How To Schedule A YouTube Live Stream

Schedule a YouTube Live Streams with pre-recorded video loops

You can schedule a live stream on YouTube to start and stop automatically with Upstream. You can repeat the schedule daily, weekly, or do one-off streams.

If you are using YouTube Connect, the process is much simpler, **as you can simply choose your schedule type, set a time and Save your settings. Users who are running **Manual Streams (copy pasting a rtmp stream key & starting streams via YouTube Studio) will additionally have to set up a receiving stream in YouTube Studio.

After setting the schedule you do not need to start your stream. Your Stream will start on time, on its own.

The prerequisite of this guide is that you already have a stream set up on upstream.so.

Scheduling a Live Stream

Besides Start and End times, you have a few advanced scheduling options on Upstream, depending on when and how you want to stream. Some common scheduling strategies and possibilities are:

One-off Scheduled Streams
Automated Daily Recurring Streams
Automated Weekly Recurring Stream
Streams that end just under 12 hours (11:55 - gets saved as VOD on YouTube)
Streams that end along with the content length (audio and video)
Back-to-back Cycles with a few hours breaks in between

You can set up pretty much any schedule with our multiple schedule types:

No Schedule - manual control

With this option, scheduling is turned off.

One-time Schedule

Set a schedule for a one-time, non-recurring stream. Choose start and end times, save, and you can close your browser. Your stream will start and end on time.

Recurring Schedule

Set a recurring daily, weekly or monthly stream.

Back-to-back Stream Cycles

Set lenghts for each stream cycle and the length of the breaks between the cycles.

The minimum setup is to set your stream Start time. If you click "Schedule End" , you will see more options:

Set custom stream duration- Allows you to customise the whole duration of the stream
Set to just under 12 hours - Automatically makes the Livestream archivable by YouTube
Set end time to total video duration - Calculates the video playlist duration and sets the end time accordingly
Set end time to total audio duration- Calculates the audio playlist duration and sets the end time accordingly

Step 1: Schedule a Live Stream on Upstream

Choose your stream schedule type
Choose start times
Choose end times
Set up Custom behavior

Step 2 -Save Changes on upstream.so

🟢 After saving your progress, you can turn off your Upstream tab, browser and computer. The stream will start at your selected time.

🟡 If you are using the Manual Streaming Method (with RTMP stream keys), you still have additional steps:

Important: Do NOT manually start the livestream on upstream.so; it will start automatically at the scheduled time! Simply set your schedule and save your progress. Step 3: Set Up a Recieving Stream in YouTube Studio (Manual / RTMP Key)

Step 3 - Click on Go live in YouTube Studio

Open YouTube Live Studio,
Click on +Create
click on Go live

Step 4 - Access the Manage Tab and click on Schedule

Head over to the "Manage" tab within YouTube Live Studio. Here, you'll schedule your 24/7 livestream for uninterrupted broadcasting.

If a wizard appears, choose "Later" and "Schedule Stream"

⚠️ It is crucial to use the Manage Tab / Schedule Stream. This is the only way you can enable additional options like Auto Start.

Step 5 - Provide All the Required Livestream Information

Complete all the necessary details for your livestream, including a title, description, and other info. This information helps your live stream get discovered.

Step 6 - Enable Auto-Start and Auto Stop (Crucial Step)

Make sure to click on "Enable auto-start." Without this feature enabled, the live stream will not automatically start at the scheduled time.

⚠️ If you want your scheduled stream to END automatically, enable "Enable auto-stop" as well.

Note: Scheduling an END time is optional; if not selected, the livestream will run 24/7 after starting up.

Follow these steps carefully to successfully schedule a YouTube Live Stream with upstream.so, ensuring uninterrupted broadcasting of your content.

Updated on: 26/05/2026

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