To repeat a video in OBS during a YouTube Live stream, open the video’s Media Source properties and turn on Loop. Loop repeats the file when it reaches the end. Restart playback when source becomes active is a separate setting: it controls whether playback starts over when the source becomes visible in the current scene.
Set up a looping video in OBS
- Add or select the source. In the OBS scene where the video should appear, add a Media Source, or select an existing one, then open its Properties.
- Choose the file. Select the local video you want to play. OBS’s Media Source documentation lists video formats including MP4, TS, MOV, FLV, MKV, AVI, GIF and WebM; audio formats include MP3, AAC, OGG and WAV.
- Enable Loop. Turn on Loop to play the file again after it reaches the end. OBS documents Loop as off by default.
- Choose what happens when the source becomes visible. Leave Restart playback when source becomes active on if each time the source becomes visible in the current scene it should start from the beginning. It is on by default. Turn it off if you do not want activation itself to restart playback; OBS documents the restart behavior, but does not promise every possible resume case.
- Check the ending behavior. For a continuous background, looping prevents the file from ending. For a one-time clip that should disappear when finished, leave Loop off and enable Show nothing when playback ends, which OBS documents as on by default.
- Preview and test. Check the OBS preview, then check the YouTube Live Control Room preview. Test with representative audio and motion before the event, and monitor stream health and audio/video quality while live.
What the two playback settings actually do
Loop: repeat at the end
Loop controls end-of-file behavior: when playback completes, the file starts again. It does not mean “restart whenever the source is shown.”
Restart playback when source becomes active: restart on visibility
This setting restarts playback when the source is in the current scene and becomes visible. It is useful for a clip that should start from its opening frame each time it appears. If you want a background to continue from where it was rather than restart when shown again, turn it off, but test the behavior in your scene.
Other properties that may matter
Close file when inactive unloads the file while the source is hidden or off the current scene. OBS notes that it can take a short time to reload when shown again; its documented default is off. Other documented Media Source defaults include hardware decoding off, speed at 100% (adjustable from 1% to 200%) and YUV Color Range set to Partial. Defaults and labels can vary between OBS versions, so check the properties in your installed build.
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Choose settings for the type of video
Continuous background video
- Turn on Loop.
- Keep Restart playback when source becomes active on if returning to the scene should restart the video from the beginning.
- Consider Close file when inactive only if unloading a hidden source is useful; allow for a possible brief reload delay when it becomes visible again.
Intro, alert or other one-time clip
- Leave Loop off.
- Use Restart playback when source becomes active if every appearance should begin at the start.
- Enable Show nothing when playback ends if the clip should disappear rather than leave its final frame on screen.
Playlist of clips
For a playlist rather than one file, consider OBS’s VLC Video source. It requires VLC to be installed, and 64-bit OBS requires 64-bit VLC. OBS documents Loop Playlist as on by default. Its Visibility Behaviour defaults to Stop when not visible, restart when visible; consider whether that suits the scene before relying on it.
OBS playback controls are not YouTube ingest settings
The Media Source controls what OBS plays into its outgoing encoder feed. They do not configure YouTube’s ingest connection. YouTube’s encoder workflow uses a stream URL and stream key: connect the encoder, start it, then check the Live Control Room preview. Previewing and testing a stream, and monitoring its health and audio/video, are separate from setting a source to loop.
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For broader encoder setup, YouTube Help’s guidance crawled in 2026 recommends a two-second keyframe frequency and says not to exceed four seconds; it lists stereo audio bitrate at 128 Kbps. It also lists RTMP/RTMPS, H.264/H.265/AV1, up to 60 fps and CBR among its encoder guidance. These are encoder-level recommendations, not requirements for the Media Source Loop checkbox, and YouTube’s guidance may change. Check the current YouTube Help instructions when configuring your encoder.
Troubleshoot a loop that does not behave as expected
The video plays once and stops
Open the Media Source properties and confirm Loop is enabled on the source actually used by the active scene. Loop is off by default.
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The video starts over when you switch back to its scene
That is the expected effect of Restart playback when source becomes active when the source becomes visible. Turn it off if activation should not trigger a restart, then test scene changes to confirm the result you want.
A one-time clip leaves its last frame visible
For a clip that should vanish when playback ends, leave Loop off and enable Show nothing when playback ends.
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The file reloads slowly after being hidden
Check whether Close file when inactive is enabled. OBS says this unloads the file while hidden or off-scene and can cause a short delay when it is shown again. Turn it off if avoiding that reload is more important than unloading the inactive file.
Restart fails after a very rapid hide-and-show
A narrow OBS issue report describes restart not taking effect when visibility is toggled immediately after playback ends, before the graphics thread processes the change. If this happens, avoid relying on an immediate visibility toggle; explicitly restart playback or allow the visibility change time to process. This timing edge case is not evidence that ordinary scene switching fails.
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The OBS preview works, but the YouTube stream does not look or sound right
Check the YouTube Live Control Room preview and stream health, and run a representative test with audio and motion. Media Source playback settings govern what OBS contributes; they do not replace checking the encoder feed and YouTube ingest.
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