Live stream troubleshooting Tips

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Often, issues can be resolved by posting in the products forums. Other users and Google Guides participate in these forums and answer questions.
Go to the YouTube Live help forum
Report a bug
To report a bug, please follow these steps:
1. Go to the YouTube page where you're having issues.
2. Click Send Feedback found in the left navigation menu.
You'll be able to take a screenshot, describe the issue you're experiencing, and submit the problem to our team.
While we may not respond to every report, we are listening and will work to address the issue as soon as possible.

Make sure you're using the most recent version of your encoder.

If you start to see problems in the stream:

Verify that the problem is not localized to one user or one network.
- How many users are seeing the problem?
  - One -
    - Likely user error. Have user try alternative machine and alternative network.
  - Many on shared network -
    - Likely network issue. Users should check network health to ensure network has the capacity to view stream. Remember, 10 users watching 10 streams requires 10x the inbound bandwidth.
  - Many on various networks -
    - Possibly source error, proceed to next step.
Verify health of stream on encoder.
- Does the stream look and sound healthy when watching directly from the encoder?
  - No -
    - Likely source error. Remember, “garbage in, garbage out”. Verify health of all audio and video sources routed to encoder. If all sources are good, check the encoder itself. What is the CPU load on encoder? Is stream healthy on alternative encoder? Be sure to also check your local archive. If you are seeing audio or video problems in your local archive file, the problems are being introduced locally.
  - Yes
    - Possibly outbound network error, proceed to next step.
Verify health of outbound network.
- Run speed test (speedtest.net) and ping test to a.rtmp.youtube.com and any other external domain (ex: google.com).
  - If outbound bandwidth is unstable or inadequate-
    - Likely network errors. Contact your local IT support to troubleshoot.

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