How to Stream on YouTube: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Learning how to stream on YouTube is a powerful first step toward building a successful and sustainable content creation career. While Twitch has long been the dominant live-streaming platform, YouTube’s unique advantages—primarily its massive discoverability engine and long-term monetization potential—make it an increasingly attractive choice. A live stream on YouTube isn’t just a live event; it’s a permanent video that can be discovered for months or even years.

This guide will walk you through the entire process, from preparing your channel to optimizing your settings in OBS and maximizing your viewership both during and after the broadcast. We’ll show you how to leverage YouTube’s strengths to grow your channel and turn your passion into a business.

Phase 1: The YouTube Channel Setup

Before you go live, you need to set up your channel for success. This phase involves enabling the live streaming feature and preparing your channel to look professional.

Step 1: Enabling YouTube Live Streaming

You must enable live streaming for your channel, which can take up to 24 hours to become active after you first turn it on. The process has a few simple requirements:

• Channel Verification: Your channel must be verified. This is a quick process that requires you to enter a phone number.
• No Restrictions: Your channel must not have had any live streaming restrictions within the last 90 days.
• Age Requirement: As of July 22, 2025, you must be at least 16 years old to live stream independently on YouTube.

For a full breakdown of the requirements, you can check the official YouTube Help Center.

Step 2: Scheduling Your Stream & Getting Your Stream Key

Unlike Twitch, where you simply go live, YouTube’s best practice is to schedule your stream in advance. This creates a public page for your stream that you can share with your audience to build hype.

1. In YouTube Studio, click the “Create” button in the top right, then select “Go Live.”
2. On the “Manage” tab, click “Schedule Stream.”
3. Fill in the details: a compelling title, a detailed description with relevant keywords, and a captivating thumbnail.
4. Once scheduled, you will be taken to your stream’s control room. Here you will find your Stream Key and Stream URL. You will need to copy these into OBS.

Phase 2: Connecting Your Streaming Software (OBS Studio)

OBS Studio is the free, powerful software you’ll use to bring your video, audio, and gameplay together and send it to YouTube.

Step 3: Configuring OBS for YouTube

1. In OBS, go to File > Settings.
2. Navigate to the “Stream” tab.
3. For “Service,” select “YouTube – RTMP.”
4. For “Server,” you can leave it on “Primary YouTube Ingest Server.”
5. Paste your Stream Key into the “Stream Key” field.

For even easier setup, you can often log in directly to your YouTube account from this same screen, which will automatically handle the stream key and provide convenient chat and stream management docks.

Step 4: Setting Up Your Video & Audio Sources

This is where you build what your audience will see and hear. In OBS, you use “Sources” to add everything to your “Scene” (your layout).

• Video: Use “Game Capture” to capture your gameplay. Use “Video Capture Device” to add your webcam.
• Audio: Use “Audio Input Capture” for your microphone and “Audio Output Capture” to capture your game’s audio.

Step 5: Setting Up Your Scenes & Overlays

A professional look builds trust and attracts viewers. A YouTube live stream should look just as good as a regular video.

• Scenes: Create different scenes for your broadcast, such as a “Stream Starting Soon” scene, a “Be Right Back” scene, and your main “Gameplay” scene.
• Overlays: A branded overlay package can instantly make your stream look like a high-budget production. Overlays include webcam borders, chat boxes, and event lists. For more on this, check out our guide on how to make your stream look professional.

You can easily find and set up a professional stream pack to get the right look from day one. Browse our collections of high-quality designs, and see our guide on the best Twitch overlays which are perfectly compatible with YouTube streaming.

Phase 3: Optimizing Your OBS Settings for YouTube

YouTube’s streaming platform is more forgiving with bitrates than Twitch’s, allowing for higher-quality streams. This is a significant advantage, as a high-quality stream can stand out in search.

Step 6: The Best Output (Streaming) Settings

Go to File > Settings and navigate to the “Output” tab. Set the “Output Mode” to “Advanced.”

• Encoder: Use your hardware encoder (NVIDIA NVENC, AMD VCE) if you have one. It is more efficient and will put less strain on your PC.
• Rate Control: Set this to CBR (Constant Bitrate).
• Keyframe Interval: Set this to 2 seconds. This is a requirement for YouTube to properly process your stream.
• Bitrate: This is where you get to take advantage of YouTube’s higher limits. Unlike Twitch’s 6,000 Kbps cap, YouTube supports much higher bitrates, which translates to a clearer image.

Resolution & FPS	Recommended Bitrate (Kbps)
1080p @ 60fps	4,500 – 9,000
1080p @ 30fps	3,000 – 6,000
720p @ 60fps	2,500 – 5,000
720p @ 30fps	1,500 – 4,000
4K @ 60fps	20,000 – 51,000

You can find more detailed information on YouTube’s official streaming settings and recommendations in the YouTube Live Creator Academy.

Step 7: Understanding Latency & Chat Options

In your YouTube Studio Live Control Room, you can manage settings that affect your stream’s delay.

• Ultra-Low Latency: This is the best setting for engaging with your chat, as it reduces the delay to just a few seconds. It requires a stable, high-speed connection.
• Low Latency: A good middle ground with a slightly longer delay.
• Normal Latency: The default setting with a 15-30 second delay. Avoid this if you want to interact with your chat.

Phase 4: Going Live & Post-Stream Optimization

This is where YouTube’s unique power comes into play. The live stream is just the beginning.

Step 8: The Final Pre-Launch Checklist

• Thumbnail: A powerful thumbnail is essential for a live stream, as it’s what people will see in their recommended feed and on your channel page.
• Title & Tags: Make your title compelling and include relevant keywords. Your tags should be specific to the game you’re playing and your content.
• Description: Use your description to explain your stream, include links to your social media, and add timestamps for key moments in your stream (which you’ll add later).

Step 9: Post-Stream Optimization (The Real Secret)

Once your stream ends, it automatically becomes a VOD (Video on Demand) on your channel. This is YouTube’s biggest advantage over platforms like Twitch, as your VOD can continue to be discovered and watched for years, generating a continuous stream of revenue and new followers.

• Trim & Edit: Go into YouTube Studio and use the editor to trim the beginning and end of your stream to remove dead air.
• Add Chapters: Use timestamps in your description to create chapters for key moments in your stream (e.g., a boss fight, a funny moment, a clutch play). This helps viewers find the content they are looking for and boosts the video’s SEO.
• Add Cards & End Screens: Use these to promote your other videos, encourage viewers to subscribe, or send them to other parts of your channel.
• Monetization: Once your VOD is published, you can add mid-roll ads to maximize your revenue.

YouTube Live vs. Twitch: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature	YouTube Live	Twitch
Discovery	Highly Discoverable. Live streams are pushed to viewers’ homepages and can rank in search, bringing new viewers in.	Low Discoverability. New streamers are buried at the bottom of a directory, making it hard to grow organically.
VODs	Evergreen Content. Streams become permanent videos that can be watched forever, generating continuous views and money.	Temporary Content. VODs are deleted after a set period (usually 60 days for Partners).
Monetization	Multiple options (ads, memberships, Super Chat) with higher ad revenue rates.	Multiple options (subs, bits, ads) with generally lower ad revenue rates. Learn more in our guide on how to make money on Twitch.
Community	The community is often built through your main channel content, which then converts to live viewers.	Community is built almost exclusively through live interaction.

For a full breakdown of the two platforms and how to use them together, read our guide on how to stream on Twitch with OBS.

Conclusion

You’ve now learned the complete process of how to stream on YouTube. The technical setup with OBS is just the beginning. The real secret to success lies in understanding and leveraging YouTube’s core strengths: its discoverability engine and its long-term, evergreen video format.

By creating high-quality, professional-looking live streams and optimizing them for discoverability after the broadcast, you can build a channel that not only succeeds in the moment but continues to grow for years to come.

Your next steps are to:

1. Set up and verify your YouTube channel.
2. Practice with OBS and your overlays until you are confident.
3. Learn more about building a successful channel in our guide on how to become a successful streamer.