How to Broadcast from your Computer to Facebook Live

Troubleshooting Guide

Having trouble with the button above?

Do check the comments below, many other people may have asked similar questions to you and will save you some worry!

Here are some common questions and answers...

#1 The first pop-up closes after I select where I want to go live to

When you click the go live button, your browser will normally display a pop-up. You'll be able to choose where you want the live video to be posted to. Once you've done this, this window should close and another pop-up should appear. Here you'll be able to craft your post, get the stream key and see your preview. However some browser's block this second pop up. If this happens to you, check your browser settings to allow pop-ups from this site (iag.me). Check this article out to find out how to allow pop ups for your browser.

#2 I get a "Cannot connect to server" or a blank preview

Something is blocking your connection between OBS Studio and Facebook Live. It's likely that your ISP is blocking your connection. If this is happening to you, could you let me know in the comments below along with the name of your ISP? I'm interested to know. This is happening rarely, but it is happening to some people. If this is the case, I highly recommend that you try connecting on a different internet connection (such as at a friend's house or at your local coffee shop). If it works there then you know it's your internet connection. If it is your internet connection then check you don't have any firewalls that could be blocking the connection. Also restart your router to see if that solves it. If it doesn't then try and call your ISP and ask them to unblock Facebook Live. They'll probably fob you off, but keep trying. Please let me know how you get on in the comments below!

#3 There is a big delay in my stream

This is a more difficult issue to solve. There is always going to be a delay (perhaps up to around 5-10 seconds) but some people have complained of a much longer delay. Firstly make sure you check your upload speed using a service like Speedtest.net. It's not your download speed that makes a difference, it's the upload speed - since you are uploading the video to Facebook in effect. You should have an upload speed of at least 3Mbps, although 4Mbps and higher is preferable. You can use Facebook Live if you have a slower speed, but you may have issues. Also, the speed of your computer is important. Older and less powerful computers will take their time encoding the video. Keep an eye on the CPU usage in the bottom

Also, the speed of your computer is important. Older and less powerful computers will take their time encoding the video. Keep an eye on the CPU usage in the bottom right-hand corner of the OBS Studio window. If it's really high (above 90%) then your computer may be struggling.

In OBS Settings you can change the encoding preset to “ultra fast” or “super fast”. You can find this in Settings->Output.

This will mean your computer’s processor will be used a little less.

#4 I use a Mac, and I'm not able to stream the audio from other apps such as Skype in OBS to Facebook Live

Macs handle desktop sound a little differently to Windows. On the Windows version of OBS Studio, the sound from Skype will automatically be captured as desktop audio in OBS Studio. On a Mac you need to route the sound from another app to OBS Studio.

This requires a 3rd party app. Wirecast has this functionality built in (a driver that records desktop audio), but with OBS Studio you’ll need a bit of extra help.

There are a number of options...

• Soundflower - An extension that allows other apps (like Skype) to route audio to other apps. There were some issues with Soundflower not being compatible with later versions of OSX but the developer has made some updates.
• JackAudio - Not tried this, but looks like a good alternative too.
• Loopback - Is a premium Mac app, which is highly recommended by a friend of mine. It costs $99, but apparently, it’s worth it!
• Sound Siphon - Similar to Loopback but cheaper.This was recommended by Leslie Samuel. I've not tried it myself, but it looks good!

When you install one of these, you can then route the audio output from Skype into OBS Studio and it should just work. It’s a pain that you have to jump through a few hoops here, but it’s just the way Macs work.

#5 My webcam appears black!

If your webcam preview just appears black in OBS Studio, you may need to adjust the resolution by changing it to custom. Right-click the webcam source and click properties to change the resolution.

#6 Audio and Video are out of sync

There are a number of factors that can affect a delay between audio and video. The first thing to ensure is that you close as many background apps as possible. Close down as many apps as you can, check for any bandwidth draining apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox etc. You could also see what else is running in the background and shut down any other apps.

The 2nd thing is to check your upload speed. Use something like speedtest.net. If you have at least 3Mbps or 4Mbps upload speed you should be fine. Ideally use a wired connection as opposed to a wireless one.

The 3rd thing is to turn up the encoding preset. Go to settings and then output, and put the encoding preset up to max.

If none of that solves your issue, your computer may just be struggling with streaming the video. Live streaming takes a lot of processing power. Although OBS Studio as amazing - particularly for a free app, it's not quite as efficient as the likes of Wirecast. So, you may need to give it some help and manually fix the "sync offset".
To do this, click on the cog by the mixer on the main screen, and then adjust the sync offset of your audio. There is no ideal setting here, unfortunately, so you'll have to play around until you get a setting that works for you: