Guides

How to schedule a playlist to go live while you're away

Short answer: Can I schedule a live stream with my PC off? Yes. With Pro, Multistream Cloud starts your videos at the time you pick on every platform you've added, even with your PC off.

Your audience isn't always awake when you are. A scheduled playlist lets you record once and go live at the hour that suits your viewers: a replay for another time zone, a launch at exactly 9am, or a week of streams while you're on holiday.

With Multistream Cloud, you line up the videos, pick the time, and turn your PC off. The playlist goes live on every platform at that time.

Good uses for a scheduled playlist

A second time zone. Stream live in your evening, then replay it at your viewers' evening across the world.

A launch. A trailer, a reveal or a music video goes live on every platform at the same minute.

Time away. Keep a regular slot going while you travel, with a replay of your best streams.

A watch party. Put several episodes or clips in a row and hang out in chat while they play.

Schedule it

You need Pro ($10/mo). On Multistream Cloud:

  1. Open Stream a video in the dashboard menu.
  2. Upload the videos. Big files upload in parts and carry on after a dropped connection, so you can start a large upload and come back later. Wait for each to say it's ready.
  3. Tick the videos you want and put them in order with Move up and Move down. The page shows how long they run in all.
  4. Leave Loop the videos off for a playlist that plays once, or turn it on to start again at the end.
  5. Read the pre-stream check for each platform's rules.
  6. In step 3, pick At a set time and choose the date and time. Leave it on Once, or pick Every day or Some days and tick the days for a weekly show.
  7. To stop at a set time (an overnight slot, say), turn on End it after and set the hours and minutes. Then click Schedule it.

Multistream Cloud starts it at that time, even with your PC off. A repeating schedule keeps its time of day, so a show at 8 pm stays at 8 pm when the clocks change. The Scheduled list shows every upcoming stream, up to 20, each with its own Cancel. A time that has already passed is refused, so you can't start a stream by mistake.

Get told when it starts

Under Notifications, turn on Your scheduled and video streams. You'll get an email when a scheduled stream starts, and one if it couldn't start or stopped early, so you know it went out without checking.

If two schedules overlap, the second one is skipped while the first is still playing, and you get an email saying so. Give the first an end time, or space them out, to run both.

Before you leave

Platforms. Make sure each platform is signed in and working; a quick live test a day ahead is the safest.

Labels. Set the titles to say it's a replay: on Twitch, tick Rerun and start the title with Rerun]. Facebook's Live policy requires recorded video to be labelled. See [how to label a pre-recorded stream.

Space. Pro holds 10 GB of videos, and a video nobody streams for 30 days is deleted. Keep your own copies.

From the app instead? The Multistream app can schedule videos from your PC too, but then the PC must be on with the app open at that time.

Jumping in live

If you get back early or want to say hello, start streaming from OBS. Your live stream takes over from the playlist on every platform at once.

For a channel that should never go offline, see how to run a 24/7 looping live stream.

Questions, answered

Can I schedule a live stream with my PC off?

Yes. With Pro, Multistream Cloud starts your videos at the time you pick on every platform you've added, even with your PC off.

Can I schedule several videos in a row?

Yes. Tick the videos, put them in order, and they play one after the other. Turn on Loop to start again at the end.

Will I know if the scheduled stream started?

Yes, if you turn on emails for your scheduled and video streams under Notifications. You get one when it starts and one if something went wrong.

Can I cancel a scheduled stream?

Yes. The Stream a video page shows it, and you can cancel it there until it starts.

Can a scheduled stream repeat every week?

Yes. Pick Every day, or Some days and tick the days. It goes live at the same time on each of those days until you cancel it.

Create your account · Get the free app

More guides