YouTube Stream Key: Find, Reset and Reuse It

Where to find your YouTube stream key

YouTube creates the key for you inside the Live Control Room. According to YouTube Help, to create a stream you go to YouTube Studio, click Create then Go Live to open the Live Control Room, and open the Stream tab. If it is your first live stream, you edit your stream and click Create stream; if you have streamed before, your previous stream settings load, including your stream key, so you do not need to update your encoder. YouTube also says that enabling live streaming for the first time may take up to 24 hours.

In your encoder, choose YouTube if it is listed. Otherwise copy the stream URL from YouTube into the encoder's server field (it may say RTMP server) and copy the stream key into the Stream Key field. Start the stream from your encoder, wait for the preview in the Live Control Room, then click Go live (unless auto-start is on).

What YouTube says about stream keys

YouTube describes stream keys as "like your YouTube stream's password and address": they tell your encoder where to send your feed and let YouTube accept it. YouTube Help explains two ways to reuse a key:

• Reuse settings. A new stream created with Reuse settings copies the previous stream's metadata, settings and stream key.
• Custom stream key. Under Select stream key, click Create new stream key, enter your settings and click Create; the key then appears in your stream key list and can be reused.

How to reset a YouTube stream key

If your key is compromised, YouTube Help gives these steps: go to YouTube Studio, click Create then Go Live, select the Stream tab, find the Stream key section, click Reset next to the hidden key, copy the newly generated key and update your encoder software. YouTube notes that you must be a channel owner or manager to reset a stream key; editors and viewers do not have this permission.

Stream URL: RTMP and RTMPS

YouTube shows a Stream URL to enter in the encoder. Its RTMPS help page says YouTube recommends encrypting your stream with RTMPS, that the Live Control Room shows the RTMP URL by default and the lock icon next to it reveals the RTMPS URL, and that if you get an SSL error you can try specifying port 443 in the URL (or in your encoder's port field). It gives the form rtmps://exampleYouTubeServer.com:443/stream as an example and tells you to use the real Stream URL from your Live Control Room.

Encoder settings YouTube publishes

Other facts from YouTube Help

• All streams under 12 hours are automatically archived.
• Default privacy is private for users aged 13 to 17 and public for users 18 or over; all streamers can choose public, private or unlisted.
• Auto-start and auto-stop let you start or stop the broadcast from your encoder.

To send the same stream to YouTube and other platforms, add YouTube as a destination in a relay. See stream to YouTube, Twitch and Facebook at once and the RTMP URL and stream key helper.

Sources

• YouTube Help: Create a YouTube live stream with an encoder
• YouTube Help: Manage live stream settings
• YouTube Help: Encrypt your stream using RTMPS
• YouTube Help: Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions

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