How to Go Live on TikTok

TikTok Live lets you broadcast real-time video to your followers and anyone else who happens to find the broadcast. Live streams show up at the top of the For You feed for interested viewers. And you can talk with them through live comments. The format is excellent for Q&As, crafting demos, cooking, gaming reactions, performances, or talking through an event as it happens.

Before you can go live, you need to meet two requirements. You must be at least 18 years old. And you must have 1,000 or more followers on your account. (TikTok may have some regional exceptions, but the 1,000-follower minimum is consistent for most US users.) These rules protect against spam and help make sure creators have an actual audience before the live button appears.

Once you qualify, the button is at the bottom of the screen. Tap the plus to create, then swipe across the capture modes until you see LIVE. You'll be prompted to set a title ("Friday night Q&A — ask me anything about gardening"), upload a cover image, and choose settings like whether comments are open, whether the broadcast is public, and whether you want to invite another user to co-host.

During the live, you'll see floating comments, heart animations when people tap the screen, and virtual gifts if viewers send them. Gifts are small animations that viewers buy with TikTok Coins. They convert to real money for the creator. You can invite up to three moderators (trusted viewers) to delete spam comments and ban problem accounts, which is essential on a larger broadcast.