How to Add TikTok to OBS

Bringing your TikTok LIVE into a professional OBS Studio setup is one of the best ways to elevate your stream's quality and brand consistency across platforms. This guide will show you exactly how to connect TikTok to OBS using the official stream key method for a high-quality broadcast, as well as a reliable fallback for creators who don’t have access yet. Let's get your stream looking its best.

Why Stream TikTok Through OBS? The Overlooked Benefits

You might be thinking, "Going LIVE from my phone is easy, why bother with OBS?" While the TikTok app is fantastic for spontaneous streams, integrating it into OBS unlocks a new level of professionalism and efficiency that can transform your content game. It’s about building a cohesive brand, not just an isolated TikTok account.

Here’s why it’s worth the little bit of setup time:

• A Consistent Brand Experience: Your brand is more than just a logo. It’s your look, your feel, your energy. By using OBS, you can apply the same custom overlays, on-screen alerts, slick transitions, and professional camera setups that you use on Twitch or YouTube directly to your TikTok LIVEs. Your viewers get the same high-quality experience no matter where they find you.
• Engage Multiple Communities at Once: For multi-platform creators, this is huge. You can set up your OBS scene to show your TikTok comments right alongside your Twitch chat or YouTube Super Chats. It breaks down the walls between your audiences and fosters a single unified community around your content.
• Leverage Your Existing Hardware: You've already invested in a great camera, a quality microphone, and maybe a Stream Deck. Why let all that powerful hardware sit idle while you stream from your phone? Routing through OBS means your TikTok audience gets the absolute best audio and video quality you can produce.
• Seamless Content Repurposing: Streaming on TikTok via OBS means you're already in a recording-friendly environment. You can easily record your entire vertical stream in high quality and then chop it up into smaller, snackable highlights for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram Reels without extra steps. Your LIVE stream becomes a content-generating engine.

The Two Main Ways to Get TikTok into OBS

There are two primary methods for getting your TikTok feed and controls into OBS, each serving a slightly different purpose. The first one is the professional-grade method, while the second is a solid workaround.

1. Using Your TikTok Stream Key (The Best Method): This is the holy grail. TikTok offers a feature, often called "LIVE Studio" access, that provides you with a dedicated RTMP URL and a Stream Key. This is a direct, stable video feed from OBS to TikTok's servers. The quality is flawless, and it's the intended way for creators to use external broadcasting software. The only catch is that it’s not available to every account and is usually rolled out based on metrics like follower count, stream frequency, and account standing.
2. Screen Mirroring Your Phone (The Reliable Workaround): If you don't have access to a stream key yet, don't worry. This method involves using an app to mirror your phone's screen to your computer. You then use OBS to "capture" the window from the mirroring application. It’s great for showing your LIVE feed inside a larger horizontal stream (like for a "just chatting" scene on Twitch) or for showing on-screen app interactions.

We'll start with the stream key method first, as it's the ultimate goal.

How to Find and Use Your TikTok Stream Key

Getting your hands on your stream key is the most important step for a direct OBS integration. Think of the RTMP URL as the unique address for your TikTok LIVE and the Stream Key as the private password that lets OBS send video there. Never, ever share your Stream Key publicly.

Step 1: Check if You Have LIVE Studio Access

The ability to get a stream key isn’t a switch you can toggle, it's a feature TikTok grants to accounts. Here’s how you check if you have it:

• Open the TikTok app on your phone.
• Tap the (+) Create button at the bottom center.
• Swipe over to the LIVE tab.
• Look for an option that says "Cast on PC/Mac" or "LIVE Studio." The exact wording can change, but it's typically near your other settings or effects.

If you see one of those options, you're in business! If not, don't panic. TikTok is always expanding access, so keep creating great content and check back periodically. In the meantime, you can use the screen mirroring method we'll cover later.

Step 2: Generate Your Server URL and Stream Key

If you have access, getting the credentials is easy:

1. On the LIVE screen in the TikTok app, tap on the "Cast on PC/Mac" (or similar) option.
2. This will open a screen that presents two pieces of important information: the Server URL (sometimes called RTMP URL) and the Stream Key.
3. Tap the Copy button next to each one. You'll need these in a minute. Some creators find it easiest to email or text these to themselves to get them onto their computer easily.

Remember, this stream key might be temporary or refresh after each session, so get in the habit of double-checking you have the latest one before going live.

Essential Prep: Setting Up a Vertical Canvas in OBS

Before you plug those keys into OBS, you have to get your digital canvas ready. Streaming a standard horizontal (16:9) video to TikTok will result in ugly black bars and a tiny video. You need to tell OBS you're creating content for a vertical platform.

The best way to do this without messing up your main streaming setup is with an OBS Profile. A Profile saves all of your settings, including resolution and stream keys.

How to Create a Vertical Profile

1. In OBS, go to the top menu bar and select "Profile" > "New".
2. Name it something obvious, like "TikTok Vertical Stream", and click OK. Now any settings changes you make will only affect this profile.
3. Go to "File" > "Settings" (or "OBS" > "Preferences" on Mac).
4. Click on the "Video" tab.
5. This is where you switch the aspect ratio. In the "Base (Canvas) Resolution" field, type 1080x1920. Note that it's the reverse of the default 1920x1080.
6. Do the exact same thing for the "Output (Scaled) Resolution" field. Make sure they both read 1080x1920.
7. Click "Apply," then "OK."

Your OBS preview window will now be a tall rectangle, perfectly mirroring the screen of a phone. Your existing scenes will probably look jumbled, but that's okay. You'll simply rearrange your sources (webcam, game capture, overlays) to fit this new vertical orientation.

Tying it All Together: Connecting TikTok in OBS Settings

With your new vertical profile active and your stream key ready, all that's left is to tell OBS where to send the video.

1. Make sure you are on your "TikTok Vertical Stream" profile.
2. Go back to "File" > "Settings".
3. This time, go to the "Stream" tab.
4. In the "Service" dropdown menu, select "Custom...".
5. Now, paste the credentials you grabbed from the TikTok app. The Server URL goes into the "Server" field, and the Stream Key goes into the "Stream Key" field.
6. Double-check you copied and pasted them correctly. A single typo will cause the connection to fail.
7. Click "Apply" and "OK".

You are now officially set up! Arrange your vertical scene exactly how you want it with your chosen sources. When you're ready, hit "Start Streaming" in OBS. Check your TikTok app - it should show you a preview of the feed it's receiving from OBS. Once you're happy with it, you can finally hit the "Go LIVE" button on the phone app to start the broadcast for your audience.

The Fallback Plan: Screen Mirroring for Everyone Else

What if you don't have the official stream key feature yet? No problem. Screen mirroring is a dependable workaround. It’s perfect if your goal is just to show your TikTok feed within another stream, or if you simply need a way to go LIVE vertically from your PC.

Here’s the game plan:

1. Choose a Mirroring App: You'll need an application that can display your phone's screen on your computer. There are dozens of options, both free and paid. Popular choices include AirDroid Cast, LetsView, and ApowerMirror. Many work over your local Wi-Fi, while others offer a more stable connection with a USB cable.
2. Install and Connect: Install the software on both your computer and your phone. Follow its instructions to connect them. The app on your PC or Mac should now show a real-time mirror of whatever is on your phone's screen.
3. Go LIVE on Your Phone: On your phone, open TikTok and start your LIVE session just like you normally would. You’ll see the familiar LIVE interface on your computer screen via the mirroring app.
4. Capture the Window in OBS: In OBS (you can use your vertical profile if you're multi-streaming to TikTok), click the (+) button in the "Sources" dock and select "Window Capture."
5. Select the Mirroring App Window: From the "Window" dropdown list, find and select the window corresponding to your mirroring application.
6. Crop and Position: The captured window may include the app's borders or menu bars. Simply hold the Alt key (Option on Mac) and drag the red bounding box edges in OBS to crop out any unwanted parts, leaving just the clean TikTok feed. Now you can resize and position this source anywhere in your scene.

While screen mirroring works well, be mindful of potential drawbacks like slight visual lag, potential quality compression depending on your Wi-Fi strength, and possible watermarks from free versions of the mirroring software. This is why gaining access to a direct stream key is the ideal setup.

Final Thoughts

You’ve now learned everything you need to connect your TikTok LIVE streams directly to OBS Studio. Whether you use the superior stream key method for a high-quality vertical broadcast or the flexible screen mirroring workaround, integrating both platforms empowers you to create a more professional, engaging, and consistent brand experience for your entire audience.

Managing a presence across multiple platforms goes far beyond just your live content - it's also about planning what to post, engaging with comments afterward, and analyzing what hits. Here at Postbase, we built our whole tool to solve this problem for busy creators. We focused on making video-first scheduling painless across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts from a single calendar, and give you a unified inbox to handle all your engagement in one spot. It’s about letting you get back to creating, instead of endlessly juggling apps.