First find where the video stops: in the OBS preview, in an OBS recording, or only in the YouTube stream. A freeze in the preview or recording points toward local playback, rendering, or encoding; if both are healthy but YouTube is not, check stream health and the outbound connection instead. These are diagnostic clues, not a guarantee of a single cause.
1. Check the Media Source loop settings
If you are playing one local video file, select its Media Source in OBS’s Sources list and open Properties. Check the setting that matches the behavior you want:
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- Loop: Enable it to replay the file when playback reaches the end. It does not address a freeze partway through the clip.
- Restart playback when source becomes active: Enable it if the file should start over when the source becomes visible in the current scene. This is separate from Loop.
- Show nothing when playback ends: This controls what appears after playback ends; it does not make the file loop.
- Close file when inactive: This unloads the file when the source is hidden or off the current scene. If the issue follows a scene change or source being hidden, test with this setting disabled.
Change one property at a time and test outside a critical broadcast. OBS documents these controls in its Media Sources guide.
If the file freezes mid-playback
Hardware decoding is an optional Media Source property and is off by default in OBS’s documented properties. Try toggling it as a controlled test, then compare playback; revert if the change makes the source less stable. The setting is not a universal fix.
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OBS supports several media file types, but its documentation does not prescribe one conversion or codec change that resolves every freeze. VLC Video Source is another option for playlists and media files, but it appears only when VLC is installed. You can compare it with Media Source if the problem persists; neither changing source type nor installing VLC guarantees a cure.
2. Find out whether OBS itself is falling behind
Compare the OBS preview with a local recording of the same stream, if available. Note whether the freeze begins at the clip’s end or mid-file, whether it follows a scene change, and whether OBS reports rendering or encoding strain. This helps distinguish a source playback issue from a broader performance problem.
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OBS needs GPU resources to composite and render scenes. If there is evidence of rendering or encoding overload, try these steps one at a time:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Simplify the scene and disable sources or effects you do not need.
- Use media at a resolution appropriate for your stream output rather than needlessly large source files.
- Close other GPU-intensive applications that you can safely shut down.
- On Windows, try running OBS as administrator as a quick check for GPU overload.
These are OBS performance remedies, not guaranteed fixes for a decoder or source-specific freeze. Record original settings before changing them. See the OBS encoding performance troubleshooting guide.
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3. Check the output YouTube is receiving
If OBS preview or recording is frozen, address the local source or performance path first. If those look normal but the YouTube stream does not, inspect the stream in YouTube’s Live Control Room. Check the stream-health status and any displayed error messages.
YouTube recommends checking the encoder output directly, reviewing encoder errors and CPU load, and inspecting the local archive. Poor video in the encoder can point to its sources; if the encoder output and archive look healthy, investigate the outbound internet connection. Follow YouTube’s live-stream troubleshooting steps and OBS’s stream connection troubleshooting guide.
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Preflight before the next broadcast
Test with representative video motion and audio, check the Live Control Room preview before going live, and monitor stream health during the event. YouTube’s streaming tips advise leaving upload headroom of 20%; the reviewed page does not state a publication year for that figure. This is connection planning, not a remedy for a file already frozen in OBS.
If you have separately identified an encoder-settings issue, YouTube lists recommended bitrates of 10 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps using AV1 or H.265, and 14 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps using H.264. YouTube does not state a year for these figures on the reviewed page. They are ingest recommendations for the specified codec and format, not fixes for local playback. Check YouTube’s encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions for current guidance before changing settings.
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4. Troubleshoot by symptom
| What you see | Where to investigate | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| The preview and local recording both freeze | Media Source playback or OBS’s local rendering/encoding path | Check Loop and source activation behavior; note whether the file is at its end or freezes mid-file. If performance indicators show overload, simplify the scene and reduce competing GPU load. |
| The preview freezes, but the recording looks normal—or the reverse | The affected OBS output or playback view | Repeat a short test and compare both outputs at the same point. Do not infer an internet problem from a local-only symptom. |
| OBS preview and recording look healthy, but YouTube freezes or degrades | Encoder output, YouTube stream health, and outbound connection | Check Live Control Room messages, encoder errors, CPU load, and the local archive before testing the connection. |
| The source fails after being hidden or a scene changes | Media Source activation and unload behavior | Test Restart playback when source becomes active and, separately, Close file when inactive. |
A GitHub report describes a particular case of looped Media Sources unloading after inactivity when the source was hidden or disabled and Close file when inactive was active. It is an issue report, not evidence of a current universal OBS bug. If your symptom reliably follows inactivity, reproduce it and test the documented property first: OBS issue #3192.
Another report concerns YouTube playback captured through Window or Display Capture after a resize or focus change on a particular Windows 11 system. That is a different setup from a local Media Source file, so browser graphics-flag workarounds from that report should not be treated as fixes for this symptom: OBS issue #13553.
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Quick Recap
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