How to Go Live on TikTok in 2026: Rules and Setup

Going live on TikTok takes three taps: the + button, scroll the mode carousel at the bottom of the camera screen to LIVE, write a title and broadcast. The catch is being allowed in at all: you need 1,000 followers, to be 18 or older, and an account with no active strike. Clearing that threshold is the real first step, with TikTok followers if you want to speed it up. The rest of this page covers desktop, guests, moderation, diamonds and cut-offs.

The requirements, and why your button is missing

Three conditions have to be true at the same time, and one missing piece is enough to make the LIVE mode vanish from the carousel.

• 1,000 followers. That is the reference threshold. TikTok says the number can vary by region, so treat it as a baseline rather than a universal law.
• 18 years old. The minimum went from 16 to 18 on 23 November 2022. Plenty of pages still print 16, which is years out of date. What counts is the birth date saved on the account, not your actual age.
• An account in good standing. A recent Community Guidelines violation suspends LIVE access, sometimes with no clear notice.

Diagnosing it takes thirty seconds: count your followers, check the birth date on the account, read your inbox. Nine times out of ten the answer is the follower count.

One caveat, though: TikTok does test early-access programmes that open LIVE to smaller accounts, but they vary by country and are not documented consistently. As for the trick doing the rounds, messaging support through Report a problem, that is not an official route.

So the threshold is the step to clear. Post short and often, push your best videos again, and to speed up the machine that brings followers in, TikTok views feed everything else.

Going live from your phone

Once access is open, this is the exact path.

1. Tap the + button in the middle of the bottom bar.
2. At the bottom of the camera screen, scroll the mode carousel to the right: Camera, Templates, LIVE. Pick LIVE.
3. Choose a cover image and write a title. It is what a viewer reads on arrival, so write the promise, never just “live”.
4. Open the settings gear before you broadcast: moderators, comment filter and who can request to join. After launch you will be too busy.
5. Tap Go LIVE. A countdown runs, then you are on air.

One detail nobody mentions: TikTok keeps pushing your LIVE into the feed as it runs, and new arrivals have no idea what you are talking about. Repeat the topic every three minutes.

Going live from a computer

This is the big gap with Instagram, and half the guides skip it. TikTok lets you broadcast from a computer in two ways.

LIVE Studio, the official app

LIVE Studio is TikTok’s own broadcasting software: multiple scenes, webcam, screen sharing, game capture and overlays. According to TikTok’s help centre, updated in 2026, it runs on macOS and Windows. You download it from the official site, log in, pick a scene and start. If you already broadcast from the app, access is immediate.

OBS and the stream key

For third-party software like OBS you need a server URL and a stream key. You collect both on your phone: the LIVE setup screen, then the option to connect to a computer. Paste the two values into your software’s stream settings and start from the desktop.

Two traps. The key is valid for two hours at most: beyond that, or for a new session, TikTok issues another one. It also resets when you log out, so there is no point saving it for next week. Either way, access follows the same rules as mobile: without 1,000 followers, neither LIVE Studio nor the key shows up.

How long a LIVE can run

Honest answer: TikTok publishes no official maximum length. The “60 minutes max” you read everywhere matches no documented rule, and streams running past twenty-four hours exist.

What actually stops you is elsewhere: battery, a phone heating up until quality drops and the stream dies, an incoming call, and on desktop the two-hour stream key. Thirty to sixty minutes stays the right format, because that is how long you stay good on camera.

Guests and live duos

Multi-guest brings viewers or friends on screen, each in their own box. The ceiling has moved a lot: from four people at the start to a revamp announced for up to eight in the room, with creator documentation citing nine guests. Count on eight or nine boxes, and check your own app: layouts roll out in waves.

The setting not to forget is who can request to join: everyone, your followers, or friends only. Left wide open, it means a stream of requests while you talk.

@tiktoklive_us

The official TikTok LIVE account demos Multi-Guest and its on-screen boxes.

♬ original sound – tiktoklive_us

The live duo is called co-host: you connect your room to another creator’s, and both audiences land in the same place. It is TikTok’s simplest reach lever and it costs nothing. Once connected, the match icon starts a PK, a five-minute duel in one versus one or two versus two, where viewer gifts and likes score the points.

Moderators and comment filters

An unmoderated LIVE goes sideways fast, and you cannot read the feed while talking. Three tools do the work.

Delegated moderators

You can appoint up to 20 moderators per session, from the setup screen settings or mid-broadcast. One condition to know: the person must follow you and be followed back, which is what TikTok counts as a friend. A moderator mutes a viewer, deletes comments and, if you grant the permission, manages the keyword filters. Warn them beforehand, because the role is useless if nobody is watching the screen.

The keyword filter

You can block up to 500 keywords in the LIVE comment settings. It is the only tool that works while you talk, and it gets set up the day before. TikTok’s automatic spam filters stack on top.

Turning comments off

You can switch them off entirely mid-broadcast. Blunt, but useful during a demo where you cannot watch the feed.

Gifts, diamonds and cashing out

The mechanic has three stages. Viewers buy coins, spend them on gifts during your LIVE, and you receive diamonds, roughly half the coin value: one diamond redeems at $0.005. Watch out for the double count many pages make: TikTok’s share, about half, is already baked into the coins-to-diamonds conversion.

To receive gifts you need to be 18 (19 in South Korea), have at least 1,000 followers, live in a country where the feature exists, and keep an account in good standing. An account at least thirty days old shows up in most summaries without being a stated condition.

@tiktoksg

A PK match between two creators, where viewer gifts score the points.

♬ original sound – TikTok Singapore – TikTok Singapore

Then comes the payout, where almost every guide gets it wrong. Everyone copies “$100 minimum”. TikTok’s own payment limits page says something else: the minimum depends on the method, at $1 by PayPal, $5 by bank transfer in France, $9 in the UK and Germany. The cap is $1,000 per day, one withdrawal a day, and the stated fees are 1.5% plus $0.10 by PayPal or $2.90 by bank transfer. The payment account has to be in your own name.

TikTok vs Instagram: the differences

Both apps now require 1,000 followers to broadcast, but everything else diverges. Our guide on how to go live on Instagram covers the other side.

• Money arrives earlier on TikTok. Gifts unlock at the same threshold as the LIVE itself, 1,000 followers and 18 years. On Instagram, the figures quoted for badges are far higher.
• TikTok broadcasts from a computer. LIVE Studio and the stream key are open to any eligible account. On Instagram, going live from production software stays marginal.
• The age floor differs. TikTok requires 18. Instagram has no such floor but restricts the feature to public accounts.
• Length is capped on Instagram at four hours, while TikTok publishes no ceiling.
• Guests. Four people on screen at most on Instagram, against eight or nine boxes on TikTok, plus co-host and PK matches with no equivalent.

Troubleshooting: no button, cut-off, ineligible account

The LIVE button is not there

In order: count your followers, check the account birth date, read your inbox. If all three are fine, update the app and restart it, because the mode sometimes arrives late after you clear the threshold. A business account or a region without the feature explains the rest. No hidden setting and no third-party app unlocks it: what unlocks it is TikTok followers.

The LIVE got cut off

Causes, most to least likely: copyrighted music in the background, which triggers a warning then a cut; a Community Guidelines violation caught live, which ends the broadcast on the spot; not enough upload bandwidth, with roughly 3 Mbps the comfortable minimum; an incoming call; an overheating phone; and on desktop, a stream key that hit its two-hour limit.

The account is flagged as ineligible

That is an active restriction, not a bug. Account status, in the settings, lists the violations held against you and the expiry date, and you can appeal from that screen. Pushing harder achieves nothing: access returns on expiry, barring a second violation in the meantime.