# How to use preview

**URL:** <https://community.wowza.com/t/how-to-use-preview/55047>\
**Category:** Wowza Video (Formerly Streaming Cloud)\
**Created:** [April 23, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/how-to-use-preview/55047 "2020-04-23T13:39:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Brian\_Degn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@Brian\_Degn](https://community.wowza.com/u/Brian_Degn)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/how-to-use-preview/55047/1 "2020-04-23T13:39:40Z")

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Can someone share how to use the preview function?

I can set up the stream - no problem. But I cannot find a way to see the stream before I broadcast (which I need in order to see how things look and sound, before going live to the world).

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**Author:** ![Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/rose_power-wowza_com/32/431_2.png) [@Rose\_Power-Wowza\_Com](https://community.wowza.com/u/Rose_Power-Wowza_Com)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/how-to-use-preview/55047/2 "2020-04-23T18:23:00Z")

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In addition to what Mac shared, once you disable it from stream targets, you could always embed the Wowza player in your own page and see how it appears (if you have a current Player license). JW Player has a test player page too.

[https://www.jwplayer.com/developers/stream-tester/](https://www.jwplayer.com/developers/stream-tester/)

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**Author:** ![Mac\_Hill](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/mac_hill/32/434_2.png) [@Mac\_Hill](https://community.wowza.com/u/Mac_Hill)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/how-to-use-preview/55047/3 "2020-04-23T13:40:33Z")

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Brian,

There is no built-in preview option like you may see with FaceBook live. However, you could consider the following option.

You can edit the advanced transcoder settings to disable all stream targets on startup so that nothing is published to the CDN or any other stream targets. (See Attachment)

And then [when you are ready to go live, you can enable all stream targets](https://www.wowza.com/docs/create-and-manage-transcoders-in-wowza-streaming-cloud#start-or-stop-a-transcoder-s-stream-targets).

Note: to test the playback, [you will need to use the REST API to obtain a direct playback URL from the transcoder](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-deliver-a-lower-latency-stream-by-using-the-wowza-streaming-cloud-rest-api#get-the-transcoder-s-direct-playback-urls) to view the stream.

If you have additional questions, [please submit a ticket](https://www.wowza.com/support/open-ticket) and the Wowza Support Team will be happy to assist.

Regards,

Mac