Overlay Not Showing

If your overlay is not appearing correctly on screen, it is almost always one of a few setup issues. Work down this list in order. Most streams are fixed by the first two.

The overlay is blank or black

1. Check the URL. In your OBS Browser source, make sure the URL is your full overlay URL from the dashboard (https://overlay.livecade.io/...), pasted with no spaces before or after.

2. Refresh the source. In OBS, right-click the Browser source and choose Refresh (or delete and re-add it). Overlays can go blank if OBS loaded the page before your connection was ready.

3. Start a session. The overlay only shows a game once a session is running. Open the dashboard, pick a game, and click Connect. See Start a Live Session.

4. Check the size. In the Browser source properties, Width should be 1080 and Height 1920. A zero or tiny size shows nothing.

The overlay has a black box around it

The overlay background needs to be transparent so only the game shows. In your OBS Browser source properties, the Custom CSS field must contain this line:

body { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; }

If it is missing or edited, paste it back in and click OK. Full setup is in Connect to TikTok Live Studio.

The overlay is cropped or letterboxed

Your canvas is not vertical. TikTok is a 9:16 vertical screen, so OBS must match it.

1. In OBS, open Settings -> Video.
2. Set both Base (Canvas) Resolution and Output (Scaled) Resolution to 1080x1920.
3. Click OK, then drag the overlay to fill the canvas.

The overlay looks mirrored (text is backwards)

In TikTok Live Studio, open your Camera source and click Flip under Adjustments. This only affects the mirrored preview, not what you see in OBS.

It works in OBS but not in TikTok Live Studio

Make sure Start Virtual Camera is running in OBS (Controls panel, bottom right), and that your TikTok Live Studio Camera source is set to OBS Virtual Camera at 1080x1920. If you added the overlay as a Link source instead, note that Link tends to lag and can appear blank. Use the OBS Virtual Camera method for streaming.