To add related video links to a 24/7 YouTube stream, edit the scheduled stream’s description in YouTube Studio’s Live Control Room, add clearly labelled URLs, and save. Use a playlist link when several destinations belong together, then check the stream as a viewer rather than assuming every link will be clickable in every format or app.
The description is useful for directing viewers to a song, a longer teaching, a previous broadcast, or a collection that complements the live loop. Keep the stream’s purpose and the most useful destination near the top, where viewers are more likely to see them without expanding the description.
Choose destinations that belong with the stream
Start with the viewer’s likely next step. A bhajan stream might point to a related full-length aarti or a playlist of the same tradition. A study station could link to its focus-music collection. A local news loop might point to a recent explainer or a playlist of coverage on one subject. The link should extend the experience, not simply promote another upload.
For one or two specific videos, individual URLs are usually easier to understand. Give each a short label that says what it opens, such as “Morning aarti recording” or “How this stream is scheduled”. Avoid vague labels such as “Watch here”; they make it harder for someone scanning a long description to choose.
If you have a collection of related videos, consider linking the playlist instead of listing many individual URLs. YouTube’s description guidance recommends linking related playlists. A playlist is easier to maintain when its contents change, and it gives viewers one clear route to a group of videos. Check that the playlist is public or otherwise available to the audience you intend to reach, and review its order and contents before promoting it.
The right choice depends on how tightly related the destinations are. A single link to a playlist can be confusing if it mixes unrelated uploads; a long sequence of individual links can make a description difficult to scan. If you are shaping a larger viewing journey, the ideas in this guide to organising a 24/7 stream playlist can help you keep the collection coherent.
Open Live Control Room in YouTube Studio
Sign in to the channel that owns the scheduled stream and open YouTube Studio. From the top-level Create control, choose Go Live. This takes you to Live Control Room, where YouTube provides the tools for managing live broadcasts and scheduled streams.
If you have more than one channel under the same Google account, pause to confirm that Studio is showing the correct one. A description edit applies to the selected channel’s stream, not whichever channel you last used elsewhere. This is worth checking before changing public-facing information, particularly if you manage a devotional channel and a separate business or local-news channel.
You do not need a special link tool to add a video URL to the description. This is a metadata edit in YouTube Studio. YouTube’s documentation on live stream settings explains that stream details can be set during scheduling and changed through stream settings. The precise controls shown can vary with the stream’s status and the Studio interface, so follow the current controls displayed for that broadcast.
Select or schedule the stream in Manage
In Live Control Room, open Manage. Find the scheduled stream you want to edit and select it. Check its title and scheduled time before proceeding: channels that run several recurring broadcasts can have similar titles, and selecting the wrong event could send viewers to links intended for another programme.
If the stream has not yet been created, use the scheduling flow to set up the event first. YouTube’s encoder scheduling instructions describe creating a stream through Live Control Room. You can then work on its details before it goes live. For an existing scheduled stream, look for its edit or settings controls and open the stream metadata rather than creating a duplicate event.
A scheduled stream and a persistent 24/7 broadcast are not always managed in the same way. This walkthrough concerns a scheduled live event whose description you can edit in Studio. If the channel’s broadcast arrangement uses a different workflow, make sure you are editing the actual event or stream page viewers will open, rather than only changing the channel’s general description.
If a scheduled event is no longer needed, do not create another one just to replace its links without first checking what is already public. The guide on cancelling a scheduled YouTube livestream covers that separate case. For this task, keep the intended event and edit its details.
Edit the stream description
Open the stream’s edit or settings panel and locate Description. The description field holds the text viewers can read on the stream’s watch page, alongside the other details for that event. You can edit it before the broadcast starts; if you are correcting information after scheduling, return to this same stream’s settings and save the change.
Preserve the essential context already in the description. A viewer should still be able to tell what the 24/7 stream contains, which channel is presenting it, and whether the feed is music, ambience, news, or another format. Add the related links after a short explanation, rather than replacing the description with a bare URL list.
YouTube Help states that a video description can contain up to 5,000 characters and advises putting key information in the opening lines, since viewers may need to expand the description to see more. That makes prioritisation useful even when your text is nowhere near the limit: retain the stream’s main purpose first, then place the most useful link close to it. Treat the character limit as a platform rule, not a target to fill.
Descriptions can become untidy when copied between recurring events. Before editing, remove stale dates, outdated destinations, or notes that belonged to a previous broadcast. A regular channel might keep a reusable description template, but check every event-specific detail and URL before saving it to the next scheduled stream.
Add labelled video or playlist URLs
Write a short label and then the complete destination URL on its own line or after the label. For example:
Related recording: Morning aarti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example
More from this series: Bhajans for evening prayer
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=example
Those placeholder addresses are examples of the layout only, not working destinations. Paste the actual URL from the relevant video or playlist. Copy it from YouTube’s share controls or the destination’s page, then check it for accidental spaces, missing characters, or a link to a private or unavailable upload.
Use labels that describe the destination accurately. “Full recording of today’s opening prayer” is more useful than “More videos”, provided that is what the linked video contains. Do not imply that a linked item is part of the live broadcast if it is a separate upload. A simple distinction helps viewers understand whether they are staying with the current stream or opening another video.
If there are several closely related uploads, link the playlist and describe what it contains. If there is one essential video plus a collection, you can include both, but keep the order purposeful: put the most relevant destination first. YouTube’s advice to link playlists in descriptions is especially helpful when a growing set of uploads would otherwise turn the stream description into a catalogue.
Do not confuse an ordinary URL in a live description with YouTube’s “Related Video” feature. YouTube documents that feature in the context of linking a video from a Short’s player; it is not a special label you apply to a scheduled stream. In this task, you are adding descriptive text and URLs to the stream’s description.
Save and review the description
Use the visible Save control after editing. Wait for Studio to confirm or reflect the change, then reopen the stream details if you are unsure whether it was saved. Closing the panel immediately after typing can leave you with an unsaved edit, particularly if the interface has not finished processing it.
Next, open the stream’s watch page as a viewer, not only the editing preview. Confirm that the updated description is visible, that its opening lines still explain the stream, and that each destination points to the intended video or playlist. If the stream is scheduled and not yet live, check the public event page where available. The aim is to inspect what a viewer can actually see, rather than trusting the text as it appears in the editor.
Review on both desktop and a phone if your audience uses both. Check where the description is expanded, whether labels and URLs are easy to distinguish, and whether the right channel is still shown. A phone review is particularly useful for a devotional or music stream that people may leave playing while they use other apps; it helps catch crowded formatting that looked fine on a wide screen.
If you are also changing how the stream itself is produced, keep that work separate from the description edit. The discussion of VLC and OBS for looping a video to YouTube Live concerns broadcast playback choices, while this step only changes the stream’s descriptive text and destinations. Separating the two makes it easier to diagnose whether a problem is with the broadcast or with the information shown on its page.
Understand clickability by viewing context
A URL’s presence in the description does not justify a promise that every viewer can click it in every YouTube surface. Clickability depends on where the link appears and how the audience watches. YouTube’s link guidance for audiences distinguishes link behaviour by location and format, and also says that clickable external links require access to advanced features.
In particular, YouTube says that links in live chat are clickable for horizontal live streams, while links in live chat and channel descriptions are not clickable when viewers watch a vertical live feed in the mobile app. That is a statement about those placements; it should not be stretched into a universal rule for every description URL, app, device, or live format. The guidance does not settle description-link behaviour in every possible viewer context.
This is why the practical check matters. Open the actual stream page on the devices and surfaces your viewers use, and test the destination where the interface permits it. If a link needs to be easy to reach, consider whether YouTube offers a supported placement for your channel and format, and explain the destination in the description as well. Do not rely on a chat link alone for a vertical mobile audience, and do not claim the description URL will behave identically everywhere.
Where a viewer cannot tap a URL, a clear title still helps them identify the destination and search for it, though that is less convenient than a working link. For a collection, a well-named playlist gives you a concise destination to communicate. For an important single video, include its exact title in the label so the viewer has useful information even if the link is not interactive in that context.
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FAQ
Can I add links before the 24/7 stream goes live?
Yes. Select the scheduled stream in Live Control Room’s Manage area, edit its description, and save. Review the event page afterward so you know the details viewers will see before the broadcast begins.
Should I add each video separately or link a playlist?
Use individual links when one or two particular videos matter and each deserves a clear label. If several related uploads belong together, a playlist can keep the description shorter and is a format YouTube recommends linking from descriptions.
Will every viewer be able to click the URL?
Do not assume so. YouTube documents different behaviour by placement and viewing context, including limits for live chat and channel-description links in the mobile vertical live feed; check the actual stream page and format your viewers use.
What is the difference between a stream description link and “Related Video”?
A stream description link is a URL you add as text to the scheduled stream’s description. YouTube’s “Related Video” feature is documented for connecting a video to a Short’s player, so it is not the control used for this stream-description task.