How to Stream to YouTube with OBS [2025]

In this article, I'll be explaining to you how to connect your YouTube with OBS Studio and the best settings to use. Streaming to YouTube doesn't need to be difficult and this is going to show you how to get the highest-quality, professional-looking streams in the easiest way possible. 

If you're new here, be sure to check out The Streamer Academy where I help you start and build your stream. There are tons of free resources available for you to utilize that will help grow your stream.

Adjusting Your Stream Settings

The first thing that we're going to do is to have OBS Studio open. Then, we're going to go to 'Settings', under 'Controls'. 

This is where the bulk of the adjustments that we need to make to get YouTube and OBS connected are going to happen. 

We'll start off with the 'Stream' settings. For 'Service', we'll select 'Youtube - RTMPS'. 

This is then going to ask you to either use a 'Stream Key' or to 'Connect Account'. I would encourage you to choose 'Connect Account' as it brings the YouTube chat into OBS, allowing you to manage and respond to the chat. You can also schedule your livestreams directly in OBS if you connect your account this way. 

To go ahead and get your account connected, you're going to be prompted to log in and you'll need to use the email that you use for your YouTube channel. You'll need to allow OBS some permissions to continue. If this all worked, you'll see a screen that says, "Authorization completed successfully. You can now close this page."

Now, when you come back to OBS Studio, you'll be able to see that your account is connected. 

You'll want to select 'Ignore Streaming Service Setting Recommendations' since we're going to be using custom settings that are going to make our stream look professional and high-quality. 

Adjusting Your YouTube Chat

Next, simply press 'okay' and you'll be able to see that your YouTube chat now comes up. 

Let's drag this over and place it on the left-hand side of the screen. Then, you can adjust this and make it smaller if you'd like. 

The minute you go live, the chat is going to appear here and you'll be able to utilize it. 

On the right-hand side, you'll see the 'YouTube Live Control Panel' which is optional if you want to use it.

This is going to give you some additional features to use and monitor your stream. If you want to utilize this, you'll follow the same steps as when you linked your YouTube and OBS and log in again. 

I personally do not use this and just have my chat, horizontal canvas, and vertical canvas on my screen when I'm streaming. 

Adjusting Your Output Settings

When you only connect your YouTube and OBS, it's not going to automatically make your stream look good. So, we need to go in and adjust some settings to make sure that everything looks high-quality and professional. 

To do this, we'll go back into 'Settings' and then under 'Output'. 

For the 'Output Mode', you're going to need this to be set to 'Advanced'.

Everything up to this point will have been the same whether you're on a Mac or a Windows, but this is where it's going to change.  I'll be sharing both sets of settings with you and you can choose which settings you need to use based on your computer so that you can get the best-looking stream. 

Mac Output Settings

We'll start with the Mac settings. 

Your 'Audio Encoder' should be set to 'CoreAudio ACC'. 

The 'Video Encoder' needs to be 'Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder'. 

Under 'Encoder Settings', your 'Rate Control' should be set to 'CBR'. 

As for your 'Bitrate', you don't have to have this set to '9,000 Kbps', but you can have it set to that if your computer and wifi can handle it. However, '6,000 Kbps' will also give you a good-looking stream. 

The way that you can determine what bitrate your internet can handle is by testing your upload speed. You can do this by going to Speedtest.net and simply pressing 'Go'. This is going to give you both your upload and your download speed, but we're going to focus on the upload speed. 

The minimum upload speed that you should have is '10' if you want to utilize the '6,000 Kbps' bitrate. The higher the number, the better this is for you. 

Once you've determined your upload speed, you can head back over to OBS Studio. 

Next, for the 'Keyframe Intervals', you'll want this to be set to '2s'. 

Then, for the 'Profile', you'll need this to be set to 'high'. 

You'll also want to make sure that 'Use B-Frames' is selected. 

Windows Output Settings

If you're on a Windows, these are the settings that you'll want to be utilizing. 

Your 'Audio Encoder' should be set to 'FFmpeg AAC'. 

As for the 'Video Encoder', you'll want to be using 'NVIDIA NVENC H.264'. If you don't have a really good graphics card, then you'll instead just want to use 'X264' which will be decent enough for you to go ahead and stream with. 

For your 'Rate Control', you're going to use 'Constant Bitrate'. 

Again, you're going to test your internet speed, make sure you have an upload speed of at least ten, and then, if you do, your 'Bitrate' should be set to '6,000 Kbps'. 

The keyframe intervals should be set to '2s'. 

For 'Preset', you're going to put this at 'P5: Slow (Good Quality)'. Again, if you have a really good PC, you can even go to 'P7' which is going to be the best quality. 'P1' is going to be the worst quality but will take up the least of your computer's resources, while 'P7' is the best quality but will take up the most resources. I like to keep mine at 'P5'. 

'Tuning' should be set to 'High Quality'. 

For 'Multipass Mode', you'll set this to 'Two Passes (Quarter Resolution)'. 

Then, 'Profile' should be set to 'High'. 

You'll want to make sure that you have 'Look Ahead' unchecked, but that you do have 'Adaptive Quantization' checked. 

Lastly, your 'B-Frames' needs to be set to '2'. 

If you follow these settings here, whether you're using the ones for Mac or Windows, this is going to give you the smoothest experience on YouTube, it will leave you looking great on camera, your stream is going to look good, and it's going to be a great experience for your viewers. 

Now, you'll press 'Ok'. 

Adjusting Your Audio Settings

Next, we need to head back into settings one more time to make sure that our 'Audio' settings are adjusted. 

Under 'Global Audio Devices', you're going to need to make sure that everything is connected to what you need it to be connected to. Make sure that your 'Desktop Audio' is selected. 

You're also going to go to 'Mic/Auxiliary Audio' and make sure that you're utilizing your microphone. This can be any mic that you have connected to your computer. 

Now, press 'Ok' again and you have the best settings here. At this point, you could go live and not have any quality issues with your stream. 

Managing Your Broadcast on OBS

If you select 'Manage Broadcast' under 'Controls', it will give you the option to set your title and description inside of OBS. You can do this on either YouTube or in OBS. 

If you have default descriptions and things that you normally utilize, I would encourage you to set this up on YouTube and then you can click on 'Select Existing Broadcast' to use these on OBS. 

You can also use this to decide on the 'Privacy' settings that you want to utilize. Your options are going to be 'Public', 'Unlisted', or 'Private'. 'Private' means that only you will be able to see the video. 'Unlisted' means that only people that you share the link with can see the video. Then, 'Public' means that everyone can see it and it will be put into the YouTube algorithm.

You'll select the 'Category' of your video, which, for me, is 'Gaming'. 

You'll also need to select whether or not this video is made for kids based on what it is that you're doing. 

Here, you can even go ahead and upload your thumbnail. 

For 'Latency', you're going to want to put this at 'Ultra Low' especially if you're streaming at 1080p and 60 frames per second. This makes it so that when someone uses the chat, you're able to see it right away. There will be the lowest amount of latency between when someone is chatting with you, what's happening on the stream, to what's happening in real time. 

You can select 'Schedule for Later', 'Create Broadcast', or 'Create Broadcast and Start Streaming' depending on when you want to stream. 

Once you've done all of this, you can select 'Start Streaming' and you're good to go. However, you don't want to just go live without having a professional-looking stream. As you can see below, I have all of my graphics, and I also have my gameplay, camera, and overlays set up.  

If you want to have a professional-looking stream like this, go ahead and check out this video here where I walk you step-by-step through how to set up everything that you need to have a professional and put-together stream.