How to Go Live on Facebook
The broadcast is the small part. The video it leaves behind in the feed is what most people will actually watch.
On a phone, open the app, start a new post and choose the live video option, write a line of description, then start. On desktop, use the Live Producer page, which gives you a stream key to paste into OBS or similar software.
A Page broadcasts as the Page. A profile broadcasts to whoever your audience setting allows.
When you end the broadcast, Facebook keeps it as a video post unless you delete it. That replay usually collects more views than the live audience did.
Treating the broadcast as the whole event is the mistake that wastes the effort.
A live video on Facebook has two lives. During the first one, a small number of people are notified and some of them arrive mid-sentence. During the second one, the recording sits in the feed and is shown to people over the following days, exactly like any other video.
That second life is the larger one for almost everyone who is not already famous on the platform, and it rewards different choices. A title that makes sense out of context. An opening that works for someone who arrived at minute zero of the recording rather than minute twenty of the stream. A description with the words someone would search.
It also means the end of a broadcast is not the end of the work. The replay can be trimmed, retitled, given a thumbnail, and pinned. Most broadcasters do none of that and then conclude live video does not work for them.
The practical version: say what the stream is about at the start, not only when you started it; repeat the premise every so often for people joining; and spend five minutes on the replay once you are off camera.
Going live from the phone
Open the Facebook app, start a post and pick the live option. Choose the Page or profile you are broadcasting as, set the audience, and write a description before you tap to start.
The description is the only context most viewers get. Write it as a sentence, not as a label.
Before you start, check the connection. Live video is the least forgiving thing on a weak upload, and a stream that buffers loses viewers who do not come back.
End the broadcast from the same screen. Facebook asks whether to keep the video, and keeping it is almost always the right answer.
Going live from a computer
Use Facebook's Live Producer page. It offers two routes: broadcast straight from a webcam, or connect streaming software.
The software route gives you a server address and a stream key. Paste both into OBS, Streamlabs or whatever you use, then start the stream in the software and go live from Facebook.
A stream key is a password. Anyone who has it can broadcast as you, so do not show it on screen while setting up, which happens more often than you would think.
The desktop route is what you want for anything with multiple cameras, screen sharing, or overlays.
Who sees it while it is happening
Some followers get a notification. Not all of them, and not on a schedule you control.
Announcing the stream beforehand does more for live attendance than anything inside Facebook does, because it moves the decision out of the feed and into someone's calendar.
A stream with nobody watching is not evidence of a problem. Early live audiences are small for everyone, and the number that matters is how many people watch the recording.
Comments during the broadcast feed the ranking of the replay too, which is why asking a question early is worth more than asking one at the end.
What happens when the broadcast ends
The recording becomes a video post on the Page or profile. It can be edited, trimmed and given a thumbnail like any other video.
It also keeps collecting views, and those views are counted under Facebook's ordinary video rules rather than as live viewers.
If the broadcast was a one-off that should not live forever, delete the video deliberately. Leaving it is the default.
For anything you want found later, rewrite the title to describe the content rather than the event. Nobody searches for a date.
The problems that are not your fault, and the ones that are
Live video can be restricted on an account or Page after copyright or policy strikes. If the option is missing entirely, that is usually why.
Audio from recorded music is the single most common cause of a stream being cut or muted, and the detection runs during the broadcast.
Resolution and bitrate limits apply to the software route. Sending more than Facebook accepts produces a stream that looks worse, not better.
Everything else is almost always upload bandwidth. Wired beats wireless, and a lower resolution that holds beats a higher one that stutters.
Questions people ask about Facebook Live
Do I need special software to go live?
No. The phone app broadcasts directly. Software like OBS is only needed on desktop for multiple sources, screen sharing or overlays.
Does the video stay after the stream ends?
Yes, as a normal video post, unless you delete it. For most broadcasters the replay collects more views than the live audience.
Can I go live on a Page I manage?
Yes, if your access level allows posting. The broadcast appears as the Page, not as you.
Why can't I find the live option?
Either your access on the Page is limited, or live video has been restricted on the account after a policy or copyright issue.
How long can a Facebook live stream run?
Long enough that the limit is rarely the problem; Live Producer shows the current ceiling. Connection stability ends more streams than the limit does.
Can I test a stream privately first?
Yes. Set the audience to only me on a profile, or use the preview in Live Producer before you publish the broadcast.
Keep reading
- viewers on a Facebook live stream — An empty live room is the hardest room to join, and viewers on a Facebook live stream acts on the count that people see before deciding to stay.
- how replay views are counted — The recording keeps earning views after you stop talking, and how replay views are counted explains which ones Facebook adds to the total.
- what counts as a view — A view on Facebook is a defined event rather than a person watching, and what counts as a view sets out the threshold.