Bug in 31.0.2 when using multiple instance

[Sigma3Wolf]

Hi, I'm currently using 30.2.3 because all newer version got a bug when using multiple instance.

abstract:
I'm using 1 obs instance for virtual camera, while the second instance record my screen.
This is usefull for using virtual camera in Zoom or Team, while recording the said team.

Since obs 31.0, this is no longuer possible.
if you launch 2 instance in 31.0.2, 2 bugs occurs.
1. first bug: The html Dock for Lowerthirds doesn't load on second instance
2. when you try to CLOSE the second instance, it doesn't do anything. You need to reboot the computer.

I have tried all release after 30.2.3, none work.
If I could avoid using a second instance I wouldn't mind, but it's not possible since I'm not recording the virtual camera, I'm only recording my screen.
any reason why this occur in the latest 31.xx version ?

 

[prgmitchell]

Hi, I'm currently using 30.2.3 because all newer version got a bug when using multiple instance.

abstract:
I'm using 1 obs instance for virtual camera, while the second instance record my screen.
This is usefull for using virtual camera in Zoom or Team, while recording the said team.

Since obs 31.0, this is no longuer possible.
if you launch 2 instance in 31.0.2, 2 bugs occurs.
1. first bug: The html Dock for Lowerthirds doesn't load on second instance
2. when you try to CLOSE the second instance, it doesn't do anything. You need to reboot the computer.

I have tried all release after 30.2.3, none work.
If I could avoid using a second instance I wouldn't mind, but it's not possible since I'm not recording the virtual camera, I'm only recording my screen.
any reason why this occur in the latest 31.xx version ?

This isn't considered a bug, if you are running multiple instances of OBS you should be running each additional instance in portable mode to avoid issues like this.

Running in Portable Mode | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.

obsproject.com

 

[AaronD]

I use multiple simultaneous instances natively, not portable. Each one has command-line options to use different profiles and scene collections.

Have a shortcut for each, and modify them to tack this on the end of the command:
--multi --profile "Name" --collection "Name"
Different Name for each, of course, that corresponds to what you call them in OBS.

Run the same command in the Command Prompt, with --help on the end instead, to see all that you can do there. :-)

 

[Zippo2025]

Hi, I'm currently using 30.2.3 because all newer version got a bug when using multiple instance.

abstract:
I'm using 1 obs instance for virtual camera, while the second instance record my screen.
This is usefull for using virtual camera in Zoom or Team, while recording the said team.

Since obs 31.0, this is no longuer possible.
if you launch 2 instance in 31.0.2, 2 bugs occurs.
1. first bug: The html Dock for Lowerthirds doesn't load on second instance
2. when you try to CLOSE the second instance, it doesn't do anything. You need to reboot the computer.

I have tried all release after 30.2.3, none work.
If I could avoid using a second instance I wouldn't mind, but it's not possible since I'm not recording the virtual camera, I'm only recording my screen.
any reason why this occur in the latest 31.xx version ?

Hi Sigma3Wolf ! Another kind user pointed me to your post made yesterday ( March 11, 2025 ) I opened OBS this morning and the exact same thing happened to me when I upgraded to the newest version ( version 31.0.2 ) What you describe is my experience exactly. That lower 1/3 of the screen has disappeared, only way to bring it back was to go up to the top menu and choose reset UI. However nothing else worked, I couldn't even exit out of that instant. I have been running 8 LIVE streams on YouTube for just over a year, every single day and have never encountered that problem... until now with this new version. I reverted to the previous version and bingo, everything is working fine again. I have no idea where to post this to the people who make the problem. This of course *is indeed a bug * ... if multiple instances worked fine the way I've been doing it for a year and now it doesn't work, for me, that's a bug, or error in the program. Programmers have broken something there. Anyway for now I'm running the version just prior to this one and all is well again. I have 8 streams running on my PC without a problem. So glad that it wasn't just me experiencing this. I am surprised that with not many have been posting about this problem with I'm sure thousands streaming multiple streams as I do.