How to Mute Offstage Participants (Listen Offstage Feeds)
If participants who are NOT currently visible on your scene are distracting you with their audio, you can mute them all at once using the Listen Offstage Feeds toggle.
What is “Listen Offstage Feeds”?
The Listen Offstage Feeds toggle controls whether you hear audio from participants who are NOT currently on the live scene. When turned OFF, all offstage participants are muted - you only hear participants who are visible on screen.
- Toggle ON (default) = You hear ALL participants, including those not on the scene
- Toggle OFF = You only hear participants who are currently on the scene
This affects only YOUR monitoring - it does not affect what viewers hear on the broadcast.
How to Use It
Option 1: Toggle Button (Desktop)
- Look at the bottom bar of the editor (Fast Access Bar area)
- Find the Listen Offstage Feeds toggle (ear icon)
- Click it to toggle OFF - offstage participants are now muted
- Click again to toggle ON - offstage participants are audible again
The toggle shows:
- Active (blue/highlighted) = Offstage feeds are audible
- Inactive = Offstage feeds are muted
Option 2: Keyboard Shortcut
Press Ctrl+B to quickly mute/unmute backstage (offstage) sound.
Option 3: Mobile
- Open the mobile menu
- Find the Listen Offstage Feeds toggle
- Tap to toggle on/off
Volume, Not Just On/Off
The offstage volume is a level from 0 to 100, not only a switch. The toggle sets it to 0 (muted) or back to the level you had before. You can also lower offstage participants without muting them completely.
Your setting is remembered in this browser, so it is still in place the next time you open the studio on the same computer.
Important Notes
| Note | Details |
|---|---|
| Affects only you | “Offstage sound, Affecting only on your end” - this is a local monitoring control |
| Not broadcast-affecting | The broadcast output is NOT affected by this toggle |
| Disabled by Exclusive Talk | When Exclusive Talk is active, Listen Offstage Feeds is automatically disabled |
| Remembers last volume | When you unmute, it restores your previous volume level |
| Appears when participants join | The toggle only appears when there are other participants in the session |
Interaction with Exclusive Talk
When Exclusive Talk is active:
- The Listen Offstage Feeds toggle is disabled (greyed out)
- Clicking it shows: “Listen Offstage Feeds disabled due to Exclusive Talk”
- Once Exclusive Talk is turned off, the toggle becomes available again
Other Ways to Manage Participant Audio
| Method | What It Does | Affects Broadcast? |
|---|---|---|
| Listen Offstage Feeds (this feature) | Mutes all offstage participants for you only | No |
| Exclusive Talk | Mutes everyone except one speaker for all | Yes |
| Manual Mute (the sound control on their tile in the Fast Access Bar) | Mutes a specific participant | Yes |
| The volume slider on their tile | Adjusts one participant’s level | Yes |
| Mute Dynamic Scene on Clip Playing | Mutes all participants when a video clip plays | Yes (Advanced Settings) |
Troubleshooting
Toggle not appearing?
- The toggle only shows when there are other participants (speakers/guests) in the session
- Not available on mobile in horizontal orientation in certain UI states
Toggle is greyed out / disabled?
- Exclusive Talk is active - disable Exclusive Talk first
Can still hear offstage participants?
- Make sure the toggle is fully OFF (not just lowered)
- Check if participants are actually on the current scene (they might be on scene but you think they’re off)
Unmuting doesn’t restore volume?
- The previous volume level is remembered - if you previously set it low, it restores to that low level