Steam Broadcasting is an excellent way to stream PC games in real-time with your friends.
While it may sound cool, things can go wrong while broadcasting. For example, many users have flooded the Steam community site with reports of various Steam Broadcasting errors.
If you’re having issues with Steam Broadcasting on Windows, keep reading to learn about our recommended solutions.
1. How to Fix Steam Broadcasting Audio or Video Quality Problems
Using Steam Broadcasting is a one-button operation. You must change the privacy settings for the Broadcast in Steam. That’s all. However, if you encounter audio or video quality issues while broadcasting, you must act quickly to resolve them.
Such problems are frequently caused by incorrectly configured Steam settings and network issues.
Steam offers two important options that affect the quality of your Broadcast: Video Dimensions and Maximum Bitrate. Setting both options wisely can help you significantly improve your stream.
Here’s how you can solve the audio and video issues by adjusting the two options listed above:
- Launch Steam and select Steam > Settings from the top menu bar.
- Change the Video Dimensions to your PC’s display resolution or lower it by one step by clicking Broadcast. Set your PC’s resolution to 1920 x 1080 or lower, for example, on Steam.
3. If your PC has a strong Wi-Fi connection, increase the Maximum Bitrate to 3000 kbit/s.
If not, reduce it to 2000 kbit/s.
4. You can also select Best Quality as the Optimize encoding option. This ensures that your broadcast viewers receive high-quality output at the expense of increased data consumption.
That’s all. Hopefully, your friends can now watch the stream without incident.
2. How to Fix Steam Broadcasting Stuck in Endless Loading
When you start playing a broadcast, it sometimes gets stuck and never loads. So, what could be more aggravating than a never-ending loading animation?
The following are some possible causes of the endless loading, along with recommended troubleshooting steps:
- Poor internt connection: Your internet connection could cause the Broadcast not loading properly. Learn how to speed up your internet on Windows so your PC can handle the Broadcast.
- A corrupted browser DNS cache: If you’re watching the Broadcast in a browser, clear the DNS cache first.
Then, restart your computer and re-examine the problem. - An ad blocker is active: While ad blockers mostly block ads, they can also interfere with a website’s functionality. It’s possible that this applies to you as well. To test, disable your current ad blocker and restart your browser once.
3. Your Web Browser Does Not Support the Features Required
If your web browser displays the message “your web browser does not support the minimum set of features required to watch this broadcast,” it is incompatible with Steam Broadcasting’s requirements. As a result, you must use a compatible browser.
If you’re unsure about compatibility, here are some browsers that support running Steam Broadcasting:
- The browser in the Steam Client
- Google Chrome (version 39 and up)
- Apple Safari (versions eight and up)
- Edge by Microsoft
- Mozilla Firefox (versions 42 and up)
If your browser meets the minimum requirements listed above, you should try updating it. Don’t forget to restart the browser once you’re finished.
Try a different browser if the Broadcast still does not work for you. If you need assistance, we have a list of the best internet browsers for Windows.
4. How to Fix a Broadcast that Fails to Load
Check your internet connection first, as a slow or unstable connection may cause the Broadcast to fail.
Second, examine the game files for corruption. You can do so by using Steam to check the integrity of the game’s files. Simply put, verifying the game files enables Steam to repair broken files and detect corrupted data.
To ensure that the game’s files are not corrupted, follow the steps below:
1. First, navigate to Library > Home in Steam.
2. Right-click the game you want to broadcast and choose Properties.
3. Navigate to LOCAL FILES and select Verify game file integrity. You must wait until Steam checks all of the files for corruption. Restart the game and check for the broadcast loading issue.
Additionally, ensure that your Steam version is up to date. An out-of-date Steam version can cause various problems, including issues with Steam Broadcasting. You can check for updates by going to the top menu bar and selecting Steam > Check for Steam Client Updates.
5. How to Fix a Black Screen While Watching a Broadcast
If you get a black screen while watching a broadcast, it could be because your computer‘s GPU driver is outdated.
This topic has also been discussed previously. If you missed it, review our guide to resolving the Steam black screen issue.
If your GPU drivers have been updated, re-open Steam in a browser instead of using Steam to watch a broadcast. Something is possibly wrong with your Steam application. In this case, reinstalling Steam will resolve the broadcast black screen problem.
6. How to Fix a Bandwidth or Network Connection Issue
Steam Broadcasting is entirely dependent on an internet connection. If your internet connection is poor or your Wi-Fi drops frequently, the Broadcast will respond accordingly and cause problems.
To resolve the bandwidth or network connection issue, follow the steps outlined below:
- To begin, refer to our guide on increasing internet speed on Windows, linked in method two.
- You may also need to tweak the Maximum Bitrate settings, as mentioned at the start of this article.
- Set the Optimize encoding for the option to Best Performance in the Steam settings under Broadcasting. To ensure stable live streaming, reduce your broadcast quality.
7. How to Fix the Steam Client Crashing During a Broadcast
This error occurs when you use an account that lacks the necessary permissions.
A broadcaster has some control over who can watch the broadcast. For example, you can restrict access to the broadcast to only your Steam friends or anyone.
So, if you can’t watch the Steam, you’re not on the broadcaster’s friend list, or the broadcast is restricted to access-only viewers. In this case, you must contact the host and request that the Broadcast Privacy setting be changed.
8. How to Fix the “No Sufficient Privilege” Error
This error occurs when you use an account that lacks the necessary permissions.
A broadcaster has some control over who can watch the broadcast. For example, you can restrict access to the broadcast to only your Steam friends or anyone.
So, if you can’t watch the Steam, you’re not on the broadcaster’s friend list, or the broadcast is restricted to access-only viewers. In this case, you must contact the host and request that the Broadcast Privacy setting be changed.
As a final step, contact Steam Broadcasting support and include the exact error code and the relevant screenshot in your message.
Broadcast Your Games Hassle-Free on Steam
Problems with Steam Broadcasting can quickly ruin your experience and chill time. But thankfully, by following the instructions, you can have Steam Broadcasting up and running in no time.
