If an OBS YouTube Live promo playlist stops after a Windows update, first identify whether the media stopped inside OBS or whether the YouTube broadcast ended. Those are separate problems: OBS source settings control playlist playback, while YouTube Studio’s auto-start and auto-stop settings affect the broadcast. The official documentation describes these controls but does not establish Windows updates as the cause of this specific failure, so treat the timing as a clue—not a confirmed diagnosis.
First determine what stopped
Watch the OBS preview and check the stream in YouTube Studio. If the OBS source is no longer playing, troubleshoot the source, its files, and playback settings. If OBS is still playing but YouTube’s broadcast has ended or failed to start, inspect the settings for that specific YouTube event.
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- Playlist stopped in OBS: check the source type, file paths, VLC installation, loop setting, and visibility behavior.
- YouTube broadcast ended: check the event’s auto-start and auto-stop settings, separately from OBS’s playlist controls.
Choose the right OBS source
OBS has two relevant source types. A Media Source plays a local audio or video file and has a Loop setting. A VLC Video source supports a playlist of multiple items and has playlist-specific controls. OBS documents VLC Video as requiring VLC to be installed; with 64-bit OBS, install 64-bit VLC. See the OBS Media Sources documentation and VLC Video source documentation.
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|---|---|---|
| One local promo clip | Media Source | Enable Loop if it should repeat. |
| A sequence of promo files | VLC Video | Confirm VLC is installed, then inspect playlist order, Loop Playlist, and visibility behavior. |
If your store promo rotates through several clips, use VLC Video rather than treating the sequence as a single-file Media Source. Whether shuffle is appropriate depends on whether the order of promos matters.
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Check the playlist and playback controls
Confirm the files and VLC are available
After an update, open the VLC Video source properties and verify that the playlist still points to files that exist at those locations. Confirm VLC is still installed and that its architecture matches OBS: 64-bit VLC for 64-bit OBS. The documented VLC dependency makes these sensible checks, but does not prove that a Windows update removed VLC or changed your files.
Enable playlist looping
In OBS, open the VLC Video source’s properties and check Loop Playlist. OBS describes this as the control for restarting the source after it runs out of media files. Shuffle Playlist is separate: it changes playback order, not whether the list repeats. For a single Media Source, check its own Loop option instead.
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Set behavior when the source is hidden
In the VLC Video source properties, inspect Visibility Behaviour. This setting determines whether playback continues, pauses, or stops when the source is not visible. If your scenes hide the source or switch away from it, the selected behavior can explain why playback pauses or restarts. Choose the behavior that fits how your scenes are used, then test a scene change.
Check YouTube if the broadcast itself ended
YouTube Studio’s auto-start and auto-stop controls govern scheduled-broadcast behavior; they do not make an OBS playlist repeat. Review those selections on the specific event if the broadcast ends or will not go live. YouTube also notes that reusing stream settings copies the auto-start and auto-stop selections, so a setting carried over from another event may be relevant. See YouTube’s live-stream settings guidance and guidance on reusing live-stream settings.
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Prevent a repeat with a post-update check
- Open OBS and load the scene collection used for the store promo stream.
- Open the source properties. Confirm you have a Media Source for one file or a VLC Video source for a multi-file playlist.
- For VLC Video, confirm VLC is installed, its architecture matches OBS, and every playlist entry points to a file that still exists.
- Check
Loop Playlistfor a repeating playlist, and reviewVisibility Behaviourfor the way your scenes show or hide the source. For a single Media Source, checkLoop. - If the broadcast ended while the OBS source was still playing, review auto-start and auto-stop on the relevant YouTube Studio event.
- Before the next public broadcast, run a short private or unlisted stream test. Confirm both that the playlist continues through its end and that the YouTube broadcast remains live.
This is a practical check of documented controls, not a claim that Windows updates have been shown to cause this symptom.
Troubleshoot by symptom
| Symptom | Likely area to inspect | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| One promo clip plays once and stops | Media Source playback | Enable the source’s Loop setting. |
| A multi-file list reaches its last item and stops | VLC Video playlist | Enable Loop Playlist. |
| The playlist is missing, fails to play, or has missing items | Source inputs or VLC dependency | Check file locations and confirm VLC is installed with architecture matching OBS. |
| Playback pauses or restarts after a scene change | VLC Video visibility behavior | Review Visibility Behaviour and test the source while changing scenes. |
| OBS continues playing but YouTube is no longer live | YouTube event settings or broadcast | Review that event’s auto-start and auto-stop settings in YouTube Studio. |
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