How to Use a Twitch Squad Stream Viewer

A Twitch squad stream viewer lets you watch multiple streamers playing together on a single screen, so you don't have to jump between tabs. You can use Twitch’s own Squad Stream feature when a group officially broadcasts together. For any other group, you can use a tool like ViewGrid to build your own multi-stream layout.

This guide explains how both methods work and gives you practical steps for setting up your own viewing grid.

Understanding Squad Streams

When a group of streamers collaborates on a game like Valorant, Lethal Company, or a tabletop RPG, a lot happens on each person's screen. Watching just one perspective means you might miss a funny reaction, a strategic play, or a key piece of information.

The goal of watching a squad stream is to see all those perspectives at once. This keeps you in the loop with the entire group's dynamic without the chaos of managing multiple browser tabs and conflicting audio.

Method 1: The Official Twitch Squad Stream

Twitch has a built-in feature called Squad Stream. When it's active, you'll see a banner at the top of the stream that lets you watch up to four members of the group simultaneously, right on the Twitch page.

How it works:
Streamer-Controlled: This feature must be initiated by a Twitch Partner. They invite up to three other streamers to join their squad.
Integrated Viewing: As a viewer, you click the banner to enter the squad view. Twitch arranges the four streams in a grid, with one stream in a primary slot. You can click any of the smaller streams to make it the primary one.
* Chat: You can still participate in the chat of the primary streamer.

This is a convenient option when it's available. However, it has a few limitations. You can't use it if the streamers don't (or can't) activate it, if the group has more than four people, or if you want to watch someone who wasn't included in the official squad.

Method 2: Building Your Own Grid with a Viewer

When the official feature isn't an option, a third-party Twitch squad stream viewer gives you the control to build your own layout. You can add any streamers you want, from any platform, and arrange them on your screen.

This is useful for:
Watching groups larger than four people.
Following a squad that isn't using the official Twitch feature.
Including a creator who is streaming on YouTube or Kick alongside their Twitch-streaming friends.
Creating a custom layout for a specific event, like a tournament where you want to follow several competitors.

ViewGrid is a free tool for this. It works in your browser and doesn't require an account to get started.

How to Set Up Your Twitch Squad Stream Viewer

Here are the steps to create a custom multi-stream view.

1. Open the Viewer
2. Go to ViewGrid in your web browser. You'll see an empty grid with a bar at the top to add streams.

1. Add Your First Streamer
2. In the input bar, type or paste the channel name of the first streamer you want to watch (e.g., "shroud") or the full Twitch URL. Press enter. Their stream will appear in the grid.

1. Add the Rest of the Squad
2. Repeat the process for each streamer in the group. As you add more channels, the grid automatically resizes to fit them on the screen. You can add streamers from Twitch, YouTube, and Kick all in the same grid.

1. Choose a Layout
2. The layout changes automatically, but you can also pick one manually. On a desktop computer, you can arrange up to 20 streams. On a phone, the limit is 6 streams to keep things usable on a smaller screen.

1. Control the Audio
2. Every stream starts muted to prevent a wall of noise. Click the speaker icon on the one stream you want to listen to. Clicking another stream's speaker icon will automatically mute the first one and switch the audio source. You only ever hear one stream at a time.

1. Open the Live Chat
2. To follow the conversation, click the chat bubble icon on any Twitch, YouTube, or Kick stream. This will open that specific stream's chat in a panel on the right side of your screen.

That's it. Your custom squad stream view is ready. If you want to learn more about the general features of a multi-stream viewer, we have a page that covers the basics.

Tips for a Better Viewing Experience

Watching multiple video streams at once can be demanding on your computer and internet connection. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Start Small: If you're on an older machine or have a slower connection, start with just two or three streams. Adding more can cause buffering if your bandwidth can't keep up.
Share Your Layout: Once you've set up a grid, the browser's URL contains all the information for that specific layout. You can simply copy the URL from your address bar and send it to a friend. When they open the link, they'll see the exact same grid you created.
Focus on One Stream: If you need a closer look at one person's screen, just click on their video. It will expand to fill the main area of the grid, with the other streams becoming smaller thumbnails. Click it again to return to the balanced grid.
Check Event Pages: For major gaming tournaments or events, check the ViewGrid Events page. You might find a pre-made grid with all the important competitors, saving you the setup time.

Watching Your Grid on a TV

People often ask how to get their multi-stream layout onto a television. Since ViewGrid doesn't have a dedicated "cast" button, you would use your device's existing capabilities.

Common methods include:
Opening viewgrid.tv in the web browser built into your smart TV.
Connecting a laptop to your TV with an HDMI cable.
* Using your computer's or phone's built-in screen mirroring feature (like AirPlay or Miracast) to show your browser on the TV.

These are general solutions for displaying any website on a TV, not specific features of the viewer itself.

For a detailed look at how third-party viewers stack up against Twitch's native tools, you can read our article, "Multi Twitch Viewer: Squad Stream Alternative?". It offers a different perspective on when to use each tool.