How to Show and Enable Live Chat Comments on OBS Stream Overlays

Live streaming has become extremely popular in recent years. As a streamer, interacting with your audience in real-time is crucial for building a community and increasing viewer engagement. One of the best ways to interact is through a live chat overlay on your stream.

Displaying live chat comments on stream allows you to see viewer reactions, answer questions, and have conversations as you broadcast. The most popular streaming software, OBS Studio, doesn’t have built-in support for displaying chat, but with some simple setup you can easily add chat overlays.

Benefits of Displaying Chat on Stream

Here are some of the main benefits of showing live chat comments on your stream overlay:

  • Increased Viewer Interaction: Having chat visible encourages more viewers to participate and creates a more engaging, interactive experience.
  • Better Connection with Audience: You can respond directly to chat messages and have real conversations instead of just talking to yourself.
  • Understand Viewer Reactions: See viewer reactions and feedback in real-time instead of having to check chat logs after streaming.
  • Highlight Interesting Comments: Call attention to and discuss particularly relevant or funny chat messages.

Ways to Add Chat Overlays in OBS

While OBS Studio doesn’t have native support for displaying chat, third party services provide browser-based chat overlay widgets that work perfectly. Here are some top options:

Streamlabs Chatbox

Streamlabs Chatbox is easy to set up and fully customizable. Supports Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and more.

Pros: User-friendly setup, customizable appearance, supports multiple platforms
Cons: Requires Streamlabs account

KapChat

Minimal overlay focused on displaying chat messages. Works well for Twitch streams.

Pros: Simple, clean look. Supports BetterTTV & FrankerFaceZ emotes
Cons: Twitch only, limited customization

Streamelements

Robust option with many customization options and features beyond just chat.

Pros: Very customizable, additional alert & widget options
Cons: Steeper learning curve

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Follow these steps to add a browser-based chat overlay widget as a source in OBS Studio:

  1. Choose Chat Service
    Decide which platform’s chat you want to show – Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, etc. This will determine which chat service you can use.
  2. Select Overlay Widget
    Pick a chat widget service and create an account if needed. Follow their setup guide to get the browser source URL.
  3. Copy Widget URL
    The chat widget service will provide a unique URL to use as a browser source in OBS. Copy this URL.
  4. Create Browser Source in OBS
    In OBS, add a new Browser Source. Paste the widget URL into the address field and set desired size.
  5. Customize Appearance
    Most chat widgets allow customizing the look including fonts, colors, backgrounds, etc. Adjust to match your stream design.
  6. Interact with Chat
    Chat messages from your live stream should now display as an overlay in OBS! Reply and engage with your viewers.

Tips for Displaying Chat Effectively

Now that you’ve added chat overlay widgets to OBS Studio, use these tips to utilize them effectively:

  • Position chat in an unobtrusive area that doesn’t block main stream content.
  • Make chat text large and legible at common streaming resolutions like 720p or 1080p.
  • Slow mode chat if messages come in too quickly to read or respond to.
  • Highlight and respond to interesting, funny, or important chat messages.
  • Verbally greet new chatters by name to make them feel welcomed.
  • Encourage chat participation with discussion prompts and questions.

Additional Ways to Interact with Viewers

While displaying chat is extremely useful, also consider these supplemental options for increasing viewer interaction:

  • Face Cam – Showing your face allows viewers to see your reactions and makes things more personal.
  • Webcam Pointers – On screen arrows you control to point at and highlight items.
  • Polls & Quizzes – Interactive polls and scoreboards viewers can participate in.
  • Alerts – On screen notifications for followers, subscribers, donations, etc.
  • Q&A Sessions – Dedicate portions of your stream to answering viewer questions.

Interacting with your audience helps create community and loyalty. Adding a live chat overlay to OBS Studio streams is an easy way to help foster connections with the people who support your channel!

About the Author

As a professional streamer for over 5 years, I have extensive experience broadcasting live content on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms. Optimizing streams for maximum viewer engagement has been critical for growing my channels. Displaying chat in OBS has significantly improved my connection with audiences across all platforms. I’m passionate about helping other streamers create interactive, engaging broadcasts.