How to live stream on Nintendo Switch to Twitch and more

So you’ve mastered your favorite Switch game, and you’re ready to stream your skills to the world. If you’re unsure exactly how to go about this, we’ve put together a basic explainer on how to live stream on Nintendo Switch. The process varies a bit between platforms, so we’ve laid out specific instructions for YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook. If you’re familiar with the platform and just want to hook up your Switch properly, we have step-by-step instructions for that too.

Difficulty

Moderate

Duration

30 minutes

What You Need

Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch dock
External monitor or TV
Laptop or PC
Capture card
Internet connection

Note that live-streaming only works with a regular Nintendo Switch. The Switch Lite can’t output video to an external display, so you can’t hook it up with a capture card. There are many different broadcasting applications to support streaming, but this guide focuses on OBS — a free, open-source streaming platform.

Quick answer

To start live streaming from your Nintendo Switch:

Step 1: Dock your Nintendo Switch, and connect an HDMI cable between it and the input of your capture card.

Step 2: Using another HDMI cable, connect the output of your capture card to a TV or monitor.

All upcoming Switch games: 2024, and beyond
Everything announced at February’s Pokémon Presents stream
How to connect your Nintendo Switch to a TV

Step 3: Connect your capture card to your computer using a USB cable.

Step 4: Launch OBS and connect your preferred streaming platform through the Settings menu.

Step 5: Configure your scene by adding the capture card and any overlays you want.

Step 6: Click Start Streaming to go live.

Setting up your Nintendo Switch for streaming

First, you’ll need a Switch, a Switch dock, an external monitor or TV, a PC to connect to the internet, and a capture card — in this case, we chose to use a Razer Ripsaw.