After investigating this particular issue thoroughly, it turns out that there are several different underlying causes that might be causing this particular error code: Now that you are intimately familiar with every underlying issue that might cause the ‘Failed to start streaming‘ error, here’s a list of underlying culprits that might be responsible for the apparition of this error code:
Method 1: Installing Microsoft C++ Redistributables for 2017
As it turns out, one of the most important dependencies with the potential of causing this problem is a missing or corrupted Microsoft C++ Redistributable 2017 package. Keep in mind that this Visual C++ package is extremely important to ensuring that OBS is able to establish and maintain a streaming connection with YouTube. If this scenario is applicable and you suspect that you might be seeing the ‘Failed to start streaming‘ error occurring due to a Visual C++ issue, you should uninstall the current Visual C++ 2017 Reddit package (if it’s already installed) and do a fresh installation from the official Microsoft channels. Here’s a quick step by step guide that will walk you through the entire process: If this problem is still not fixed or you were already using the latest Microsoft Visual C++ version, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 2: Updating the Graphics drivers
Once you’ve made sure that the ‘Failed to start streaming‘ error is not occurring due to a missing Visual C++ dependency, the next thing you should investigate is your graphical drivers. As it turns out, some affected users are saying that in their case, the main reason why they were unable to establish a streaming connection with OBS on Youtube is a severely outdated instance of the GPU drivers. In this case, you should be able to fix the problem by following the instructions below to update the current GPU driver to ensure that OBS has every required dependency to stream content on YouTube: If you already updated your GPU driver to the latest version and you’re still seeing the same problem, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 3: Disabling the In-Game Overlay
Keep in mind that if you’re using some kind of DVR software that records the screen and uses some kind of an overlay over your gameplay, there’s a very high chance that the OBS will conflict with it when both of them will attempt to use the NVENC encoder. If this scenario is applicable, you can fix the problem by disabling the in-game overlay that is conflicting with the OBS software. In most cases, the ‘Failed to start streaming‘ error is confirmed to be caused by the Discord in-game overlay or by Nvidia Overlay. If you’re using Discord or Nvidia Experience, follow the sub-guides below to disable the overlay function on them. In case you’re using a different 3rd party overlay tool, follow sub-guide C to uninstall the conflicting software completely from your computer.
A. Disabling the Overlay feature on Nvidia Experience
B. Disabling the overlay feature on Discord
C. Uninstalling the overlay feature from Programs and Features
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