DeckPad Download

Streaming · Streamlabs Desktop

Set up Streamlabs scene keys

Streamlabs Desktop (formerly Streamlabs OBS) works with DeckPad through hotkeys: give each scene a key combination in Streamlabs, then press it from the phone with a Shortcut key.

How DeckPad works with Streamlabs

DeckPad's OBS Studio keys (Scene, Stream, Record) control OBS Studio, not Streamlabs Desktop. Streamlabs is built on OBS's engine but doesn't have OBS Studio's remote control, so if you press an OBS key while only Streamlabs is open, the phone says:

“Streamlabs Desktop is open, but OBS buttons control OBS Studio. For Streamlabs, give each scene a hotkey in Streamlabs (Settings → Hotkeys) and use a Shortcut button.”

That's the method on this page, and it works today:

  1. In StreamlabsGive each scene a “switch to scene” hotkey, like Ctrl+Alt+1.
  2. On the phoneMake a Shortcut key that presses the same combination, and title it after the scene.
Coming later

Direct Streamlabs control (a live scene list without hotkeys) is planned. Until then, hotkeys are the way.

1. Give each scene a hotkey in Streamlabs

  1. Open HotkeysIn Streamlabs Desktop, open Settings (the gear icon) and choose Hotkeys.
  2. Find your scenesScroll to your scenes: Start, Game Play, Paused and End. Each has a hotkey box for switching to that scene.
  3. Set the combinationClick the box next to Start's switch-to-scene hotkey and press Ctrl+Alt+1 on your keyboard.
  4. RepeatGame Play → Ctrl+Alt+2, Paused → Ctrl+Alt+3, End → Ctrl+Alt+4.
  5. Streaming and recording (optional)The same Hotkeys page has hotkeys for starting and stopping streaming and recording. Give the ones you want a combination too, for example Ctrl+Alt+9 and Ctrl+Alt+0.
  6. Close SettingsThen test one: press Ctrl+Alt+2 on your keyboard and Streamlabs should switch to Game Play.
Settings · Hotkeys
Scenes
StartSwitch to sceneCtrl + Alt + 13Click, then press the keys
Game PlaySwitch to sceneCtrl + Alt + 2
PausedSwitch to sceneCtrl + Alt + 3
EndSwitch to sceneCtrl + Alt + 4
Each scene, Start, Game Play, Paused and End, with its switch-to-scene hotkey set to Ctrl+Alt+1 to 4.

Illustration; Streamlabs' own screen looks different and its labels can change between versions.

The mapping

Write yours down like this. The combinations are suggestions: anything works, as long as Streamlabs and the DeckPad key use the same one and nothing else on the PC uses it.

SceneStreamlabs hotkeyDeckPad key
StartCtrl+Alt+1Shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + 1”, titled Start
Game PlayCtrl+Alt+2Shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + 2”, titled Game Play
PausedCtrl+Alt+3Shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + 3”, titled Paused
EndCtrl+Alt+4Shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + 4”, titled End
Streaming (optional)e.g. Ctrl+Alt+9Shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + 9”, titled Go live
Recording (optional)e.g. Ctrl+Alt+0Shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + 0”, titled Record

2. Make a Shortcut key for each scene

  1. Open the editorOn the phone, tap an empty key (or menu ⋮ → Edit deck, then +).
  2. Choose ShortcutIn the action list, under Keyboard, tap Shortcut (“Press a key combination”).
  3. Pick the keysTap Choose keys. A full PC keyboard opens on the phone: tap Ctrl and Alt (they stay held), then 1, and tap Done. The preview reads Ctrl + Alt + 1.
  4. Name itType Start as the title. Tap the key preview if you'd like a different icon.
  5. Test and saveWith Streamlabs open, tap Test on PC; Streamlabs should switch to Start. Then Save.
  6. RepeatGame Play with Ctrl + Alt + 2, Paused with Ctrl + Alt + 3, End with Ctrl + Alt + 4.
New buttonSave
Key Start Title Start
Shortcut · Press a key combination
Ctrl + Alt + 1
Change keys3Ctrl, Alt, then 1
▶ Test on PC
Actions

Keyboard

Shortcut
Type text
2Keyboard → Shortcut
The Shortcut action: the keys Ctrl + Alt + 1 and the Change keys button, which opens an on-screen PC keyboard. The title is Start.
Keys nothing else uses: F13–F24

The on-screen keyboard has an extra row with F13 to F24, keys most physical keyboards don't have, so no game or app is using them. They make clash-free scene hotkeys. To set one in Streamlabs, click the scene's hotkey box, then tap Test on PC on a DeckPad key set to that F-key, so DeckPad presses it for you.

Make them glow

Switch on Glow in the editor and give your scene keys one colour and Go live another, so you can find them without looking twice.

3. Go live and Record keys

If you set streaming and recording hotkeys in step 1, make a Shortcut key for each the same way: for example Ctrl + Alt + 9 titled Go live, and Ctrl + Alt + 0 titled Record. If Streamlabs gives starting and stopping separate hotkeys, make a key for each, or give both the same combination if Streamlabs accepts that.

4. A key that opens Streamlabs

  1. Tap an empty key and choose Open app in the action list.
  2. Tap Choose an app on the PC and pick Streamlabs. Depending on your version it's listed as Streamlabs OBS or Streamlabs Desktop. The key gets its real icon.
  3. Turn on If it's already open, bring it to the front, title it Streamlabs and save.

Games and other shortcuts

  • Pick combinations nothing else uses. If your game, Discord or another app already uses Ctrl+Alt+1, both will react. Change the combination in Streamlabs and on the key.
  • On keyboards with an AltGr key, Ctrl+Alt works like AltGr, and some combinations type a character into a chat box. If that happens, add Shift or use function keys instead, such as Ctrl+Shift+F1.
  • Streamlabs listens for its hotkeys while other apps are in front, so the keys should work in the middle of a game. Test once with your game running before you go live.
  • Games running as administrator. Windows doesn't let normal apps send keys while a window running as administrator is in front. DeckPad then shows “The window in front is running as administrator, so DeckPad can't send keys to it.” Start the game normally, without “Run as administrator”, if you can.

Troubleshooting

Streamlabs Desktop is open, but OBS buttons control OBS Studio. For Streamlabs, give each scene a hotkey in Streamlabs (Settings → Hotkeys) and use a Shortcut button.

The key you pressed is an OBS Studio Scene, Stream or Record key. Edit it, choose Shortcut in the action list instead, and set the combination from your mapping.

Nothing happens when you press the key?

  1. Press the same combination on your real keyboard. If Streamlabs doesn't react, the hotkey isn't set: go back to step 1.
  2. Open the key in the editor and compare the preview (for example “Ctrl + Alt + 1”) with the hotkey in Streamlabs.
  3. Try a different combination; another app may be grabbing this one first.
  4. Check the phone is connected: greyed-out keys mean it isn't. See the keys are greyed out.

Still stuck? Contact support.