How to Gather Stream Recordings into a Twitch Collection

What a Twitch collection is

A Twitch collection is a set of videos grouped around a shared theme. You can use one to gather a playthrough of a single game, a series of educational broadcasts, the best streams of a season, or recordings of collaborative streams.

A collection helps separate the videos you need from the overall list of videos on your channel. It's easier for viewers to find the next part of a playthrough or a specific episode, and easier for the channel owner to organize an archive and point the audience to the right content.

Typically, published past broadcasts, highlights, and uploaded videos are added to a collection. Clips are a separate format and do not replace a collection of recordings. Creating a collection also does not preserve videos forever: if the source recording is deleted, its retention period expires, or access to it is restricted, it may disappear from the collection or stop opening.

Prepare your recordings before creating a collection

First, make a list of the videos that should go into the collection. Open your channel's video page or the list of recordings in the creator dashboard. Check the titles, thumbnails, publication dates, and whether they fit the overall theme.

If a recording doesn't fit, that doesn't mean you need to delete it from the channel. To prepare the collection, it's enough not to select that video or to use the "Remove from collection" command later. That removes the video only from the specific collection and does not delete the source from Video Producer. Use the command to delete the video itself only when you genuinely want to remove the recording from the channel.

Do the same with duplicates and unfinished broadcasts. If an incomplete stream might be useful for your archive, leave it on the channel but don't add it to this collection. Make the collection title clear without extra explanation: for example, "Game Playthrough," "Beginner Tutorials," or "Collaborative Streams."

Choose the order of recordings in advance. For a playthrough, it's best to use a sequence from the first part to the last. In a collection of the best streams, you can put the most useful or interesting episode first. If the video titles include part numbers, viewers will find it easier to navigate.

Collection limit and video retention period

A single Twitch collection can hold up to 100 videos. If you have more material, split the archive into several collections: for example, by season, game, year, or part of the playthrough. Don't try to add recordings beyond the limit — the extra videos won't fit, and the collection will be incomplete.

The collection limit is not related to VOD retention. Past broadcasts on Twitch are stored for a limited time. For most channels the period is 7 days, for Twitch Affiliates it's 14 days, and for Partners, Prime, and Turbo users it's 60 days.

After this period ends, a past broadcast may be deleted automatically, even if it was added to a collection. Highlights and uploaded videos follow different rules, but their availability should be checked as well. If an important recording needs to stay in the archive, save it in a suitable format in advance or create a highlight, if you have the rights to the material used.

Twitch's rules and restrictions can change, so when working with a large archive, also check the tips in Video Producer. Within the collection itself, rely on the actual status of the videos and the messages in the interface.

How to create a collection in the creator dashboard

Open Twitch in a browser and go to the Creator Dashboard. In the side menu, find the Content section and open Video Producer. In it, go to the Collections tab or menu. The exact item names may differ slightly depending on your account language and interface updates.

Click the button to create a new collection. Twitch will ask you to enter a title and, in some versions of the dashboard, a description and cover image. In the title, state the theme, and in the description briefly explain what the viewer will see and which recording is the best place to start.

Once you've filled in the fields, save the collection. If it appears in the list, open it for editing and check the visibility settings. Don't go to the analytics or general channel settings sections: the actions you need are right next to the videos and collections in Video Producer.

How to add recordings and arrange them in order

You can open the list of videos from Video Producer. Select the published recordings you want and choose the action to add them to a collection. The command may be in the three-dot menu, among bulk actions, or inside an open collection.

The second way is to open the collection you created and click the add video button. Then select the videos from the available list and confirm the changes. If the recording you need isn't there, check whether it's published, whether it's been deleted, and whether it's in a status that prevents adding.

After adding, open the collection and check the order. If drag-and-drop is available, move the recordings with your mouse. Otherwise, use the move buttons or the menu for a specific video. Save the changes and view the collection as a viewer would: that makes it easier to spot a duplicate, a wrong part, or a video added by mistake.

If you need to exclude material, use the remove-from-collection action, not the delete-video action. After that, the recording stays in the channel's overall list and can be added to another collection if needed.

How to make a collection visible to viewers

After creation, a collection may be hidden. Open its settings or edit mode and find the visibility toggle labeled Public, Публичная, or a similar wording. Turn on public mode and save the changes.

A collection's public status and the availability of individual videos are different settings. Even a public collection won't make available a video that is deleted, unpublished, subscriber-only, or restricted by other Twitch rules.

Check the result in incognito mode or in a browser window where you're not logged in. Open the channel page, the videos section, and the collection itself. If the collection doesn't show up, check the Public setting and that changes were saved again. Once everything works, you can place the link to the collection in the channel description, the "About Me" panel, a chat message, or a post on another social network.

What to do if some recordings are unavailable

If a viewer can't open an individual video, first check its status in Video Producer. The cause could be an expired retention period, a deleted recording, a restriction for a certain audience, an age setting, or a copyright-related issue. Open the link without logging in to understand whether the recording is visible to a regular visitor.

If the restriction can be changed in the video's own settings and this matches your goal, update the access, publish the recording, or fix the status. Don't try to circumvent blocks and don't re-upload material you don't have the rights to.

When access can't be restored, remove the recording only from this collection. You don't have to delete the source video from the channel: it may be needed in another collection or become available after its status changes. You can replace it with an available highlight or a permitted uploaded version so that a broken link doesn't remain in the sequence.

If it's not just one recording but a significant part of the collection that's unavailable, temporarily disable the collection link for promotion and check the whole list first. A public collection with several unavailable videos looks unfinished and gets in the way of viewing.

How to keep a collection up to date

After each stream, wait for the recording to appear in Video Producer. Check the title, description, thumbnail, and video availability, then add it to the right collection. If the stream belongs to a series, put it in the right place right away and save the changes.

Every so often, open the collection as a viewer. Check that all recordings play, the order hasn't been disrupted, and the description still matches the content. If a VOD's retention period has ended, remove the unavailable item from the collection and replace it with material that can be watched.

Keep an eye on the 100-video limit. When the collection approaches it, don't delete old material from the channel unnecessarily. Create the next collection with a clear continuation in the title, for example "Game Playthrough — Part 2," and add a link to it in the channel description or the previous collection.

Quick step-by-step summary

1. Open the Creator Dashboard and go to Content → Video Producer.
2. Review your recordings without deleting from the channel videos that simply aren't needed in this collection.
3. Create a collection, give it a clear title and description.
4. Add published videos and arrange them in the order you want.
5. Turn on Public mode, then check the collection without logging in.
6. For unavailable videos, first determine the cause, and if needed remove them only from the collection.
7. After new streams, update the list and keep in mind the collection limit and VOD retention period.