How to Go Live on Instagram from a PC: Live Producer

The short answer

Instagram's own post about Live Producer describes how to go live from a computer: you stream from streaming software, using a stream key that Instagram shows you on instagram.com. There is no camera-only route on the desktop site in that post: the feature is built for software such as OBS Studio. The post, published on November 2, 2022, also says Live Producer is limited access at this time, so you may not see it on your account.

This page uses only that Instagram post, checked on October 5, 2026. Instagram's help center could not be read by our tools, so we do not state eligibility rules that we could not verify; check what your own account shows.

Go live from a PC, step by step

Instagram lists this order:

1. Choose your streaming software.
2. On instagram.com, click Add post (the + icon), then Live.
3. Enter a title for your live video.
4. Choose the audience: Practice, which broadcasts to no one, or Public.
5. Instagram shows a unique URL and a stream key. You can copy them or reset the key.
6. In your software, add a Custom RTMP destination and paste the URL and key.
7. Start streaming from the software. The video appears in a preview in Live Producer.
8. When the preview looks right, click Go live.

Use Practice first. It lets you check video, audio and your settings without viewers.

Before you go live, test your camera and microphone with the free webcam test and microphone test; both run in your browser and upload nothing.

A key that changes every time

Instagram says the stream key is not static: it refreshes each time you use it, so you copy a new URL and key for every broadcast. That is different from platforms that offer a reusable key. Treat the key as private while it is valid, and see Instagram stream key and what is a stream key for the background. The RTMP URL and stream key helper compares where each platform keeps its key.

Recommended settings from Instagram

Instagram says a horizontal video is allowed, but viewers see it cropped to 9:16. In OBS Studio you would set the output (scaled) resolution to 720 x 1280 for a vertical stream. See the best OBS settings guide and the bitrate recommender; the recommender does not list Instagram because its table is limited to the five platforms with a documentation page we can cite directly, so use the figures above.

End the stream in the right order

This is the detail people miss. Instagram says to end the live video by clicking End live video in Live Producer first, and then stop your streaming software. If you stop the software first, the last frame can stay on screen. Instagram also says comments are handled in Live Producer, where you can report and pin them.

Afterwards the video is in the Live Archive: from your profile menu choose Archive, then Live Archive, where you can share or download it.

What Live Producer does not support

Instagram's post lists several features that Live Producer does not support: Live Rooms, Shopping, Fundraisers, Q&A, the Live Moderator feature, and guests or co-hosts. It also states that simulcasting is not natively supported. If you want the same show on Instagram and elsewhere, you would send your encoder output to a relay and add Instagram as a custom RTMP destination using the URL and key from Live Producer, if your account has access. Because the key changes each time, you would update the destination before every show.

Multistream Platform can relay one RTMP or SRT stream to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Kick, TikTok and custom RTMP destinations; see features and how to multistream with OBS Studio. We have not tested Instagram as a destination and Instagram does not document relays, so treat that as an option to try in Practice mode, not a promise.

What this guide leaves out

• Who is eligible. Instagram's post says access is limited but does not list requirements. Third-party sites mention account types; we do not repeat claims Instagram does not publish.
• Phone steps. This guide covers going live from a PC only.
• Changes since November 2022. The post is dated; Instagram may have changed Live Producer since.

Sources

• Instagram: Live Producer (published November 2, 2022)

Platform figures were checked on October 5, 2026. Platforms change their recommendations, so confirm against the current documentation before you go live.