Sure, the overwhelming majority of folks on Twitch are looking for ways to build their audience as quickly as possible – which is the exact opposite of what we are going to share with you below, teaching you how to private stream on Twitch with zero headache or hassle whatsoever!
In this quick guide we go through why you might want to stream privately on Twitch to begin with, a couple of different approaches for getting the anonymity and privacy you are after, and then run you through the step-by-step instructions you need to hit the ground running.
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Shall we jump right in?
Let’s do this!
Why Stream Privately on Twitch?
As mentioned a moment ago, the overwhelming majority of people on Twitch are looking for ways to get more eyeballs on their streams – not less!
But there are a bunch of really valid reasons you might want to be able to stream privately every now and again, and we run through the most common ones right here.
Stress Test New Hardware
The last thing you want to do is start out a stream run off of brand-new hardware with thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people watching.
That’s just begging for something to go sideways (and it inevitably will).
You’ll end up having to troubleshoot hardware issues on-the-fly while your stream is running, and that is inevitably going to alienate at least some of your audience – with some of them not willing to come back again in the future.
Stress test new hardware on private streams to make sure everything is working the way you expected it to. If something does go wrong you’ll be able to adjust, reassess, and retest everything without your reputation taking a hit along the way.
Test Out New Content
It’s not a bad idea to do “dry runs” on private streams with new content that you are thinking about streaming as well.
You’ll be able to make sure that new content looks the way you hope it will on your channel, that all of your channel settings are dialed in for that kind of content, and still can make any adjustments you need to really perfect the presentation – again not in front of a live audience, but with total privacy instead.
These kinds of driver runs are hugely important and are something that every single major streamer does before they bring new content in front of their gigantic audiences. It’s something you’ll want to do, too!
Setup Premium Streams for Subs or VIPs
Of course, another obvious reason you might want to create private streams on Twitch is to have the ability to offer premium streams for important subscribers or VIPs of your channel.
This is just a neat little perk that you can offer people, an incentive to subscribe or join your VIP program, and something that you can set up with relatively little headache or hassle while enjoying a whole bunch of big rewards along the way.
Anonymous Streaming
Anonymous streaming on Twitch is probably the easiest way to hit the ground running with private streams these days, and we breakdown the step-by-step directions you’ll want to follow to do exactly that in just a moment.
This kind of streaming – anonymous streaming – provides you with all of the tools and all of the features that Twitch gives their top content creators while protecting your identity and securing your private channel at the same time.
Subscriber Only Streaming
Subscriber only streaming can be unlocked on Twitch as well, though this kind of option only becomes available after you have become a Twitch Affiliate.
You’ll need to rack up a pretty considerable amount of subscribers before you are considered for the Twitch Affiliate program, and by the time that happens you may as well have already become a Twitch Partner to unlock even more powerful tools for your channel, too.
Still, it’s definitely one approach that you may want to shoot for – particularly if you’re looking to make streaming your career going forward.
Password Protected Streaming
It used to be possible to password protect streams on Twitch, but this feature has been disabled (as of 2021, anyway).
Twitch may bring this feature back in the future (particularly if the community is vocal about having this kind of power over their channel), but that’s impossible to know right now.
Still, if this feature does come back you’ll want to take full advantage of it to have a lot more control over who can view different streams of yours.
Here’s Exactly How to Private Stream on Twitch
Now let’s get into the nuts and bolts of actually creating your own private streams on Twitch, shall we?
Create a New Account with Random Name
The first thing you’re going to need to do is create a brand-new account on Twitch, one with a 100% unique name – ideally one that is totally randomized, with letters and numbers that don’t make a lot of sense (and likely won’t be searched for, either).
Random name or random word generators online can be hugely useful when you are looking to come up with a new name that folks are going to hunt for find your private channels.
Stream with Blank Settings
After getting your new account up and running it’s time to start streaming without adding any information to your stream that could be used to find or identify it.
Leave the TITLE section of your stream completely blank, include absolutely zero TAGS that could be searched for, and don’t even add a CATEGORY to your stream, either.
You want your stream to be a total blank slate so that it is as invisible as possible to the general Twitch community, as well as those that try to hunt down private streams you don’t want folks to have unauthorized access to.
Only Share Direct Links to People You Want Watching
Finally, if you’re going to share the link to your private channel and private streams you’ll want to do so directly.
Don’t paste this into your social media, don’t plaster it all over your website, and don’t promote it on your public channel.
This’ll give you a lot more control over who can access your private streams. Make sure that the people that receive your private link understand that it’s meant to be kept safe, secure, and (above all else) private.
Use the inside information above and you’ll be able to hit the ground running when it comes to figuring out how to private stream on Twitch going forward!
