How to stream
on Twitch.

What you need

• A Twitch account. Minimum age 13, or 16 in Australia. Under the age of majority, a parent or guardian must supervise.
• A PC or a phone. A PC gives you overlays and game capture. A phone is enough for IRL and Just Chatting.
• A mic. Viewers forgive a bad camera long before bad audio.
• A steady upload speed. Twitch now accepts up to 7.5 Mbps for 1080p and 9 Mbps for 1440p, so run a speed test and pick settings well under your upload.

Twitch Studio, Twitch's old beginner app, was discontinued after 30 May 2024. Use OBS or one of the other apps below.

How to stream on Twitch from a PC

1. Install OBS Studio (version 30.2 or newer). Streamlabs, XSplit and Meld also work.
2. Connect Twitch. In OBS go to Settings, Stream. Choose Twitch as the service and click Connect Account.
3. Tick "Enable Enhanced Broadcasting". Twitch then sets up your video quality for you based on your graphics card.
4. Set your canvas. Twitch recommends 1920x1080 or 1280x720 at 60fps.
5. Add sources. In your scene add Game Capture (or Display Capture), Video Capture Device for your camera, and your mic as an Audio Input.
6. Set your title and category in the Twitch Creator Dashboard, or right in OBS once connected.
7. Click Start Streaming.

Where is my Twitch stream key?

If you do not use Connect Account, you can paste a stream key instead. Open the Creator Dashboard, click the Settings icon, then Stream. Copy the Primary Stream Key into your streaming app. Never share it or show it on stream: anyone with the key can stream to your channel. If it leaks, reset it on the same page.

How to stream on Twitch from your phone

1. Open the Twitch app and log in.
2. Tap the + button.
3. Choose Stream, then IRL (your camera) or Games (your screen).
4. Add a title and category, then go live.

In June 2026 Twitch also added Dual Format streaming for all streamers, which adds a vertical version of your stream for phone viewers, and 2K streaming for Partners and Affiliates.

After your first stream

• Aim for Affiliate. Since June 2026 you need 4 hours streamed, 4 different days, 25 followers and 3 average viewers. That is what unlocks payouts. See how streamers get paid.
• Stream on a schedule so people know when to come back.
• Post clips of every stream. Short clips on TikTok, Shorts and Reels are how most new viewers find a small streamer.

Get clips without editing

ReelShift watches your Twitch stream while you are live, cuts the best moments and hands you vertical clips with captions. You can also say "clip that" on stream to save the last 60 seconds. Post them while you are still live, when they are most likely to pull people into the stream. See the Twitch clipper or how Twitch Auto Clips compare.