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How to Make OBS Resume a YouTube Playlist From the Last Video After a Restart

To resume a YouTube playlist after OBS restarts, save both the current playlist index and playback time, then restore them with a custom IFrame Player API page in a Browser Source.
Opened Runtime4 min Written byDocumentaryTube Team
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OBS does not have a documented setting that automatically resumes a YouTube playlist at its last video after OBS restarts. To do that, use a YouTube IFrame Player API player in an OBS Browser Source, save the current playlist index and playback time somewhere that survives the restart, then load the playlist at that index and seek to that time when the player starts again. You will need a custom player page or local helper; a normal playlist embed does not document automatic cross-restart recovery.

What OBS can—and cannot—resume

OBS’s Browser Source displays a webpage, making it the relevant OBS source for an embedded YouTube player. OBS’s Media Source is for supported local audio and video files. Its VLC Video source can play a playlist of media items when VLC is installed, with controls such as loop and shuffle; those features are not a documented way to resume a YouTube playlist after an OBS restart.

YouTube’s viewer-facing progress guidance says a video may restart where a viewer left off when played again. That describes YouTube’s video progress behavior; it does not establish that an embedded playlist inside OBS will remember its last item after OBS closes.

What must be saved to resume the same point

There are two separate pieces of playback state:

  • Playlist index: identifies which playlist item was playing. The IFrame Player API’s getPlaylistIndex() reports the current index; when the playlist is not shuffled, it is zero-based, so the first item is 0.
  • Playback time: identifies the position within that video. Save the player’s current time as well as the index if you want to resume mid-video, not merely restart that item.

YouTube’s IFrame Player API can load and play a playlist at an explicit index. Its loadPlaylist method accepts an optional index; the default is 0. YouTube’s embedded-player URL parameters can identify a playlist with listType=playlist and list=PLAYLIST_ID, but selecting the playlist does not itself persist the last position across OBS restarts.

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Set up a resumable player in OBS

This workflow describes the pieces you need to connect. The API documentation provides playlist and playback controls, but it does not supply a ready-made OBS checkbox or validate a particular plugin or persistence script. You will need a player page plus a durable state mechanism that your setup can read and write.

  1. Create a player page. Make a webpage that initializes the YouTube IFrame Player API and identifies the playlist by its playlist ID. Configure it to load the playlist at the saved index rather than relying on the default first item.
  2. Add it to OBS. In OBS, add a Browser Source to the scene that should show the playlist. Point the source to your player page. OBS documents Browser Source as the source for displaying a webpage; the exact fields available can vary with the OBS version.
  3. Persist state while the player runs. Read the current playlist index with getPlaylistIndex() and the playback time with the player’s time API. Save both values to storage that remains available after the OBS process exits—for example, a local state file managed by a local helper or service.
  4. Restore state on startup. When the player page starts, read the saved index and time. Initialize or load the playlist at that index, then seek to the saved time after the player reports that it is ready. Do not seek before readiness; the player must have loaded the video before it can reliably move to the stored position.
  5. Test an actual restart. Start playback, let it reach a recognizable point, close and reopen OBS, and check both that the same playlist item loads and that it resumes near the saved time. Keep player controls visible while setting up and testing so you can recover manually.

Choose an approach: simple embed or API-controlled player

Approach What it does Restart behavior Trade-off
Static playlist embed Loads a YouTube playlist in a webpage or embedded player. The cited YouTube embed documentation does not say it restores a saved playlist index or playback time after an OBS restart. Simpler to set up, but does not provide the documented state-saving and reload sequence needed for a precise resume.
API-controlled player with durable state Saves the current playlist index and playback time, then loads and seeks to those values on startup. Can request the saved item and position using the IFrame Player API, provided your implementation stores and restores both values. Requires custom code and persistence outside the transient player session; a specific plugin or implementation is not established by the official documentation cited here.

Handle autoplay blocks and recover manually

Automatic playback is not guaranteed. The IFrame Player API documents an onAutoplayBlocked event, and browser policies can restrict autoplay or scripted playback. If the page restores the item but playback does not begin, use the visible player controls to start it. Treat the saved index and time as recovery information, not as a guarantee that every browser configuration will autoplay after an OBS restart.

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Or let it run in the cloud

If your goal is an always-on YouTube channel playing uploaded recordings or a playlist, rather than restoring an OBS player at precisely the last saved video and timestamp, StreamNeo is a cloud alternative. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live; StreamNeo loops the uploaded videos from the cloud, so your computer and home connection do not have to stay on. It does not replace the custom OBS/API state-saving workflow described above or promise to resume a specific playlist position after an OBS restart.

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