# How to Go Live from Your PC > EventLive for Windows streams from a Windows laptop or desktop with its built-in camera or USB cameras. Switch cameras and microphones while you're live, share your screen and keep a backup copy on your PC. Source: https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-pc Section: EventLive Help Center › Using EventLive › Going Live Updated: 2026-10-29 EventLive for Windows lets you go live from a Windows laptop or desktop without OBS or stream keys. Use the PC's built-in camera or USB cameras, and switch between cameras and microphones while you're live. The app is free; you pay for events the same way as in the EventLive phone app. ## Download and install 1. On your PC, go to [eventlive.pro/windows](https://www.eventlive.pro/windows) and click **Download for Windows**. On a PC with an ARM processor, such as one with a Snapdragon processor, Edge and Chrome give you the version for ARM PCs; in other browsers, click **Get the ARM version** under the button. 2. Open the downloaded Setup file. If Windows shows **Windows protected your PC**, click **More info**, then **Run anyway**. Windows shows this because the EventLive installer isn't code-signed yet. 3. EventLive installs for your Windows account and opens when it's done. There's nothing else to install and no administrator password to enter. 4. Sign in with the same account you use in the EventLive app or on the website. Your events are all there. EventLive for Windows needs Windows 10 version 2004 or later, or Windows 11, on a PC with an Intel or AMD processor or an ARM processor. See the full [system requirements](https://www.eventlive.pro/windows#requirements). ## Go live 1. Open your event and choose **How to Go Live**. 2. Choose **This PC (Recommended)** and click **Go Live**, or **Start free test** for a free test. The Studio window opens with your camera and microphone. 3. Check the picture and the microphone level meter, then click **Start Test** (for a test event) or **Start** at the top right of the Studio, or press **Ctrl+Enter**. 4. When the event is over, click **Stop** (or press **Ctrl+.**), then **Stop** again to confirm. If you stop by mistake, you can go live again for the rest of the event. If the Studio says **EventLive needs your camera** (or microphone), click **Open Settings**, turn on **Let desktop apps access your camera** (and the same setting under **Microphone**), then go back to the Studio. ![How to Go Live for a test event in EventLive for Windows: Stream from This PC (Recommended), a line about the Studio window and the Start free test button](https://www.eventlive.pro/images/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-pc/01-how-to-go-live-this-pc.webp) If you haven't paid for the event yet, **Unlock event** opens checkout in your web browser. When you've paid, go back to EventLive for Windows to go live. ![The EventLive for Windows Studio ready to test a garden wedding: Start Test at the top right; at the bottom, the microphone menu, level meter, Mute, the camera menu, the grid button, Share Screen, Test Link and the gear button](https://www.eventlive.pro/images/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-pc/02-studio-wedding.webp) While you're live, the top of the Studio shows how long you've been live, how many people are watching and how fast your PC is uploading. **Event Link** (**Test Link** for a test event) opens a menu: **Copy Link** copies the link to watch your event, **Open in Browser** opens the event page, and **Share…** opens Windows' share window. Before the day of your event, run a [free test](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-test-live-streaming) with the same cameras, microphone and internet connection you'll use. ## Cameras EventLive for Windows works with the built-in camera and USB cameras: - **The built-in camera** of a laptop, a Surface or an all-in-one PC. - **USB webcams.** You can plug one in at any time, even while you're live: it appears in the camera menu by itself. - **Professional cameras** (DSLR, mirrorless or camcorder) through an HDMI capture device that works as a USB webcam. Turn on clean HDMI output first: see [how to enable HDMI output on a camera](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-enable-hdmi-output-on-a-camera). To switch cameras, click the camera menu at the bottom of the Studio (it shows the name of the current camera) and choose another one. EventLive gets the new camera ready before it switches, so viewers never see a black frame, even when the cameras have different resolutions. You can switch at any time, even while you're live. The grid button next to the camera menu opens the strip: a numbered live picture of every camera. Click one to put it on air right away. While the strip is open, every camera keeps running, so switching is instant and every camera's light stays on. Keyboard shortcuts: **Ctrl+1** to **Ctrl+9** choose a camera, and **Ctrl+Shift+N** switches to the next one. ![The Studio at a Sunday service with a numbered preview of every camera under the picture; the camera on air has a red outline](https://www.eventlive.pro/images/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-pc/03-all-cameras-church.webp) If a camera stops while you're live, for example when its cable comes loose, EventLive switches to another camera and tells you. When the camera comes back, click **Switch Back** to use it again. Click the gear button at the bottom right for **Studio settings**: - **Stream quality:** **720p HD** or **1080p Full HD** (the default). Change it before you go live. - **Framing:** **Automatic**, **Fill frame (crop)** or **Show whole picture**. - **Camera switch:** **Dissolve** or **Cut**. - **Mirror my preview:** viewers always see the real, un-mirrored picture. - **Switch cameras automatically if one disconnects:** on by default. - **Record a copy on this PC:** on by default. See [Keep a backup copy](#keep-a-backup-copy). For several cameras on one event, see [how to use multiple cameras](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-use-multiple-cameras-for-live-streaming). ## Microphones Click the microphone menu (it shows the name of the current microphone) and choose: - **Same as System**, which follows the default input in your Windows sound settings, even if you change it while you're live, or - any connected microphone: built-in, USB or Bluetooth, or an audio interface or mixer. You can change the microphone while you're live. The level meter shows what your microphone picks up. Click **Mute** (or press **Ctrl+Shift+A**) to mute the stream, and **Unmute** to bring the sound back. While you're muted, viewers hear nothing, but the meter keeps moving, so you can check your microphone. While a video with sound is on air, viewers hear the video instead of your microphone: the microphone button shows **Video sound** and the meter shows the video's sound. Your microphone comes back when you switch to a camera, your screen, a picture or a PDF. **Mute** silences either. For better sound, see [how to improve audio quality](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-improve-audio-quality-for-live-streaming). ## Show pictures, videos, PDFs and PowerPoint Open the strip with the grid button next to the camera menu. Its last tile adds pictures, videos, PDFs and PowerPoint decks. Each one gets its own tile, and you switch to it like a camera. - **Pictures:** JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP and more. - **Videos:** MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, MKV, WebM and the other formats Windows plays. - A video plays when you switch to it and pauses when you switch away. While it's on air, viewers hear its sound instead of your microphone (see [Microphones](#microphones)). - A bar over the preview has play/pause, back and ahead 10 seconds, and a slider. Its first button goes back to the start. Viewers don't see the bar. - Turn on **Loop**, the repeat button at the end of the video controls, to start a video again each time it ends, for a countdown or a slideshow. - **Home**, **Space** and **←** **→** work too, and the video's tile has back, play/pause and ahead buttons. - **PDFs:** turn the pages with **‹** and **›** on the tile, with the bar over the preview, or with **←** **→**, **Page Up** and **Page Down**. - **PowerPoint** (PPT, PPTX, PPS and PPSX, and ODP too): EventLive uses PowerPoint on your PC to turn the deck into slides you go through like PDF pages. - The first time takes a few seconds; the same deck reopens at once. - LibreOffice works if there's no PowerPoint. With neither, save the deck as a PDF. - Animations, transitions and videos inside slides don't carry over. For those, share the PowerPoint window (below). Pictures and videos are shown whole, never cropped. The Studio remembers what you added for next time. ![The Studio at a memorial service with a photo on air, and the order of service as a PDF with page buttons and a tribute video ready in the strip](https://www.eventlive.pro/images/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-pc/04-pictures-videos-pdfs-memorial.webp) ## Share your screen 1. Click **Share Screen**, or the **Share your screen** tile in the strip, just before the add tile. Both open the same menu. Choose **Entire Screen** (with several screens, each one by its number), or **A Window…** to pick a window in Windows' list. 2. Viewers see the whole shared picture, never cropped. The shared screen also gets a tile in the strip. 3. Click **Stop Sharing** to go back to your camera. ![The Studio at a graduation sharing a screen with a slide, shown whole, with the shared screen as a tile in the strip and the Stop Sharing button at the bottom](https://www.eventlive.pro/images/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-pc/05-share-screen-graduation.webp) Use it to show another app, a web page, or a PowerPoint deck whose animations, transitions or videos should play as they do in PowerPoint. EventLive's own windows never appear in what you share. Close private windows and turn off notifications before you share an entire screen. If you close the window you're sharing, EventLive goes back to your camera. Screen sharing doesn't send your PC's sound yet. To play a video with its sound, add the video to the strip instead (above). For music, play it through a speaker near your microphone and check it in your test. ## Use other apps while you're live When you switch to another app or minimize the Studio while you're live, a small window stays on top. It shows: - the picture; - **LIVE** (or **TEST**) and the time; - **REC** and **Muted**. Click it to go back to the Studio, or drag it out of the way. It never appears in a screen share. ## Keep a backup copy **Record a copy on this PC** in Studio settings is on by default. While you're live, EventLive saves a high-quality copy in your **Videos › EventLive** folder, and **REC** shows at the top of the Studio. The copy keeps recording even if your internet drops, so you have the whole event even if part of the online replay is missing. When you stop, click **Show in Folder** to see the file. It's an MP4 that plays in any video player. A 1080p copy uses about 4.5 GB per hour, or about 7 GB on PCs that send H.264 (see below). If your PC has less than 3 GB free, EventLive streams without saving a copy and tells you so. To turn the copy off or on, change the setting before you go live. If the replay is missing footage, see [how to find missing recordings](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-find-missing-recordings-after-a-livestream). ## Picture quality and internet EventLive for Windows streams in 1080p Full HD at 30 frames per second. On PCs whose graphics can encode HEVC, it sends efficient HEVC video, which looks sharp at under 3 Mbps; other PCs send H.264. The line under the event title shows what your PC uses, for example **1080p · 30 fps · HEVC**. EventLive adjusts the quality automatically when your upload speed changes, so viewers keep watching instead of buffering, and it reconnects by itself if the connection drops. An upload speed of 3 Mbps or more is best for 1080p. On a slower connection, choose **720p HD** under **Stream quality** in Studio settings before you go live. Use a wired (Ethernet) connection where you can. See [how to resolve poor signal issues](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-resolve-poor-signal-issues-during-streaming). ## Keep your PC awake While you're live, EventLive keeps your PC and its screen from going to sleep. Closing a laptop's lid or pressing the power button still puts it to sleep, so keep the lid open and the laptop plugged in. ## Keyboard shortcuts | Shortcut | What it does | | --- | --- | | **Ctrl+Enter** | Start (or Start Test) | | **Ctrl+.** | Stop | | **Ctrl+1** to **Ctrl+9** | Choose a camera | | **Ctrl+Shift+N** | Switch to the next camera | | **Ctrl+Shift+A** | Mute or unmute | | **Space** | Play or pause the video on air | | **Home** | Video on air: back to the start | | **←** **→** | Video on air: back or ahead 10 seconds. PDF or slides on air: previous or next page | | **Page Up** **Page Down** | PDF or slides on air: previous or next page | ## Updates EventLive for Windows updates itself. It checks for a new version a minute after it opens and then once a day, downloads it in the background and installs it when you close EventLive, so it never updates while you're live. To check yourself, press **Alt+Space** in the EventLive window and choose **Check for Updates…**. If an update is ready, EventLive offers to restart and install it now. ## Troubleshooting - **No camera or microphone:** if the Studio asks for access, click **Open Settings** and turn on **Let desktop apps access your camera** in **Settings › Privacy & security › Camera** (and the same under **Microphone**), then go back to the Studio. If a USB camera still doesn't appear, unplug it and plug it in again. - **"No camera found":** connect a camera, or go live with sound only. - **A camera stopped:** EventLive switches to another camera if you have one. Check the camera's cable and power, then click **Switch Back** when it returns. - **"Windows protected your PC" when you install:** click **More info**, then **Run anyway**. - **Setup asks for an administrator's permission:** this only happens on a Windows 10 PC without Microsoft's WebView2, which Setup then installs from Microsoft. Allow it once, or ask whoever manages the PC. - **Viewers see buffering:** see [how to resolve poor signal issues](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-resolve-poor-signal-issues-during-streaming). - **Anything else:** press **Alt+Space** in EventLive and choose **Contact Support…** to email support. Support may ask for EventLive's logs: choose **Show Logs Folder** in the same menu. ## Mac computers EventLive for Windows is only for Windows PCs. On a Mac, use [EventLive for Mac](https://www.eventlive.pro/help/how-to-go-live-from-your-mac).