What is a Stream Deck?

What a Stream Deck is

A Stream Deck is a panel of programmable keys made by Elgato. It plugs into a Windows or Mac computer, and each key runs an action you assign in the Stream Deck app: switch a scene in OBS, mute your microphone, start a recording, or press a keyboard shortcut for you.

On every model except the Pedal, each key is a small screen that shows an icon, so you can see what a key does without remembering it. With a plugin, the icon also shows what is happening: a mute key changes when the microphone is muted, and a record key changes when the recording starts.

No sound or picture passes through it. Everything it does, you could also do with the mouse or a keyboard shortcut. What it adds is one press instead of a menu or a key combination, and a key that shows the current state.

The Stream Deck app

The keys do nothing on their own. The Stream Deck app, which Elgato gives free with every Stream Deck, runs on your computer: it is where you drag actions onto keys, install plugins and set up profiles. Download it from Elgato’s Stream Deck software page; Elgato lists Windows 11 and macOS 13 or later for the current models. Stream Deck software and plugins walks through installing it.

What it does during a stream

With the OBS Studio plugin, Elgato lists these actions, among others:

• Start or stop the stream, and start, stop or pause a recording.
• Switch scenes, and show or hide a source such as an overlay, an alert or a camera.
• Mute or unmute a microphone, as a toggle, as push-to-mute or as push-to-talk.
• Turn a filter on or off, such as a color correction.
• Save a replay from the replay buffer, take a screenshot, or add a chapter marker to a recording.
• Turn on the OBS virtual camera, so Zoom, Discord or Teams receive your OBS picture as a webcam.
• On Stream Deck +, turn a dial to set a source’s volume.

Several actions from one key

A Multi Action runs a list of actions from one press. Elgato’s example: one key switches to your starting-soon scene, starts background music and mutes your microphone; another ends the stream, stops the recording and switches to an offline scene.

Outside OBS, Elgato names plugins for Twitch, Discord, Spotify, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, PowerPoint and smart lights such as Philips Hue. The Discord plugin puts push-to-talk and mute on keys, so you do not have to remember which shortcut does which.

How it controls your apps: plugins and hotkeys

A Stream Deck reaches an app in one of two ways. A plugin talks to the app directly, which is what lets a key show the app’s state. You install plugins from Elgato Marketplace or from inside the Stream Deck app. The OBS Studio plugin is free, works on Windows and macOS, and needs Stream Deck 6.9 or later.

For an app without a plugin, a hotkey action presses a keyboard shortcut for you, such as Ctrl + Shift + S. Elgato suggests using F13 to F24: almost no keyboard has these keys, so no app has claimed them. In the app, set the shortcut for an action by pressing your Stream Deck key instead of typing a combination.

Some apps respond to a shortcut only while their window is in front. If a hotkey does nothing on a Mac, check that Stream Deck is turned on under System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.

A Smart Profile switches the whole layout when a given app is open, so the same keys can run OBS while it is in focus and another app afterwards.

The models: count the actions you need to see

The models differ in how many keys you see at once and whether they have dials. Keys suit one-press actions such as a scene change; a dial suits a level you adjust often, such as microphone or music volume. Pages and folders hold more actions than the keys show, one press away.

For your own list of actions, the Stream Deck selector names the model that shows them all at once. The model comparison puts every specification side by side, and the Stream Deck guide walks through the choice.

Try it free on your phone first

Stream Deck Mobile, Elgato’s app for iPhone, iPad and Android, gives you six keys for free, with no trial period. You pair it with your computer and it runs the same plugins and actions as a physical Stream Deck. Stream Deck Mobile Pro raises it to up to 64 keys.

Six keys on a phone are enough to find out whether you actually press them during a show, before you buy hardware.

Once you own a Stream Deck, Virtual Stream Deck adds on-screen panels of up to 64 keys on the computer itself. It needs Stream Deck 7.0 or later on Windows 11 or macOS 13 Ventura and later, and a Stream Deck device, or Stream Deck Mobile Pro, connected at least once in the past 30 days.

Do you need a Stream Deck to stream?

No. Most apps, streaming apps included, let you set your own keyboard shortcuts for the same actions, and every action can be clicked with the mouse. A Stream Deck earns its place when you change scenes or mute often during a show and want one labelled press, or when you want to see at a glance whether the microphone is muted and the recording is running.

If your hands are busy with a game controller or an instrument, the Stream Deck Pedal puts three actions under your feet.

A simple order: list the actions you use during a live show, try them on the free phone app, then buy the model whose keys show that whole list without changing pages.

If you want the idea without the hardware, Stream Deck alternatives covers the free phone apps, keyboard hotkeys and other control surfaces.

Questions

Does a Stream Deck work on a Mac? Yes. Elgato lists Windows 11 and macOS 13 or later for the current models.

Does it work with a PS5 or an Xbox? It connects to a Windows or Mac computer and controls software there. When you stream a console through a capture card into OBS, the Stream Deck controls OBS, not the console.

Does it only work with OBS? No. It works with any app through hotkeys, and with many through plugins, including Twitch, Discord and Spotify.

Which Stream Deck has dials? Stream Deck + has four dials and eight keys; Stream Deck + XL has six dials and 36 keys.

Is the Call of Duty Stream Deck different? Only in its look and the in-game rewards that come with it. Elgato’s Black Ops 7 and Warzone editions are the 15-key Stream Deck, with the same keys, cable and app: see the Stream Deck MK.2’s Call of Duty editions.

Equipment for these connections

Start with the kind of gear you’re missing, and read its full profile before adding it to your setup.

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