The Ochre-faced Tody-flycatcher is distributed in eastern and southern Brazil and adjacent areas of north-east Argentina and north-east Uruguay. There is a disjunct population from south-east Peru through Bolivia to northern Argentina. See the distribution map at xeno-canto.

It is found in dense undergrowth at the edge of forest or secondary growth and is often associated with bamboo.

The crown is grey and the face is cinnamon-buff with darkish ear-patches. It is olive above with two conspicuous buffy-ochraceous wing-bars. Underparts are greyish-white