Adding an overlay to TikTok LIVE Studio takes about two minutes. Here's the catch, and it's the reason this guide exists: when it goes wrong, you get no error message. The stream starts, everything looks normal, and the overlay simply never shows up. You find out live, in front of your viewers.
This guide walks you through the four steps — in the one order that actually works — then shows you the three silent mistakes that account for almost every "my overlay doesn't show" case, and how to catch each one before you go live.
What a browser source is (30 seconds of theory)
An overlay is just a web page. Tools like PKTOK give you a personal link, and TikTok LIVE Studio has a source type called Browser that renders any web page as a layer of your stream. Paste the link in, and whatever that page shows — full-screen entrance videos, battle alerts, counters — appears on top of your camera or game capture.
Two things follow from this:
- There is nothing to download or install. The overlay lives at the link; LIVE Studio just displays it.
- The link is the whole connection. If the source isn't there, is hidden, or has half a link in it, nothing arrives — and nothing complains.
The 4 steps — do them in this exact order
First, copy your overlay link. In PKTOK it sits at the top of the Videos page in your dashboard; other tools have an equivalent. Copy the entire link — this matters more than it sounds, as you'll see below. Then:
- Add the source. Open TikTok LIVE Studio. In the Sources box click +, choose the Browser source, and paste your link into the URL field.
- Remove the custom resolution. In the source's settings, if a custom resolution is set, turn it off and save. Don't type your resolution here yet — that comes last.
- Stretch it to the screen. Right-click the source in the list and choose Full screen → Stretch to screen.
- Now set the resolution. Open the source settings again and set the custom resolution to 1080 wide × 1920 tall — TikTok LIVE is vertical. (Streaming in landscape, gamer-style? Use 1920 × 1080 instead.)
Why the order matters
Steps 2 and 4 look like the same setting touched twice, and that's exactly the point. If you set the custom resolution first, "Stretch to screen" can't size the layer correctly — the overlay ends up distorted, cropped, or entirely invisible, and LIVE Studio never tells you anything is wrong. Resolution off → stretch → resolution on. This ordering mistake is the single most common reason a correctly pasted overlay doesn't show.
The 3 silent failures — and how to spot each one
A broken overlay setup fails without a single error message. In practice, when an overlay "doesn't work", it's almost always one of these three:
| Silent failure | How to detect it |
|---|---|
| 1. The source was never added. The link was copied, LIVE Studio was opened — and the paste step got skipped or didn't save. | Look at the Sources list. Is there a Browser source in it at all? If not, that's your answer. |
| 2. The source is hidden. It exists, but the eye icon next to it in the Sources list is toggled off — often by an accidental click. | Check the eye icon on the Browser source. One click brings it back. |
| 3. Only part of the link was pasted. Overlay links are long, and the end gets cut off during copying — the page that loads is then not your overlay. | Open the source settings and compare the URL character by character with the link in your dashboard, especially the end of it. |
Verify it without going live: the Test button
You should not have to find out on a live stream whether your setup worked. PKTOK has a Test button for exactly this: it plays a short clip on your overlay, precisely the way a real event would — no live stream, no viewers, no effect on your statistics. Keep LIVE Studio open, press Test, and within seconds you either see the clip on your preview or you don't.
The useful part is what happens when it fails: the Test tells you when no overlay is connected. That message means the browser source isn't reaching the server — which narrows the problem down to exactly the three silent failures above. Walk the table top to bottom and one of them will be it.
Run the Test once after setup and once more whenever you change anything in your sources. It's a few seconds, and it turns a live-stream surprise into a pre-stream checkbox.
The OBS variant (short version)
Using OBS or Streamlabs instead of LIVE Studio? Same idea, slightly different clicks:
- In Sources, click + → Browser, and paste your overlay link into the URL field.
- In the same properties window, set Width 1080, Height 1920 for a vertical stream (1920 × 1080 for landscape).
- Right-click the source → Transform → Fit to screen.
OBS lets you set the browser source's own resolution directly in its properties, so the remove-then-re-add resolution dance from LIVE Studio isn't needed. The three silent failures, however, apply identically — OBS also has an eye icon, and a half-pasted link fails just as quietly. The Test button works the same regardless of which app hosts the browser source.
What the overlay actually plays
Once connected, a PKTOK overlay plays your own full-screen videos on specific stream moments: a viewer's entrance, the MVP reveal after a PK battle, PK boosters (×2/×3 multipliers, gloves), the SNIPE alert near the end of a battle, level-ups (from Lv.10), and anything you trigger manually from the dashboard or the phone remote. Everything runs automatically once the browser source is in place — during the stream there is nothing to click.
FAQ
My overlay worked yesterday but not today. What changed?
Almost always the source itself: LIVE Studio scenes get edited, and the browser source ends up hidden (the eye icon) or deleted more often than people expect. Check the Sources list first, then re-run the Test. The link itself doesn't expire, so if the source is present, visible, and the URL is complete, the Test will confirm the connection.
Do I need a green screen or Chroma Key for this?
No — none of it. PKTOK uses a single transparent browser source: no green screen, no Chroma Key filter, and no second layer at all. Every video the overlay plays — entrance clips, the MVP reveal, boosters, SNIPE, level-ups and the other battle effects — comes through that one source already transparent, so there is nothing to key out and nothing else to add. The link you pasted is the whole setup.
Which resolution should I use — 1080×1920 or 1920×1080?
Match your stream orientation. A standard vertical TikTok LIVE is 1080 wide × 1920 tall. If you stream in landscape — typical for gaming setups — use 1920 × 1080. If the overlay looks squashed or letterboxed, the resolution is the first thing to re-check, and remember it must be set after "Stretch to screen", not before.
Can I check the connection without starting a stream?
Yes — that's what the Test button in the PKTOK dashboard is for. It plays a clip on your overlay with no live stream and no viewers involved, and it explicitly reports when no overlay is connected. If your tool has no such check, the fallback is a private test stream, which is slower and riskier for exactly the reasons this guide exists.
Ready to try it? Every PKTOK feature is free for everyone right now, no card required. From 1 November 2026 every account gets 6 hours of full access — the clock only runs while you're actually live, it never expires, and if it runs out mid-broadcast that broadcast still finishes. After that it's €15/month (Normal) or €20/month (VIP), or €135 and €180 paid yearly, because you pay for 9 months and get 12; if you don't subscribe, your account and your videos stay and only the overlay stops. Set up your overlay, press Test, and you'll know it works before anyone is watching.
PKTOK is an independent tool for TikTok LIVE streamers. It is not a product of TikTok Pte. Ltd. or ByteDance Ltd., is not affiliated with them, and is not endorsed or sponsored by them.