How to Raid on Twitch
A raid is the only native way Twitch gives you to move an audience to another channel. It changes two viewer counts at once, and the receiving streamer decides who's allowed to do it.
How to raid on Twitch: while you're live, type /raid followed by the channel name in your chat, or use the Raid Channel button in Stream Manager. A banner shows a countdown and how many viewers are joining. After about ten seconds you can click Raid Now; otherwise it starts when the countdown ends.
When it fires, the viewers connected to your chat are sent to the other channel's live stream. Their live count jumps by that number and a raid alert appears in their chat with your name; yours falls as your audience leaves, which is why a raid is usually the last thing a streamer does before ending the broadcast. The target has to be live, and it has to accept raids from you: every channel can limit incoming raids to friends, teammates and followed channels, or block them entirely.
A raid on Twitch is a built-in feature that moves the audience of one live stream to another live stream at the end of a broadcast, with an on-screen alert announcing who sent them. It is Twitch's own answer to a problem Twitch created.
The directory sorts channels by how many people are watching right now. A new channel with a handful of viewers appears below every larger channel in its category, which makes it hard to find by browsing. The raid is the one mechanism Twitch provides that moves real, signed-in viewers past that sort order. When it works well, a group of people who already like one streamer arrives at another's stream together, at a moment when the receiving streamer can greet them.
The same mechanism can be pointed at someone. In 2021 Twitch saw waves of hate raids, where accounts flooded smaller channels' chats with abuse, and it responded with stronger chat verification options and later a one-click emergency mode called Shield Mode. Raid settings, which let the receiving channel decide who can raid it, sit in the same toolkit. The number that moves in a raid is the live count, the figure a visitor sees on a stream card and the one Twitch viewers add to; a raid also brings chat, follows and people who may come back, which is what makes it worth more than the spike.
How to raid someone on Twitch, step by step
On a computer, from your own live stream:
- Pick a channel that is live right now. You can only raid a live stream.
- Type /raid followed by the channel name in your chat and press Enter. In Stream Manager you can use the Raid Channel quick action instead, which also suggests channels.
- A banner shows the target and a live count of viewers joining. Viewers can choose to leave the raid before it fires.
- After about ten seconds, click Raid Now, or wait for the countdown to finish and the raid starts automatically.
- To stop it before it fires, click Cancel or type /unraid.
How to raid on Twitch from mobile
If you stream from the Twitch app, open the stream manager while live and use the Raid option, then search for the channel. Streaming from other software but chatting on your phone, you can still type /raid channelname in your own chat. Only the broadcaster and the channel's editors can start a raid; moderators can't by default.
What does raid mean on Twitch?
To raid is to send your viewers to another channel as your stream ends. To be raided is the other side: another streamer has just sent their audience to you. When your channel is raided, an alert appears in chat and, if you use alert software, on stream, naming the raider and how many viewers came with them. Etiquette is simple: thank the raider by name, tell the new arrivals in one line what's going on, and carry on with the stream rather than restarting it for them.
Raiders are typically signed-in viewers who were in the other channel's chat, so they can follow, chat and subscribe. Many of them leave within minutes, which is normal. The ones who stay are the point.
What a raid does to both viewer counts
At the moment the raid fires, two things happen:
- The receiving channel's live count rises by roughly the number of raiders, visible to everyone in the directory and on the stream card.
- The raiding channel's live count falls as its viewers are redirected. If the streamer stays live afterward, only the people who opted out or weren't connected to chat remain.
What a raid does to average and max viewers
Max viewers is the peak concurrent count, so a raid can set it in one moment. Average viewers is weighted by time, so a raid moves it only as much as the raiders stay. If a hundred people arrive and ninety leave in five minutes, the peak jumps and the average barely changes. The three Twitch viewer counts explains why those numbers never match, and whether lurkers count as viewers covers the silent part of any raid.
Do raid viewers count toward Affiliate and Partner?
For Affiliate, Twitch's help pages say raid viewers count toward the average. For Partner, a member of Twitch's partner operations team said on a Twitch stream in September 2024 that raids now count toward the Partner average too. Because the average is weighted by time, raided viewers only help as long as they stay. The Twitch Partner requirements explain the 75-viewer average the Path to Partner achievement measures.
How to control who can raid you
Every channel decides who may raid it. In the Creator Dashboard, open Settings, then Stream, and find the raid settings. The options, as of September 2026:
- Allow all raids.
- Allow raids only from friends, teammates and followed channels.
- Block all raids.
What else protects you from a bad raid
Chat settings do most of the work. Followers-only mode with a minimum follow age stops accounts that followed seconds ago from chatting, and Twitch follower-only chat explains how to set it. Phone or email verification for chat, suspicious user detection and Shield Mode, which applies a stricter set of chat protections in one step, were all added after the 2021 hate raids. If a raid turns hostile, turn Shield Mode on first and sort out details later.
Who should you raid?
Someone whose audience will enjoy the stream they land in. A raid that sends viewers from a relaxed art stream into a chaotic shooter stream mostly produces people who leave. A raid between streamers of similar size and tone, or into a channel in the same game at the same energy, produces viewers who stay, and usually a raid back at some point.
That is how raids work as growth. They are a relationship between streamers, repeated over time, not a single event. How to get more viewers on Twitch goes through why the directory makes that network so valuable to small channels, and why asking strangers for raids rarely works.
A practical rule is to tell the other streamer's chat who you are in one line when you arrive, and to raid the same few channels regularly. Your viewers start to know them, and theirs start to know you.
A raid moves a number, and a room
The live count after a raid is what anyone browsing the category sees, and for a few minutes it can lift a small channel into view. That visible number is also why some streamers use Twitch viewers for a launch or a special broadcast, so the stream doesn't open to an empty room. Be clear about the difference: a raid brings people who can chat, follow and come back; added viewers change only the count a visitor sees, and Twitch filters automated traffic from what it counts.
Followers are what turn a raid into something lasting, since they're notified the next time you go live. Twitch followers are priced on their own page, and every Twitch service is on the Twitch page. The raid itself is free, and it is still the best tool Twitch has given small streamers.
Questions people ask about Twitch raids
How do you raid on Twitch?
While live, type /raid followed by the channel name in chat, or use Raid Channel in Stream Manager. Click Raid Now after the countdown starts, or let it fire automatically.
What happens when you raid someone on Twitch?
Viewers connected to your chat are sent to the other live stream. Their live count rises, a raid alert with your name appears in their chat, and your own count falls.
Can you raid on Twitch with 1 viewer?
Yes. There is no minimum audience or Affiliate status needed to raid. The target just has to be live and accept raids from your channel.
How do I cancel a raid on Twitch?
Click Cancel on the raid banner, or type /unraid in chat, before the countdown ends.
How do I stop people from raiding my channel?
In the Creator Dashboard, go to Settings, then Stream, and set raids to friends, teammates and followed channels only, or block all raids.
Do raids count toward Twitch average viewers?
Yes for Affiliate, according to Twitch's help pages, and for Partner according to Twitch staff in September 2024. They only raise the average for as long as raiders stay.
Keep reading
- Twitch viewers — A raid moves the live count a visitor sees on a stream card, the same figure Twitch viewers add to.
- How to get more viewers on Twitch — Why the directory makes raids the door small channels rely on.
- The three Twitch viewer counts — What a raid spike does to live, average and unique viewers.