg executables that OBS users need are not finding the expected DDLs, even if you have them on your system. If you want to know more information about this issue Visit Official Microsoft Support site.

• Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box.
• Next, type ‘cmd’ and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open up an elevated CMD prompt with admin access.
• At the User Account Control (UAC), click Yes to grant admin access.
• Once you’re inside the elevated CMD prompt, run the following command to navigate to the obs-ffmpeg installation folder:

CD C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\data\obs-plugins\obs-ffmpeg

• Type the following command to run the ffmpeg-mux32 executable:

start ffmpeg-mux32

• At the UAC prompt, click Yes to grant admin access.
• If the pop-up error is still occurring, you’ve just confirmed that the problem is happening due to a variable PATH issue.
• Press Windows key + R to open up another Run dialog box
• Type ‘sysdm.cpl’ and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open System Properties with admin access.
• Accept the UAC prompt by clicking Yes.
• Next, click on the Advanced tab and click on Environment Variables.
• Once you’re inside the Environment Variables screen, select thee Path variable from the ‘System Variables’ section and click the associated Edit button.
• Inside the ‘Variable value’ text box, move the cursor to the beginning of the text and paste the following path:

C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\bin\32bit;

• Click Ok, then confirm one last time to close the dialog box.
• Now to check if the issue is fixed, press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box.
• Next, type ‘cmd’ and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open up an elevated CMD prompt with admin access.
• At the User Account Control (UAC), click Yes to grant admin access.
• Run the following command to navigate to the location where obs-ffmpeg is installed for OBS Studio:

CD C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\data\obs-plugins\obs-ffmpeg

• Type the following command to run the ffmpeg executable:

start ffmpeg-mux32

• All required DLLs will be found by ffmpeg-mux32. You might get a different error message (‘expected option missing’), but you can just close it and turn to your application.

copy "C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\bin\32bit\zlib.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\data\obs-plugins\obs-ffmpeg"

Download the missing DLL manually

If you have already tried to change the compression engine and are still getting “An Unspecified Error Occurred while Recording,” look at what the error is trying to say. If any important .If you don’t have any DLL files, it’s likely because an overprotective antivirus program got rid of them.

They may be in storage or have been deleted from your PC. If this is the case, you can easily fix the problem by getting the missing.dll files from a special local location and putting them in the obs-ffmpeg folder.

When working with DLL files, it’s always a good idea to check for malware or ads that might have come with them. Before you use these files on your system, we’ll show you how to check them for viruses so that you don’t expose your system to security risks. Follow the steps below to download the missing DLLs and make sure they don’t come with ads or malware:

• Press Windows key + E to open up File Explorer.
• Next, navigate to the installation location of OBS. By default, you’ll find it in the following path:

C:\Program Files\OBS\data\obs-plugins\obs-ffmpeg\

• Once inside, double-click on both ffmpeg-mux64.exe and ffmpeg-mux32.exe and see which .dll dependencies are missing. Most commonly, the following you the error message will point toward one of the following dependencies:

avcodec-57.dllavformat-57.dllavutil-55.dllswresample-2.dll

• Open your default browser and navigate to the root directory of DLL-Fles.com.
• Use the search function to find and download every missing .dll file you discovered in step 3.
• Navigate to the upload page of Virus Total and upload every file that you previously downloaded.
• Once you make sure that every DLL file is safe, copy them into the obs-fmpeg folder. The default location is:

C:\Program Files\OBS\data\obs-plugins\obs-ffmpeg\

• If the OBS program is currently open, close it before opening it again to force it to load the missing dependencies.
• Initiate recording once again and see if the ‘unspecified error’.

There are many ways to Fix OBS “An Unspecified Error Occurred While Recording” issue. OBS is a free, open-source program with an easy-to-use interface and powerful editing tools that make it easy to record your screen. No matter how long you’ve been using OBS or how new you are, it is possible to run into the annoying problem of not being able to record sounds.