How to Add a Noise Gate in OBS to Stop Keyboard Noise (August 2026)

If your stream or recording sounds like a typewriter convention, you already know why learning how to add a noise gate in OBS to stop keyboard noise is non-negotiable. I run a mechanical keyboard at my desk, and the first time I watched my own VOD back, I could hear every keypress louder than my commentary. After dialing in the noise gate OBS has built right in, that problem vanished. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact settings I use and the tweaks other streamers swear by.

A noise gate is the single fastest fix for keyboard clicks bleeding into your mic. You don’t need a new microphone, a quieter keyboard, or acoustic foam. You need roughly five minutes and a handful of sliders.

What Is a Noise Gate and Why Streamers Need It?

A noise gate is an audio filter that mutes your microphone whenever the input level drops below a set threshold. The moment you start speaking and your voice pushes past the threshold, the gate opens and your audio comes through cleanly. When you stop talking and the level falls back below the threshold, the gate closes and blocks everything else.

This sounds simple, but it solves a problem that plagues almost every streamer. Keyboard clicks, mouse buttons, PC fans, and room hum all live in the same audio range as quiet speech. Without a gate, those sounds sit right next to your voice in the recording.

Here’s the catch that trips people up. A noise gate only mutes you when you are silent. The second you start talking, the gate opens and any keyboard clicks happening at the same time come through with your voice. That’s why most guides pair a noise gate with a separate noise suppression filter. We’ll cover that combo later.

For pure between-word cleanup, however, the gate is unbeatable. It eliminates the long stretches of “clack, clack, clack” that happen when you’re thinking between sentences or waiting for a teammate in chat.

How to Add a Noise Gate Filter in OBS Studio?

Adding a noise gate in OBS takes about 60 seconds once you know where to look. I’ll show you the exact clicks.

1. Open OBS Studio and look at the Audio Mixer panel at the bottom of the main window.

2. Find the microphone source you want to clean up. It is usually labeled “Mic/Aux” or with your mic model name.

3. Click the small gear icon next to that source name, then select Filters from the menu.

4. In the Filters window, click the plus button in the bottom-left corner.

5. Choose Noise Gate from the list of available filters.

6. Give it a clear name like “Keyboard Noise Gate” so you can find it later.

That’s the mechanical part. The real work is setting the five sliders so the gate opens when you talk and closes when you don’t. Don’t worry about getting it perfect on the first try. We will test and adjust shortly.

If you are using Streamlabs OBS instead of OBS Studio, the path is nearly identical. Open your mic source, click the gear, choose Filters, hit the plus, and pick Noise Gate. The sliders behave the same way.

OBS Noise Gate Settings Explained

The noise gate filter has five sliders. Each one controls a different piece of the gate’s behavior. Let me break them down so you know exactly what to change.

Close Threshold

The close threshold is the volume level below which the gate mutes your mic. In OBS, this is measured in decibels, and you will see negative numbers. A typical setting sits between -45 dB and -30 dB. Set this too high and your voice gets cut off mid-sentence. Set it too low and keyboard clicks slip through during quiet moments.

Open Threshold

The open threshold is the level your voice must cross to “unlock” the gate and let audio pass. It is always a few decibels higher than the close threshold. The gap between open and close is called hysteresis, and it prevents the gate from rapidly flickering open and shut.

Attack Time

Attack time is how quickly the gate opens once your voice crosses the open threshold. Shorter values (around 3 to 6 milliseconds) feel more responsive. Longer values can swallow the start of words. For most streamers, 6 ms is a solid starting point.

Hold Time

Hold time is how long the gate stays open after your voice drops back below the open threshold. This is what prevents the gate from chopping the gaps between words in a sentence. I run 200 ms, which feels natural without leaving the gate open too long.

Release Time

Release time controls how quickly the gate fades to silence once the hold time expires. A release of 50 to 100 ms gives a smooth fade-out. Crank it too high and your gate stays open well after you finish speaking.

Recommended Noise Gate Threshold Settings for Keyboard Noise

There is no single magic number because every mic, room, and keyboard is different. That said, here are the starting points I recommend based on real streamer reports from Reddit and OBS forums.

Membrane or Low-Profile Keyboard

Membrane keyboards produce softer, lower-pitched clicks. Start with a close threshold around -40 dB and an open threshold around -32 dB. If you hear the gate chop the beginning of words, drop the close threshold by 2 dB.

Mechanical Keyboard

Mechanical switches are louder and brighter. One streamer in r/obs reported great results at -55 dB close and -45 dB open with Cherry MX Browns. I personally run -50 dB close and -42 dB open with my clicky switches, and keyboard noise disappears completely between sentences.

Laptop or Headset Microphone

Built-in laptop mics and headset boom mics pick up more ambient noise. Push your close threshold lower (around -35 dB) because your voice will naturally sit quieter. Watch for breath sounds triggering the gate.

Whatever numbers you start with, treat them as a starting point. Use the testing method below to confirm.

Filter Order: Where Noise Gate Fits in Your OBS Audio Chain?

Filter order matters in OBS because each filter processes the audio of the one above it. If you stack them wrong, the gate will receive a different signal than you expect.

The generally accepted order for streaming audio is:

1. Noise Suppression (RNNoise) at the top, so it cleans constant background hum first.

2. Noise Gate second, working with the cleaner signal to mute between words.

3. Compressor third, evening out volume.

4. Gain last, boosting your final output.

If you put the gate before suppression, the suppressor will try to “clean” silence, which can introduce pumping artifacts. Running gate after suppression means the gate only has to deal with actual speech and real noise, not artifacts left by the suppressor.

To reorder filters in OBS, just click and drag the filter name up or down in the Filters window.

How to Test Your Noise Gate Settings in OBS?

You never want to guess whether your settings work. Always test before going live.

Use Audio Monitoring

Right-click your mic source in the Audio Mixer, choose Advanced Audio Properties, and set Audio Monitoring to “Monitor and Output” while wearing headphones. Speak normally, pause, type on your keyboard, and listen.

If you hear the first syllable of your words getting clipped, lower the close threshold by 2 dB or shorten the release time. If you still hear keyboard clicks between sentences, raise the close threshold by 2 dB.

Record a Sample Clip

Hit Start Recording in OBS and talk for 60 seconds while typing at a normal pace. Then play it back and listen specifically for two things: cut-off consonants at the start of words, and keyboard clicks bleeding through pauses.

Make a small change, record again, compare. I usually settle on the right values within three test passes.

Watch the Volume Bar

While testing, watch the green volume bar for your mic in the Audio Mixer. The bar should drop to zero whenever you stop talking. If it hovers above zero, your close threshold is too low.

Common Noise Gate Problems and Fixes

Even with great settings, noise gates cause issues. Here are the four most common pain points streamers hit, and how I solve each one.

Gate Cuts Off the Beginning of Words

This is almost always an attack time issue. Drop your attack to 3 ms or shorten your hold time to 100 ms. If that fails, lower your close threshold by 2 dB so the gate is less aggressive.

Keyboard Clicks Still Audible

Your close threshold is too low. Raise it in 2 dB steps until the clicks vanish. If the gate starts clipping your voice, the keyboard is loud enough that you need a noise suppression filter before the gate. Add RNNoise from the same Filters menu and place it above the noise gate.

Voice Sounds Choppy or Robotic

Your release time is too short. Lengthen it to 100 ms or more so the gate fades smoothly instead of snapping shut. Hold time also matters. Anything under 150 ms can sound choppy in normal conversation.

Noise Gate Doesn’t Help While Speaking

This is the honest limitation of noise gates. They cannot remove keyboard clicks during your speech because they are designed to mute silence, not clean active audio. If your typing is loud enough to clash with your voice mid-sentence, switch to a noise suppression filter like RNNoise, NVIDIA Broadcast, or Krisp. Those run constantly and handle noise even while you talk.

Alternative Noise Removal Methods Worth Considering

The noise gate OBS ships with is free, lightweight, and CPU-friendly. For some streamers, that is all they need. For others, especially those using louder mechanical keyboards, an additional tool works better.

RNNoise (Built into OBS)

Add the Noise Suppression filter in OBS and choose RNNoise. This is an AI model that runs on your CPU and removes constant background noise in real time. It complements the noise gate perfectly. Use suppression to clean constant hum, then the gate to silence everything between words.

NVIDIA Broadcast

If you have an NVIDIA RTX graphics card, NVIDIA Broadcast offers studio-quality noise removal using your GPU. Many streamers report it eliminates even loud mechanical keyboard clicks during speech, which the noise gate cannot do alone.

Krisp Virtual Microphone

Krisp installs as a virtual microphone on your system. You route OBS through it, and it removes background noise before the audio ever reaches OBS. It has a free tier with limited minutes per day, and a paid tier for unlimited use.

For most beginners, RNNoise plus a properly tuned noise gate delivers 90 percent of the benefit for zero cost. Upgrade to NVIDIA Broadcast or Krisp only if you have already maxed out what the gate can do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Adding a noise gate in OBS to stop keyboard noise is the easiest audio upgrade you will ever make. It costs nothing, takes five minutes to set up, and instantly cleans up the silent gaps in your stream. Pair it with RNNoise for the best results, and your viewers will hear only your voice, not your keyboard.

Once you have your noise gate dialed in, you can start thinking about other audio polish like compression and EQ. But honestly, getting this one filter right will fix 80 percent of audio complaints before they ever happen.