How to connect Twitch to OBS: account link or stream key

Choose Twitch in Settings > Stream, then click Connect Account (recommended) to link your channel to OBS. This route retrieves the channel's stream key and adds Twitch's operator docks. Manual key entry is the alternative when you want to enter the key yourself or account connection is unavailable. Both choices belong to the built-in Twitch service; you don't need to select Custom.

I recommend account linking for a first setup because it keeps the channel controls beside the OBS preview. OBS's Twitch integration supplies the key and panels together. A key entered manually authorizes the outgoing broadcast, without establishing that account integration.

Before opening the Twitch login

Have access to the Twitch account that owns the channel, including its sign-in verification method. Enable two-factor authentication first: OBS's own Twitch warning says 2FA is required to stream. Follow the setup offered in Twitch security settings rather than disabling account protection to get past a login problem.

The routes below use the English controls in OBS 33.0.1. On Linux, account connection depends on the display platform: when OBS runs natively on Wayland, that version doesn't register the Twitch account option at all. If Connect Account is absent, use the manual-key route below. Its absence doesn't mean you need a Twitch plugin.

Have a scene ready, too. Linking a channel doesn't create your capture sources or choose a microphone. If the preview is still empty, build a first scene and test recording before sending it to Twitch.

Link the account and check the Twitch docks

1. Open Settings from the OBS Controls dock and select Stream.
2. Set Service to Twitch.
3. Choose Connect Account (recommended). Complete the Twitch sign-in and authorization prompt for the channel you intend to use.
4. After the login completes, save the Stream settings with Apply and OK.

After account linking, OBS offers Disconnect Account and can load the Twitch panels. With the account linked, OBS hides the manual key field; you don't need to find or reveal the key to finish this method.

The integration creates Chat, Stream Information, Twitch Stats and Twitch Activity Feed docks. They aren't all visible at first. Look in the Docks menu for the panels you need, and check that their channel is the intended one. OBS loads these panels through the Twitch account integration, so a successful key-only stream is a different check from successful panel access.

A Chat dock is an operator panel, outside the scene OBS sends. To make messages part of the picture viewers receive, follow the separate Twitch chat overlay guide.

Enter a stream key instead

Keep the key private before copying it. Twitch describes it as the stream's authorization key. Do not reveal it in a display capture, support screenshot, chat message or shared settings file.

1. Open Settings > Stream in OBS and keep Service set to Twitch.
2. If an account is already connected, choose Disconnect Account first, while off air, and confirm the change. Select Use Stream Key if that button is shown. If the Stream Key field is already visible, continue there.
3. Use Get Stream Key to open Twitch's dashboard stream settings in your browser. Sign in to the channel owner's account and copy its stream key. OBS's built-in Twitch service points this control to the dashboard's Stream page; a public channel address isn't the key.
4. Paste the key into OBS's Stream Key field, then choose Apply and OK.

This gives OBS the credential for the video destination. It doesn't sign you into the Twitch docks. Keep the dashboard open in your browser if you're managing the channel there. A saved key is also not proof of a working connection; the test below checks the next hop, from OBS to Twitch's ingest server.

Start with the automatic ingest server

For the first connection check, select Auto (Recommended) in Server. OBS includes automatic server selection for Twitch, so you can check the connection before choosing a regional ingest server yourself.

If the later test is unstable, change one part of the path at a time. OBS's connection troubleshooting guide recommends trying a different Server in Settings > Stream for dropped frames or intermittent disconnections. That is a network-to-ingest check. If Twitch sign-in fails before any output starts, work through the failed to authenticate with Twitch fixes; changing an ingest server doesn't repair an account login.

Disconnect or link a different channel

Stop any stream before changing the account. In Settings > Stream, select Disconnect Account and read the confirmation: OBS says the disconnection applies immediately. Then choose Connect Account again and complete Twitch's authorization for the intended account.

Recheck the channel shown by the Twitch panels before continuing. If you're switching a manual key instead, copy the key from the intended channel's dashboard and replace the old value in Stream settings. These are alternative ways to choose the destination; pasting another channel's public URL can't replace either credential.

Check the connection before opening the show

First make a local recording and listen to it. OBS's Quick Start Guide recommends testing the scene and output before a first broadcast. A network test can't tell you whether your microphone balance or scene is suitable for viewers. Set bitrate, resolution and the encoder with the streaming settings guide before the delivery test; linking the channel doesn't choose those output settings.

For a standard Twitch RTMP stream, Twitch documents a bandwidth-test mode that disables live viewing and checks bandwidth health through Twitch Inspector. The steps here cover that standard route. Keep Enable Enhanced Broadcasting unchecked in Settings > Stream for this conventional single-encode test. The separate Enhanced Broadcasting control changes the output mode; don't apply this test procedure to another mode.

• Account linked: open Settings > Stream > Advanced Options, tick Enable Bandwidth Test Mode, then choose Apply and OK. OBS shows this checkbox only on its connected Twitch account route.
• Manual key: for the same standard RTMP test, append ?bandwidthtest=true directly after the key in the Stream Key field, with no space, and save. This follows Twitch's documented broadcast URL format. Keep the actual key out of any example or screenshot.

Confirm that the test mode or suffix is present before clicking Start Streaming. With a linked account, confirm the Start Bandwidth Test? prompt. Open Twitch Inspector for the intended account and check that it receives the test and reports its bandwidth health. Then click Stop Streaming in OBS. If Inspector doesn't show the expected test, stop and resolve that connection before treating the channel as ready.

Before going public, check that the Twitch channel you want viewers to open belongs to the account that received the Inspector test. With OBS stopped, untick Enable Bandwidth Test Mode or remove only ?bandwidthtest=true from the manual key, then choose Apply and OK. This clears the test state that prevents viewers from seeing the stream. Review that channel's stream information and choose Start Streaming when you're ready to go live. Open its public channel page and confirm your picture and sound there, so you know the broadcast is reaching the channel your audience will visit.