Broadcasting Your PC Games Live Using Windows 10’s Mixer Feature

With the Creators Update, Windows 10 introduced a fresh capability for streaming games live. You can now share your real-time gameplay with friends, no extra programs required.

This functionality depends on Microsoft’s Mixer platform (formerly known as Beam) and your Xbox gamertag. It’s important to note that it won’t work with Twitch—for that, you’ll still need separate software.

Step One: Adjust Your Broadcast Preferences

Before you go live, you can fine‑tune your streaming settings by navigating to Settings > Gaming > Broadcasting within Windows.

The default options are generally adequate, but your microphone and webcam are turned off by default, so they won’t appear in your stream. Here’s a breakdown of each setting:

• Record audio when I broadcast: The game’s sound is only transmitted if you enable this. If disabled, you’ll send out a silent video.
• Audio quality: Pick from various audio quality levels for your stream (if you’re recording audio). We suggest sticking with the default 128kbps, which strikes a nice balance between sound quality and bandwidth usage.
• Turn on mic when I broadcast: Enabling this lets Windows include your microphone audio in the stream. Speak, and your audience will hear you.
• Use auto echo cancellation: When turned on, Windows automatically tries to suppress echoes picked up by your mic.
• Microphone volume and System volume: Use these sliders to adjust the loudness of your mic and game audio.
• Broadcast game audio only: This is enabled by default, meaning Windows will only broadcast the game’s audio (plus your mic if it’s active). Disable it, and Windows will transmit every sound coming from your PC.
• Broadcast language: Here you can specify the language you’ll be using, helping viewers find streams they can understand.
• Use camera when I broadcast: Turn this on to add a thumbnail of your webcam feed to the stream, letting viewers see you.
• Camera: Choose which webcam device you want to use.
• Capture mouse cursor in broadcasts: Decide whether the mouse pointer should be visible in the stream.

Launch Your Broadcast

To begin streaming, start the game you want to play, then press Windows+G to open the Game Bar. Click the “Broadcast” button on the bar. Alternatively, you can press Windows+Alt+B to jump straight into broadcasting.

These shortcuts can be customized under Settings > Gaming > Game bar.

The Broadcast setup window will appear. It displays your Xbox Live gamertag and your Mixer channel. From here you can also decide whether to include microphone audio and webcam video. To see the URL where others can watch you, click the “Your channel” link. This opens your channel’s webpage, which you can then share with anyone.

To start the stream, click “Start broadcast.”

While you’re broadcasting, a status panel will appear over the game.

Reading from left to right, the indicators confirm you’re recording live, show your current viewer count, and track how long you’ve been streaming. The buttons let you pause and resume the stream, stop broadcasting, toggle your microphone on or off, and toggle your webcam on or off. The last two buttons allow you to view chat messages for your channel and drag the status panel to a different spot on your screen.

Spread the Word About Your Stream

You can find your Mixer channel’s web address by clicking the “Your channel” link in the Broadcast setup dialog. Your channel’s name matches your Xbox gamertag exactly. So when you click that link, you’ll be taken to a page with an address like this:

Share that URL with your friends or anyone else you want to invite to watch your gameplay. Anyone visiting the page can view your live stream and chat with other viewers.

Microsoft’s Mixer isn’t yet as full‑featured as third‑party platforms like Twitch. Although Microsoft clearly hopes Mixer will become a go‑to destination, most people still search for content on Twitch or YouTube Live. Still, Mixer works well and is built directly into Windows 10, making it a very convenient option for beginners who want to start broadcasting.

Broadcasting via Mixer is also integrated into the Xbox One. While playing a game, press the Xbox button on your controller, navigate to Broadcast and Capture > Broadcast > Start broadcast, and you’re off.