How to Edit and Post Your Twitch VODs on YouTube (Step by Step)

The more eagle-eyed Twitch users may have noticed that Twitch has offered an option to connect a YouTube account and export VODs straight from Twitch to YouTube. You would think this is a good thing, but it usually isn’t. When you use an export like that, the entire VOD gets uploaded. You know, that multi-hour stream you just recorded? We are sure it is brilliant, but it isn’t quite YouTube material.

You see, YouTube viewers are probably not going to want to watch multi-hour videos. They are going to want to watch quick snippets, probably no more than 20-30 minutes in length. Maybe an hour max, if your content is good. Thankfully, this also works to your advantage: one long stream can become several shorter videos, and more good videos on your channel means more chances to be found and to earn.

In this blog post, we’re going to walk you through the exact steps for editing and posting your Twitch VODs on YouTube. While we know that there are tools on Twitch that will let you edit your VOD on the website, we’re going to use another method. This is because we want you to have more control over the editing process. This will make for more views on YouTube. You can also download your Twitch VODs easily with our free in-house tool.

Step 1: Turn On Twitch VODs

Twitch doesn’t create VODs by default. So, before we can start editing those Twitch VODs for YouTube (or providing more content for your Twitch viewers to see), you’ll need to enable VODs. This is easy:

1. Open up the Creator DashboardClick your profile picture in the top right corner of Twitch and choose Creator Dashboard.
2. Select ‘Settings’, then ‘Stream’You’ll find Settings in the menu on the left.
3. Turn on ‘Store Past Broadcasts’Look for the option and switch the feature on.

Fantastic! Now, every single Twitch stream will be stored as a VOD. Don’t worry if you have a stream that’s a little bit terrible. It happens to the best of us. You’re free to delete any VOD that’s created.

Step 2: Download Your Twitch VODs

Have a VOD that you really want to share on YouTube? Great! Let’s give it a download!

This is how you do it:

1. Open up the Creator DashboardClick ‘Content’, then choose ‘Video Producer’.
2. Find the VOD you want to downloadAll your past broadcasts, highlights and uploads are listed here.
3. Click the three-dot menu and select ‘Download’The VOD downloads as an MP4 file you can open in any video editor.

Simple!

We recommend that you do this regularly, even if you don’t plan on uploading something to YouTube. Twitch only keeps past broadcasts for a limited time: 7 days for most streamers, 14 days for Affiliates and 60 days for Partners and Turbo or Prime users. Since 2025, highlights and uploads are also capped at 100 hours per channel. So, if you don’t download something, it could disappear from the face of the earth in as little as 7 days.

Step 3: Edit Your Twitch VODs

The reason why we didn’t want you editing your Twitch VODs through the Twitch interface is that it doesn’t give you a ton of control. The ability to create thumbnails is a little bit sporadic too. Only some Twitch users can create custom thumbnails for their VODs. Oh, and we also want you to get used to editing for YouTube. You’re not going to be doing too much major editing here, but if your YouTube popularity starts to ramp up due to your Twitch followers, then you’ll want to get fancier with your editing. 

First things first, you’ll need to download some video editing software. There are plenty of options out there, but you won’t need anything too fancy for trimming your 6-hour Twitch epics into more manageable chunks. This means that you can get away with some free software. We recommend one of these:

• Kdenlive
• DaVinci Resolve
• CapCut (for absolute beginners)

How you edit your Twitch VOD here will be completely dependent on the software, but things should be fairly self-explanatory. All you need to do is:

1. Open the Twitch VOD in your video editorImport the MP4 file you downloaded.
2. Trim down your sectionsUse the trimming tools to cut out the parts you want to keep.
3. Export each section as its own videoEach one becomes a separate YouTube upload.

If you’re stuck, you’ll find plenty of advice online.

Your goal here is to split your Twitch VOD into smaller chunks. For example, with a 6-hour VOD, you can probably get 6-12 YouTube videos from it.

You don’t need to do any crazy editing here. Just the raw video should be fine. However, as you gain a bit more traction on Twitch and YouTube, we suggest that you cut out the more boring parts of your Twitch VOD uploads (and yes, we all create boring content at times!).

Step 4: Upload Your Twitch VODs to YouTube

Got your edited videos? Good. There’s one final part of the process. The most important part, really. We’re going to be uploading your Twitch VODs to YouTube.

This is simple, and is really a two-stage process since we’re going to want to create some custom thumbnails here too:

1. Sign into your Google/YouTube accountUse the account that owns your YouTube channel.
2. Go to YouTube StudioOpen studio.youtube.com.
3. Click ‘Create’, then ‘Upload videos’Pick the video file you exported and fill in the details.

While you can upload multiple videos at once, we suggest that you only do one of your Twitch VOD edits per day. This will keep people’s eyes on your channel, while uploading everything at once can look messy. So, if you have trimmed a 6-hour Twitch epic into 6 videos, you have 6 days of content.

Once your video is uploaded, hit the pencil button next to it. This will allow you to edit the details. It is from this page that you can edit the thumbnail. You can use any section of the video for your thumbnail, but we prefer to upload custom thumbnails to help with branding on the channel (all thumbnails should look roughly the same).

Once that’s done, you’re ready to publish. Your video will be visible and you can start to rake in those sweet YouTube views!

Optimize Your Video for YouTube Search

However, editing is not everything, because even the best video is useless if nobody can find it. Remember, YouTube is not a hosting service; it is a search engine.

Title – The title of your video has to reflect what you have on there and spark the viewer’s interest in it. Make sure you mention the game or your stream by name and keep your titles within 60 characters. Example: “I Clutched a 1v5 in Valorant and the Chat Went Insane” is a thousand times better than “Valorant Stream Highlight #47.”

Description – You need at least 150-200 words in the description field. Tell people what is going on in your video, provide timestamps to key moments in the video, put a link to your Twitch account, and other socials. The most important keywords are typically added in the very first two sentences since that part appears in YouTube snippets below the “Show More” cut-off line.

Tags – There are numerous online services (e.g., TubeBuddy, VidIQ) which offer tag recommendations for any type of content. Tags still play their role in categorization by YouTube, especially for gaming videos belonging to niche categories.

Thumbnail – The thumbnail is one of the most crucial aspects of making your video clickable. A customized one performs way better than the default, automatically generated YouTube thumbnail. Use a screenshot of the most exciting moment in your video, add some bold text that reflects your title, and try not to use images that lose clarity when downsized. Find thumbnail ideas for your next video with our YouTube Thumbnail Downloader.

Chapters – Add timestamped sections in the description to create chapters. Chapters are displayed right in the search result, so they boost the click-through rate and watch time.

How to Turn One Stream Into a Week of YouTube Content

This is the part that streamers often overlook. A 4-hour stream does not only provide you with a YouTube video; you get to generate a library of content if you play your cards right.

You can generate a full 20-30 minute edit of the stream as a highlight video, one or two smaller videos of 5-10 minutes dedicated to some parts of the stream, as well as several YouTube Shorts from some of the best moments, and finally, content for TikTok and Instagram Reels, which will include the same vertical edits.

In total, you end up with 8-10 different pieces of content, generated from one stream. Yes, it takes time and effort to edit them all, but the benefits will multiply. Any video you upload to YouTube serves as a permanent search result for your Twitch account. As new people come to your Twitch channel from YouTube, they will first check how many followers and viewers you have.

If those numbers are satisfactory, there’s a higher chance that they will continue watching and eventually follow your channel. Here you see how promoting yourself on Twitch and YouTube complement each other.

The Full Workflow

FAQ

Twitch VODs on YouTube: FAQs

Quick answers to the questions streamers ask most about posting VODs on YouTube.

01

Should I be editing my VODs or uploading them raw?

Uploading raw VODs works but is not optimal for YouTube. An unedited raw VOD requires quite a lot of time commitment on behalf of your random YouTube user, who may not even know who you are. Condensing the best 20-30 minutes from the 4 hours of streaming is beneficial not only to your viewers but also to your metrics.

02

What is a good length for my YouTube VOD videos?

There’s really no optimal video length but 15-30 minutes works just fine when it comes to gaming highlights. Lengthy enough to fit the content, not too lengthy to be able to watch everything without losing the pace. However, if you have some great streams, feel free to make a longer video but try to keep it under an hour.

03

Will Twitch stop me from using my VODs on YouTube?

No. Since Twitch relaxed its exclusivity rules in 2023, Affiliates and Partners are free to post their content on YouTube. If you signed an older agreement, check it for any waiting period before you upload.

04

Can I upload a video that includes copyrighted music?

No. Make sure to remove it because YouTube is very restrictive when it comes to copyrighted material. Their Content ID system will either mute the clip, block your video in some countries, or divert profits earned from the video to the rights owner. There are plenty of royalty-free options available on Epidemic Sound or the YouTube Audio Library.

05

How often should I upload VOD content to YouTube?

Consistency matters more than volume. One properly edited upload every week, kept up for the next six months, will give far better results than uploading a couple of videos in January and then forgetting about it.

06

My VOD expired before I was able to download it — what now?

There’s no way to recover your VOD if it expired on Twitch. From now on, turn on Store Past Broadcasts and download your clips regularly. Think of this as a process of backing up an important document.