AFK Live sends your stream to YouTube with a stream key: a code like abcd-1234-efgh-5678-ijkl that tells YouTube which channel the video belongs to. You copy it from YouTube once and paste it into AFK Live. No Google sign-in needed.
Copy the key on a computer
- Open YouTube Studio's live dashboard and sign in to the channel you want to stream to. (It's also Create → Go live in YouTube Studio.)
- If YouTube asks you to turn on live streaming, do it. The very first time, YouTube can take up to 24 hours before your channel can go live.
- In the menu on the left, choose Stream (not Webcam or Manage).
- Under Stream settings, find Stream key. Keep Default stream key selected, then press Copy.
- In AFK Live, paste it into YouTube stream key (in setup, or Destinations → Add a destination → YouTube) and save. We check the key straight away by sending a short test picture.
On a phone
The YouTube Studio app doesn't show stream keys. Open studio.youtube.com in your phone's browser, switch it to the desktop site (in the browser's menu), and follow the same steps.
Mix-ups we see most
- Pasting the Stream URL instead of the key. YouTube shows a Stream URL (
rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2) just above the key. AFK Live already knows it; paste only the key. - A key from a scheduled live. A live you scheduled in the Manage tab can have its own key. Use the default key on the Stream tab unless you mean to stream into that scheduled live.
- The wrong channel. If you run more than one channel, check the picture in YouTube Studio's top right before you copy.
Keep it private
Anyone with your key can stream to your channel. AFK Live stores it encrypted and only ever shows its last four characters. If someone else has seen it, make a new key in YouTube Studio (the Stream key menu → Create new stream key) and paste the new one into AFK Live.