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First identify what “end” means
There are three different problems that can look like the same thing:
- The live broadcast stopped. The encoder may have stopped sending, or someone may have ended the stream in YouTube’s Live Control Room. The 12-hour archive guidance does not establish why an individual broadcast stopped.
- The broadcast continued, but no replay appeared afterward. This is where YouTube’s 12-hour archive warning matters: a stream over 12 hours may not be captured at all.
- The live stream remained available, but viewers could not rewind as expected. That concerns DVR, a separate feature with its own limitation on very long streams.
What YouTube says about 12 hours
YouTube Help says livestreams under 12 hours can be automatically archived, including encoder, webcam, and mobile streams. It warns, “If your stream exceeds 12 hours, it may not be captured at all.” The guidance does not say every livestream is automatically stopped at 12 hours. YouTube Help: Archive live streams
YouTube’s encoder instructions likewise say streams under 12 hours will be automatically archived. They describe connecting an encoder using YouTube’s server URL and stream key, then ending the stream by stopping the encoder or using the Live Control Room’s End Stream control. YouTube Help: Create a YouTube live stream with an encoder
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If the broadcast itself stopped
Check whether the encoder is still sending video and audio, and whether the stream was ended in Live Control Room. The encoder sends the broadcast to YouTube using the server URL and stream key, so a problem in that sending workflow is distinct from whether YouTube later captures an archive.
- Check the encoder. Confirm that it is still running and sending the intended stream. If it stopped, check its own status or error message rather than treating the missing replay as proof of a YouTube 12-hour cutoff.
- Check Live Control Room. Confirm the broadcast was not ended there. YouTube lists End Stream as one way to stop an encoder-based stream.
- Check your local recording. If you are recording locally, confirm the recording is still running and its file is growing. This helps distinguish a live transmission problem from an archive problem.
If the live stream continued but the replay is missing
YouTube says streams over 12 hours may not be captured at all, so do not assume a replay can be recovered after the fact. For streams where keeping a copy matters, record a local archive as a backup and verify during the broadcast that the recording file is growing. YouTube recommends both a local backup and checking the file’s integrity. YouTube Help: YouTube live streaming tips
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If viewers cannot rewind to the beginning
DVR is separate from replay archiving. YouTube says DVR capabilities may be limited or unavailable for livestreams longer than 12 hours. That limitation concerns how far viewers can rewind during the live broadcast; it does not by itself establish whether a replay will be archived after the stream ends. YouTube Help: Turn on DVR on live streams
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