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How to Keep a YouTube Live Stream Archive from Splitting During a Playlist Loop

Loop playback inside OBS and keep the same YouTube event running. Learn the 12-hour archive limit, how to record a local backup, and how to troubleshoot a split.

By VGSources Team 4 min read
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Loop the videos inside your encoder and keep the same YouTube live event running; do not end and restart the event at each playlist cycle. That avoids creating new sessions just to restart playback, but it cannot guarantee one archive file. YouTube’s guidance says streams shorter than 12 hours can be automatically archived, while a stream exceeding 12 hours may not be captured at all. If the archive matters, plan a shorter session and record a local backup.

Why a playlist loop and an archive split are different problems

The loop controls what your encoder plays. YouTube’s archive behavior is separate: looping a file or playlist does not configure YouTube to merge, split, or preserve the resulting archive. The available guidance does not establish that any loop setting guarantees one archive file.

Avoid manually ending and restarting the YouTube event merely to begin the playlist again. Keep the encoder attached to the same event through playlist transitions. If the archive is split anyway, retain your local recording and check whether the encoder or event was stopped and restarted; those are useful things to inspect, not a guaranteed explanation or a setting that will merge segments.

Set up a loop without restarting the live event

  1. Create or schedule the event: In YouTube Studio, create or schedule the live stream. Connect your encoder using the event’s YouTube stream URL and stream key. See YouTube’s encoder setup guidance.
  2. Choose the playback source in OBS: For one video file, add a Media Source and enable its Loop option. For a playlist of multiple files, add a VLC Video source and enable Loop Playlist. OBS documents both controls in its Media Sources guide.
  3. Verify the cycle before going live: Confirm the media plays and returns to the beginning—or advances through and repeats the playlist—as intended. This checks the encoder’s playback loop, not YouTube’s archive behavior.
  4. Start the encoder feed: Confirm the event preview is receiving the feed and the stream is live. Leave the encoder session and YouTube event running through each playlist transition; do not stop and restart the event to restart playback.
  5. Stop within the archive window if you need YouTube’s automatic archive: YouTube says streams shorter than 12 hours can be automatically archived. Its guidance warns, “If your stream exceeds 12 hours, it may not be captured at all.” The 12-hour threshold is not a promise that every shorter stream will produce one unsplit archive. See Archive live streams.
  6. Make a local backup: Enable local recording in your encoder, ensure the destination has enough free storage, and check that the recording file is intact and its size is increasing while the stream runs. After the YouTube event has stopped, stop the encoder. YouTube also recommends a local archive backup in its live streaming tips.

Choose the loop and backup approach for your session

Need Approach What it does—and does not do
Repeat one video OBS Media Source with Loop enabled Repeats a single file in the encoder; it does not control YouTube’s archive handling.
Repeat several videos OBS VLC Video with Loop Playlist enabled Repeats the playlist in the encoder; it does not guarantee one archive file.
Keep an automatic YouTube archive in scope Plan a session shorter than 12 hours YouTube says shorter streams can be automatically archived. Streams exceeding 12 hours may not be captured at all.
Keep a copy you can inspect Record locally and monitor the file Provides a backup independent of the YouTube archive; it does not change YouTube’s archive behavior.

What DVR does—and does not—fix

DVR is a viewer feature that lets people pause, rewind, and continue watching during a live stream. YouTube says DVR may be limited or unavailable for streams longer than 12 hours. Turning DVR off prevents viewers from seeking backward while the stream is live; it does not fix archive splitting. Viewers can still watch the full recording after it becomes available. See YouTube’s DVR guidance.

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Troubleshoot an unexpected split or missing archive

  • The archive is split: Preserve the local recording. Check whether the encoder feed or YouTube event was stopped and restarted, including around playlist transitions. The available guidance does not identify one guaranteed cause or a control that merges archive segments.
  • No YouTube archive appears: Check the session duration first. A stream longer than 12 hours may not be captured at all. Use the local recording if available, and consult YouTube’s archive guidance.
  • The video does not repeat: Check that the correct source type is in use and its loop control is enabled: Media Source for one file, VLC Video with Loop Playlist for multiple files. Confirm playback cycles before starting the stream.
  • The local file is missing or incomplete: Check the encoder’s recording destination and available storage, then verify that the file size grows during a test recording. A local backup is useful only if it is actually being written and retained.
  • Viewers cannot rewind during the live stream: Check the DVR setting. DVR controls live viewing navigation, not whether YouTube creates or splits the archive.
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