How to control digital signage with a Stream Deck
Last updated November 1, 2026
The usual way to control digital signage from a Stream Deck is Bitfocus Companion, free software that turns each button into a command for the systems in your room. Your signage software needs a Companion connection. A button can then switch your screens, and light up to show what's live.
With Screenbird, for example, each scene gets its own button. One press switches every screen in the scene to its own content, and another puts them back on their schedule.
What you need
- An Elgato Stream Deck, or the buttons Companion shows in a web browser
- A computer running Bitfocus Companion 4.3 or newer, which is free
- A Screenbird account (free trial, then from $14 per screen per month)
- An internet connection on the computer that runs Companion
Do you need a Stream Deck for this?
No, but the alternatives stop working in the moment you're busiest:
Clicking in a dashboard: fine for one change, but you need a laptop in front of you and a few clicks per screen, while the room is waiting.
A schedule: works when you know the time. A live programme rarely runs to the minute.
Someone walking to each screen: slow, and the screens don't all change at the same moment.
A physical button solves all three. You set the moment up once, press it when it happens, and you can see on the button that it worked.
Step-by-step with Screenbird
For the full click-by-click walkthrough, see the Screenbird Knowledge Base.
Install Companion
Download Bitfocus Companion from bitfocus.io, start it and connect your Stream Deck to the computer. Companion shows your Stream Deck in its surfaces list.
Set up your moments as scenes
In Screenbird, make a scene for each moment, such as doors open or the break. Choose what each screen shows then.
Create an API token
Go to Settings > Connections, create an API token and choose the access "Control screens and scenes". Copy it, because you only see it once.
Add Screenbird in Companion
In Companion, go to Connections, search for Screenbird, add it and paste the token.
Drag the buttons onto your Stream Deck
Open the presets of the connection and drag your scenes onto the buttons. Press one to test it.
Press a button and check
Press a scene button and open Scenes in the dashboard. The Live overview shows what each screen is showing, and the button shows the scene in full colour.
See it on your own screen within minutes.
Start your free trialThe result
Each button now shows its scene in full colour while it's live, also when someone starts it from the dashboard or a phone. STOP ALL puts everything back on its normal schedule.
Church
One button for coffee after the service, on the same Stream Deck as your slides.
Theatre
Doors open, intermission and the close, each with its own content on every screen.
Conference
Switch the room signs when a session runs late, and put them back afterwards.