Troubleshoot your YouTube live stream

Use the steps below to troubleshoot your YouTube live stream. 

1. You get an error when starting your encoder

If you get an error when starting your third-party encoder or software, then use one of the steps below.

If you're using a third-party encoder 

To fix it, get a new stream key in the Live Control Room and update your encoder.

1. Go to YouTube Studio.
2. To open Live Control Room, at the top right, click Create   Go live .
3. From the left-hand menu, Stream.
4. Under 'Stream key', copy the stream key and then paste it into your encoder.
5. When you're ready to stream, start your encoder to go live.

If you're logging in to YouTube from a third-party streaming software and are not using a stream key

Contact the software's support team for more information. They may need to update their software to work with YouTube Live.

2. Review reported errors on your stream

Live streaming issues can vary depending on how many viewers are reporting errors with your live stream. You can view the number of viewers and the number of reported errors in your live stream metrics.

One viewer is reporting an error

• There is probably a problem with this viewer's computer or Internet connection.
• You can suggest that they try viewing or connecting to your stream in a different way.
• Ask the viewer for the steps that they're using to see the error, and check if you have an error too.

Many viewers – using one Internet connection – are reporting an error

• There is probably an issue with the viewers' shared network.
• You can ask the viewers to check their Internet connection and network health. They should have the capacity to view a few streams – for example, 10 users watching 10 streams requires 10 times the inbound network speed.
• Ask the viewer for the steps that they're using to see the error, and check if you have an error too.

Many viewers – on different Internet connections – are reporting an error

There may be an issue with your live stream encoder. More troubleshooting steps are below.

3. Make sure that your live stream encoder is working

A live stream encoder is the app, program or tool that you can use to capture and compress your live stream. You can use the steps below to troubleshoot some problems that may occur with your encoder. Learn how to create a live stream with your encoder.

Troubleshoot your encoder

1. Make sure that you're using the latest version of your encoder software. If not, update your encoder to the latest version.
2. Check the look and sound of your stream directly in the encoder.
   • If your stream looks or sounds bad, there may be a problem with the quality of your audio and the video sources routed to your encoder. You can look for encoder errors on the live dashboard and check the CPU load on your encoder. Or, try to find audio or video problems in your local archive file. If you can't see any problems, you may want to try streaming using a different encoder.
   • If your stream looks and sounds healthy, there may be an issue with your outbound Internet connection. Try the next step below.
3. Test the strength of your outbound Internet connection.
   • Test your Internet connection: Visit Speed Test to test the speed of your Internet connection.
   • If you find issues with your Internet connection, contact your Internet service provider to troubleshoot.

4. Report a problem

If you continue to have issues with your live stream, let our team know.