---
title: Test your alerts
description: Fire free test alerts at your overlay - no payment, no waiting for a real tip.
---

Before you go live, prove the whole chain works. The **Test alerts** panel on the **Overlays** page sends fake events straight to your overlays - no payment, nothing saved to your history. Every connected overlay receives the test; each one shows only the event types [enabled in its editor](/alerts/twitch-alerts).

1. **Connect your overlay**

    Open OBS with your [overlay added](/overlay/add-to-obs). The panel's LED shows "overlay connected" when it's live - the buttons stay disabled until then.

2. **Check TTS isn't paused**

    If TTS is paused, test alerts sit in the queue and don't play. Unpause from [Controls](/queues/controls) or the TTS page.

3. **Fire away**

    Hit **Tip**, **Follow**, **Sub**, **Resub**, **Gift sub**, **Cheer**, or **Raid**. The tip test sends a £5.00 tip from "TestUser" with a message, so you'll hear the sound and the TTS end to end.

{/* SCREENSHOT /images/alerts/test-alerts.png : The Test alerts panel on the Alerts page with the "overlay connected" LED lit and the six test buttons visible. Uncomment the Frame below once taken. */}
{/* <Frame caption="Six buttons, zero cost.">
![The Test alerts panel](/images/alerts/test-alerts.png)
</Frame> */}

## What to check while it plays

- The alert appears where you placed it, in your style.
- You can hear the sound and TTS yourself - if you can't, it's the [audio monitoring step](/overlay/add-to-obs) in OBS.
- The volume sits right in your mix - adjust the overlay source's slider in the OBS Audio Mixer, or the per-overlay **Alert volume** / **TTS volume** in the [overlay editor](/overlay/edit-your-overlay).

:::tip[Testing the real thing]
Test alerts skip the payment flow entirely. If you want to verify payments too - especially a fresh PayPal link - open your tip page in a private window and send yourself the minimum tip.
:::