StreamLive Pro

OBS is streaming, but YouTube and Facebook show nothing

Your encoder is live and StreamLive Pro may even show the picture, but YouTube, Facebook and the other networks stay empty: causes in order, a table, checks and fixes.

Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read

The most likely cause is the browser tab. When OBS, vMix or a hardware encoder starts sending, the Live stream page in StreamLive Pro notices the stream and then sends your channel selection, and the broadcast goes out to the networks. If that page was closed, or open in a background tab, at the moment the stream started, the stream can reach StreamLive Pro and go nowhere else. Keep the Live stream page of that broadcast open and in front until the channels show they are live. The next most likely causes are no channel ticked and an expired connection.

If the problem is that there is no picture at all, even in StreamLive Pro's own preview, see My encoder says it is streaming, but there is no picture instead.

Symptom table

Steps

1. Open the right broadcast. On Live stream, open the broadcast whose key is in your encoder. Compare the key on its Encoder card with the one in the encoder; if you started a different broadcast meanwhile, the encoder may be sending to the old one.
2. Tick the channels before you start the encoder. Switch on the destinations in the Channels list. A channel with a red mark or a reconnect note needs attention first (Reconnect a channel whose connection expired).
3. Keep the page in front. Leave the Live stream page as the visible tab in its window. It checks for your stream every ten seconds, and it does not check while the tab is in the background or the page is closed.
4. Start or restart the encoder's stream. If the encoder was already live, stop its stream, wait ten seconds, and start again. Within about ten to thirty seconds a "Stream detected" message appears and the broadcast goes out to the ticked channels.
5. Watch the channels. Each ticked channel turns live as its network accepts the broadcast. YouTube and Facebook can take another few seconds after that to show it to viewers.
6. Fix the stragglers. For Instagram, press Go live in Instagram's own tab after the stream reaches it. For TikTok and Instagram, a key used before does not work again: paste a fresh one (My Instagram or TikTok stream key does not work).
7. Only then leave the page. Once the channels are live, the broadcast keeps going on our servers. End it with Stop stream so it ends on every network.

Why the page matters

With the browser studio, your click on Start stream starts everything. With an external encoder there is no click in StreamLive Pro: the stream simply arrives. The open Live stream page is what sees it arrive and sends the channels you ticked at that moment, so the selection reaches our servers before the copies to each network are made. This is how StreamLive Pro behaves today, and it is the reason every encoder guide on this help center says to keep the page open and in front. For a broadcast at a fixed time, open the page a few minutes before you start the encoder.

Connections the network rejected

If a network has revoked StreamLive Pro's permission, for example after a password change or a change of your role on a Facebook Page, StreamLive Pro skips that connection rather than send to a dead target, and the other networks carry on. The channel shows the problem, and the bell keeps one notice per connection until you reconnect (Notifications: what the bell tells you, and how often).

When to contact support

If the page was open and in front, channels were ticked, connections were healthy and still no network went live, write to [email protected]. Send:

• the broadcast title, the date and the time you started, with your time zone;
• the encoder and its version, and the tab you used (RTMP, RTMPS or SRT);
• which channels were ticked and which ones stayed empty;
• a screenshot of the Live stream page at that moment, if you have one;
• whether the "Stream detected" message appeared.

Never send the stream key itself.

Frequently asked questions

Why does OBS say it is live but YouTube shows no data?

Most often the Live stream page in StreamLive Pro was closed or in a background tab when OBS started, so the broadcast was not sent out. Bring the page to the front with YouTube ticked and restart the stream in OBS.

Do I have to keep StreamLive Pro open while I stream from OBS?

Keep the Live stream page open and in front until the channels show they are live. After that the broadcast runs on our servers.

Only one network is missing. What do I check?

Its connection. A red mark on the channel means the permission ended; reconnect it. For Instagram and TikTok, paste a fresh key.

Can I tick a channel after OBS is already live?

Yes. Switching a channel on during the broadcast adds it. If nothing happens, stop the stream in OBS for ten seconds and start again with the page in front.

Does a scheduled broadcast from OBS need the page open too?

Open the broadcast's Live stream page before you start OBS and keep it in front until the channels are live. It is the safe way for every encoder broadcast.

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