How to Go Live on YouTube: Requirements and Limits

Going live takes minutes once a channel is set up, and the rules are easy to trip over: ages, verification, subscriber minimums that differ by device, and limits on what a restricted channel may do. Pages that list a single "subscriber requirement" for live streaming are usually mixing the phone rule with the computer rule. This guide sets out what YouTube Help says for each way of going live, the encoder numbers it recommends, and how live streams earn.

How do you go live on YouTube? The short version

1. 01

   Meet the requirements

   A verified channel, no live streaming restrictions in the past 90 days, and an account holder aged 16 or over.

2. 02

   Turn on live streaming

   Enabling it for the first time may take up to 24 hours, so do it before the day you want to stream.

3. 03

   Open the Live Control Room

   In YouTube Studio on a computer, click Create in the top right, then Go live. On a phone, open the YouTube app and tap Create, then Live.

4. 04

   Pick a way to stream

   Webcam for a quick stream, an encoder for gameplay or overlays, a phone for a quick update, or a console's built-in streaming.

5. 05

   Set the details, then go live

   Add a title and visibility, schedule it if you want reminders, and start. End the stream by stopping your encoder or tapping Finish on mobile.

Who can live stream? The requirements

The minimum age rule has detail worth knowing. Live streams that do not follow it are taken down, and the account may temporarily lose the ability to live stream. YouTube Help says a person under 16 can take part in a stream from an adult's account only if the adult is visibly present and takes part as much as they do. Streams featuring 13 to 15 year olds who are not visibly accompanied by an adult may have live chat disabled.

Two rules you will see quoted elsewhere do not appear on the pages we read. We found no separate subscriber minimum for streaming from a computer, and no rule that teenagers need 1,000 subscribers for mobile streaming. What YouTube Help does say for users aged 13 through 17 is that the default privacy setting for a first stream is private or unlisted, depending on the method. If you are 18 or over, the default is public.

Which way of going live should you choose?

YouTube Help lists four methods: mobile, webcam, encoder and game console.

Mobile streams have one extra feature. YouTube Help describes a Live Practice Mode in the app, a private space with no real audience to rehearse in before you go live, and says it is rolling out to all creators. A mobile stream can also save a Short highlight from the recap, which is saved as a private video until you change it.

What encoder settings does YouTube recommend?

With an encoder, you enter YouTube's server URL and your stream key into the software. From the Live Control Room's Stream tab you create the stream, and for later streams YouTube Help says your previous settings, including the stream key, load automatically. If a key is compromised, you can reset it from the stream settings.

The encoder page sets these basics: RTMP or RTMPS as the protocol, with RTMPS recommended as the secure option, video codecs H.264, H.265 or AV1, up to 60 frames per second, a keyframe every 2 seconds and never more than 4, constant bitrate, and AAC or MP3 audio. YouTube detects your resolution and frame rate automatically unless you create a custom key with manual settings.

Your upload speed sets the ceiling, and that part is our suggestion, not a YouTube rule: the stream cannot send more than your connection can carry, so leave some headroom. Run a speed test on the network you will stream from, and test the stream with audio and movement before the real one. Our video size, resolution and length guide covers the settings for uploaded videos, which differ from live ones.

What is latency, and which setting should you pick?

Latency is the delay between your camera and what viewers see. YouTube Help offers three settings.

DVR is a separate switch. YouTube Help says enabling it lets viewers pause, rewind and continue during your stream.

Can you stream vertical and horizontal at once?

By default, a stream started from the Live Control Room goes out in both formats at the same time: horizontal at 16:9 and vertical at 9:16, where the vertical stream is a center crop of the horizontal one. Viewers on mobile who find the stream in the Shorts feed see the vertical version. Everyone else sees the horizontal stream, both share the same live chat, and subscribers get one notification. You cannot add the vertical format after a stream has started.

The table matters for earning. A stream that reaches viewers mainly through the vertical feed does not run ad mid-rolls or pre-rolls, so treat the horizontal stream as the one that carries ads.

What happens to a stream after it ends?

YouTube Help says all streams under 12 hours are automatically archived, and you find them in the Live tab of YouTube Studio. On mobile, a recap appears with stream stats, and you can edit the archive's privacy settings or delete it.

The archive matters for the Partner Program. YouTube Help lists livestreams that are unlisted, deleted or not converted to video on demand among the videos that do not count toward the watch-hour threshold. A stream that stays public and converts to a video on demand adds its watch time. That makes long streams a route to the 4,000 hours, and it also means deleting or hiding an archive removes hours you might have counted on. Our application guide covers what counts.

There are also limits on how many streams you can run. YouTube Help sets 10 active streams per channel and 3 active streams per stream key, both applied at the same time.

What rules and limits apply to live streams?

Everything you stream must follow the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. If you suggest you will stream content that violates them, YouTube may age-restrict or remove the stream, and it reserves the right to restrict a creator's ability to live stream at its discretion.

The mobile page lists age restriction and monetization among the options you set for a stream, so check that screen before you go live. Some choices cannot change after the stream starts: YouTube Help says you cannot add the vertical format once it has begun.

How do live streams earn money?

YouTube Help gives three ways: turning on ads, enabling Super Chat and Super Stickers in Live Chat, and setting up channel memberships.

For revenue shares, YouTube Help says partners receive 70% of net revenue from channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks. Ad revenue on the watch page is 55%. Our make money guide sets out each feature's conditions in one place.

Some ad details save time. Ad slots are not guaranteed to serve ads. With automatic mid-rolls you choose Low, Medium or High frequency, and YouTube pauses them for viewers who send gifts, Super Chats or Stickers. With scheduled mid-rolls the gap is 6, 12, 18, 24 or 30 minutes. If no mid-roll break is inserted manually, none is served. Streams with captions on do not show side-by-side ads. If the player is embedded on an external site with auto start, ads are turned off for the stream, which is worth remembering when you use our Embed Code Generator with autoplay on.

How common are live broadcasts? What our data shows

To see how often creators go live, we took the sample from our Shorts length article: 115 channels drawn at random from the ones our site tracks, and each channel's latest 50 uploads. On September 26, 2026 we read the live details of those uploads through the YouTube Data API, 5,702 videos and 115 quota units. The API adds a live streaming object to a video only if it is an upcoming, live or completed live broadcast. The docs do not say whether that includes Premieres, so read the counts as live streams and possibly Premieres.

Three things stand out. Live broadcasts are a minority of what channels post, 7.3% overall. They are more common on bigger channels, from 2.9% to 12.4%, though the smallest band has only 34 channels, so its figures move a lot with a single channel. And they are long: among the 407 broadcasts with a finished duration, the median ran 22 minutes, 41% ran an hour or more, and none reached 12 hours. Only 9 videos were live or upcoming at the time, which do not have a final length.

The set leans toward popular channels, and it cannot separate a live stream from a Premiere or say whether an archive stayed public. It says how often live broadcasts appear in recent uploads and nothing about how much they earn.

What mistakes trip people up?

• Waiting until the day. First-time enabling can take up to 24 hours, so a stream planned for tonight can miss its slot.
• Assuming one subscriber minimum. The 50-subscriber rule is for mobile streams, and it is not the same as the 500 and 1,000 subscriber levels for earning.
• Deleting or unlisting the archive. YouTube Help says unlisted, deleted or unconverted livestreams do not count toward the watch-hour threshold.
• Streaming above your upload speed. Leave headroom on your connection, and test first.
• Choosing ultra-low latency for a 4K stream. Neither low nor ultra-low latency supports 4K.
• Expecting ads on the vertical feed. It does not run live ad mid-rolls or pre-rolls.
• Using another channel while restricted. That counts as circumvention and can end in termination.

FAQ

Related reading