PRO TIP
Test your setup and make sure your network is solid before you start streaming.
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Build real
Build real
connections
in real time
Whether you’re teaching, gaming, or just hanging out, YouTube Live is your chance to be discovered and connect with your people in real time.
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Why go live
on YouTube?
30%+ watch
live daily
Q2 2025 · Logged-in viewers
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Connect in real time
Go live and hang out with your community in real time, building connections that last.
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Stream to endless possibility
Spin your best live stream moments into longform videos, Shorts, and live archives, and let your content keep working for you.
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Choose how you earn
From ad revenue to Super Chat, gifts*, Shopping, and channel memberships, choose how your live streams earn. Learn more.
*Select markets only.
How to live stream
on YouTube
Gaming, performing, hosting—or just vibing? Whatever you’re into, YouTube Live makes it easy to share the moment and connect with your people in real time.
Getting started
Ways to go live
Getting discovered by viewers
Building your community
Getting started
First time streaming? Welcome to the club! 🎉
- 1 First, make sure you meet the live streaming eligibility requirements. If you plan to stream on mobile, you’ll also need to meet the additional requirements for mobile streaming.
- 2 Next, you’ll need to verify your channel using your phone number (this can take up to 24 hours).
- 3 Once that’s done, you’re ready to go Live.
Ways to go live
You can live stream using a desktop or mobile encoder, hardware encoder, webcam, or from within the YouTube mobile apps.
- If you’re new to streaming, we recommend starting with mobile. Vertical live helps make mobile streaming simple, so you can focus on your message. Tips for live streaming on mobile
- With Live Control Room, you can set up and manage your live streams from your desktop.
Pro Tip
Double the fun and invite a guest to join your mobile live stream. You can interview another creator from the comfort of your couch or take a friend to see your favorite spot, halfway across the world. The possibilities? Endless. 🌎✨
How to Go Live Together
How to Go Live Together
Getting discovered by viewers
There are lots of ways for fans to catch you in the moment:
- Viewers can find live streams and Premieres on the Live tab of your Channel Page or tap Notify Me to get alerts.
- With vertical live, viewers can also discover live streams straight from the Shorts feed.
- Plus, Live rings show when you’re live (everywhere your icon appears, including their Shorts feed) and take fans straight to your stream.
Building your community
Live chat
Explore tools like Live chat, polls, and Q&A to encourage interaction and keep your viewers engaged.
Nurture your culture
Build traditions, inside jokes, or rituals into your streams so viewers feel like they’re part of something special.
Live chat moderation
Moderate your live chat to keep things positive, safe, and fun. Or, assign moderators so you can focus on streaming while they keep the chat friendly and on-topic.
Link to Youtube Video (visible only when JS is disabled)
Getting started
First time streaming? Welcome to the club! 🎉
- 1 First, make sure you meet the live streaming eligibility requirements. If you plan to stream on mobile, you’ll also need to meet the additional requirements for mobile streaming.
- 2 Next, you’ll need to verify your channel using your phone number (this can take up to 24 hours).
- 3 Once that’s done, you’re ready to go Live.
PRO TIP
Test your setup and make sure your network is solid before you start streaming.
Ways to go live
You can live stream using a desktop or mobile encoder, hardware encoder, webcam, or from within the YouTube mobile apps.
- If you’re new to streaming, we recommend starting with mobile. Vertical live helps make mobile streaming simple, so you can focus on your message. Tips for live streaming on mobile
- With Live Control Room, you can set up and manage your live streams from your desktop.
Pro Tip
Double the fun and invite a guest to join your mobile live stream. You can interview another creator from the comfort of your couch or take a friend to see your favorite spot, halfway across the world. The possibilities? Endless. 🌎✨
How to Go Live Together
How to Go Live Together
Getting discovered by viewers
There are lots of ways for fans to catch you in the moment:
- Viewers can find live streams and Premieres on the Live tab of your Channel Page or tap Notify Me to get alerts.
- With vertical live, viewers can also discover live streams straight from the Shorts feed.
- Plus, Live rings show when you’re live (everywhere your icon appears, including their Shorts feed) and take fans straight to your stream.
Building your community
Live chat
Explore tools like Live chat, polls, and Q&A to encourage interaction and keep your viewers engaged.
Nurture your culture
Build traditions, inside jokes, or rituals into your streams so viewers feel like they’re part of something special.
Live chat moderation
Moderate your live chat to keep things positive, safe, and fun. Or, assign moderators so you can focus on streaming while they keep the chat friendly and on-topic.
Link to Youtube Video (visible only when JS is disabled)
Helpful tools for creating live streams
Easily bring your creative vision to life with YouTube’s latest tools.
AI powered
Live chat summaries
Help you manage an ongoing stream by catching up new viewers.
AI powered
Live Q&A stickers
Need a quick conversation starter? Get AI-powered suggestions for questions to ask your fans, growing engagement during your mobile streams.
Live Redirect
Send your audience to another live stream or Premiere right from your broadcast, helping them discover new creators.
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FEATURED
How to earn from your live streams
Once you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, you get to pick how you monetize your live streams—ads, channel memberships, Shopping, and more. And with gifts, Super Chat, and Super Stickers, fans can support you while interacting in real time.
Creator success on YouTube
@Mogswamp explains how Vertical Live streaming gifts help him grow his community.
Ash and Emma share their best Vertical Live tips for keeping viewers engaged.
Get a peek into Lizzy’s process as she takes her dance routine Live.
Tune in as @AuthenticTeeCee2.0 shows how easy it is to go Live for the first time.
Jenny shares how she grew her YouTube channel with Vertical Live & gifts.
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Frequently asked questions
There are multiple methods of streaming: mobile, webcam, encoders, and consoles. Choose the one that's best for what you're streaming.
Mobile
Good for vlogging and quick updates from your phone or tablet. To create a mobile live stream, you need to meet the requirements.
Webcam
Quickly live stream from your computer using a webcam. You’ll need a computer with a webcam.
Learn how to stream with a webcam
Encoders
Encoders let you stream gameplay, overlays, and use hardware like preamps, mics, and cameras. This type of stream is commonly used for gaming, sporting events, concerts, and conferences.
Learn how to stream using an encoder
Game consoles
Modern game consoles from PlayStation and Xbox allow you to directly stream from the device. Please review each console maker’s instruction manual for directions to stream.
Vertical live streams
When your live stream is vertical (more tall than wide), viewers on mobile will now enter a full screen viewing experience when watching it. This experience includes a scrollable live stream feed where viewers have access to fan funding features like Super Chat, Super Stickers, channel memberships, and gifts, depending on eligibility. Viewers (not limited to existing channel subscribers) can also find these live streams when browsing YouTube Shorts.
Stream in both horizontal and vertical formats
You can go live in both horizontal (16:9 aspect ratio) and vertical (9:16 aspect ratio) formats at the same time. This setting gives your audience more ways to view your content, whether they’re watching on a computer or in the Shorts feed on the YouTube mobile app.
To live stream, you need to have no live streaming restrictions in the past 90 days and you need to verify your channel.
Note: You must be at least 16 years old to live stream. Live streams that do not follow the minimum age requirement will be taken down and the account may temporarily lose its ability to live stream. Additionally, live streams featuring 13-15 year olds who are not visibly accompanied by an adult may have their live chat disabled and the account may temporarily lose access to live chat or other features.
You can earn revenue on your live streams by:
- Turning on ads
- Enabling gifts
- Enabling Super Chat & Super Stickers for Live Chat
- Setting up channel memberships
Ads on live streams
If your channel is monetized and monetization is turned on for your live stream, YouTube will trigger ads to serve on your content. Ad serving is not guaranteed and some viewers may not get an ad. Live streams can be eligible for:
- Pre-roll ads run before the live stream. Pre-roll ads are automatically turned on for live streams when monetization is turned on.
- Mid-roll ads run during the live stream. These ads can be automatically or manually inserted.
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Side-by-side ads are a type of mid-roll that may be shown to viewers when the following stream criteria is met:
- Stream is normal latency
- Automatic mid-roll setting is enabled
- No captions enabled
Your creator guide to YouTube
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