The short version
To go LIVE on TikTok you must be at least 18, and your account needs the number of followers TikTok sets for your country or region. From a computer, TikTok’s own desktop app, LIVE Studio for Windows and macOS, sends the stream. Install it, log in, check your LIVE access in the top right corner, add your camera and microphone, then go LIVE. If you stream on another platform but not yet on TikTok, you can apply with that channel.
1. Check your LIVE access
Open LIVE Studio and look at the top right corner: it shows your LIVE access status, and clicking it starts the application. If you already go LIVE on the TikTok app, access in LIVE Studio can be instant. TikTok checks the account’s age, recent time spent LIVE, followers and any recent suspension, and those requirements vary by country or region.
If you stream elsewhere but not on TikTok, you’re sent to an application form that asks about your other channel. TikTok says the review can take days, and you’ll get a notice in the TikTok app when it’s approved. New LIVE creators may not get every LIVE feature at first.
2. Install LIVE Studio and set it up
Download LIVE Studio from TikTok’s official site, install it and log in with your TikTok account. Coming from another streaming app? Import from another tool moves some of your settings across. Otherwise Set up now asks what you will stream, connects your microphone and camera, and suggests a LIVE quality your connection and computer can handle.
3. Build your scenes for phone viewers
Add a scene for each part of your stream and up to 20 sources to each, such as your camera, a capture card or a game window. LIVE Studio offers portrait, landscape and dual layouts, and most TikTok viewers watch on phones, so check the portrait view first. A console still needs a capture card to reach the computer.
4. Choose the LIVE quality
TikTok recommends 720p for most LIVEs because most viewers watch on phones, and 1080p for a LIVE that needs more clarity on a high-performance computer. The TikTok LIVE settings page lists the resolutions and frame rates LIVE Studio offers, with what TikTok says each is for.
5. Rehearse before you go LIVE
TikTok’s help names no private test mode. Use LIVE Studio’s mobile preview to see your scene the way a phone viewer will, and check your camera and voice with the webcam and mic test and the pre-stream checklist. During the LIVE, LIVE Studio shows CPU, memory, network, dropped frames and frame rate, so you can see whether your computer or your connection is struggling.
6. Go LIVE
Set your topics, description and cover under LIVE info, which helps viewers who are interested in your content find you. Then go LIVE from the settings area. Comments, gifts, joins and new followers appear in the chat panel as they happen.
Questions
Can I go LIVE on TikTok with OBS? Only if TikTok gives your account a stream key, and TikTok publishes no rule for who gets one. Its LIVE Studio help covers going LIVE from LIVE Studio and the app, with no key for other software. TikTok’s page for keys, LIVE Producer, is at livecenter.tiktok.com/producer and opens only when you’re signed in: if it shows your account a server URL and a stream key, paste them into OBS under Settings, Stream, with the service set to Custom. Creator networks that offer to unlock a key are independent businesses, not TikTok, as TikTok itself points out. If no key appears, LIVE Studio is the route TikTok documents, and it can import some settings from the app you use now.
Why can’t I go LIVE on TikTok? You must be 18 or older and have the followers TikTok requires where you live, and access can be suspended. LIVE Studio’s top right corner shows your status.
Does LIVE Studio work on a Mac? Yes. TikTok lists macOS and Windows.