How to Insert Video into PowerPoint Presentations? 4 EASY Steps

Using videos in your PowerPoint presentation is a good way to catch viewers’ attention and keep them engaged. But do you know “How to insert video into PowerPoint?”

Read our instructions below to discover how to insert a video into a PowerPoint presentation!

How to insert a video into PowerPoint slides?

Why Use Videos In Presentations?

Do you know that your presentation can be made much more dynamic and engaging by incorporating the use of videos? 

And it’s not exaggerated that a well-placed video can take your whole presentation to the very next level. 

So, what makes the video important in presentations? Here are a few basic reasons:

It’s a good idea to insert video to PowerPoint

• Videos can help capture the attention of an audience easily and immediately. Sometimes, starting a presentation with a video is what the audience needs to, well, “wake up” and turn attention to what the presenter says and shows. 

• Videos make the presentation more interesting. By utilizing sight and sound, video is so good at reeling the audience in. This way, it helps improve the audience’s experience. 

• By having videos in the presentation, both the audience and the presenter will have something to watch and enjoy instead of just listening to someone talk. Plus, videos also give the presenter a moment to break, drink water, and check notes as well...

These are a few notable pros of incorporating videos in a presentation. 

As you can see, videos really boost the quality and engagement of a presentation, right? 

Now, let’s move on to the next part of this writing to learn how to insert video in PowerPoint.

Using videos in your PowerPoint presentation 

How to Insert Video into PowerPoint Presentations?

Right below are two ways that you can use to insert video PowerPoint. 

They are all so easy to follow and help you embed the videos successfully right from the first time.

Embedding a video from a file on your PC

How to insert video into PowerPoint from desktop? The process will depend on the PowerPoint versions you are working with. 

Following are the instructions on how to insert video to PowerPoint 2016 and newer versions.

• Step 1: Choose the slide you want to embed a video in

First, open the presentation and click on the slide you want to insert a video into. Note that you can always change the order of slides later if you want.

• Step 2: Select your video

Next, go to Menu and click “Insert,” select “Video” and then click “This Device.” From there, choose the file you would like to insert.

Click “This Device” then choose the video file you want to add 

PowerPoint insert video

• Step 3: Adjust the settings to format your video

Once your video is added, you can make adjustments to ensure it plays the way you want. 

From video styles, video shapes, video borders, video effects, to the height and width, and others, you can adjust a lot of things here. 

Start your slideshow to make sure everything is to your liking, and you’re done!

• Step 4: Preview your presentation

Don’t forget to start your slideshow to make sure your video plays exactly the way you want it to. And you are done! 

It’s so easy to insert video to PowerPoint from a file on a computer, isn’t it? Now, let’s see how we do that with a YouTube video.

How to insert video into PowerPoint from computer?

Embedding a YouTube video 

Well, inserting YouTube video into PowerPoint is similar to the way you insert a video from a file as described recently. 

Steps 1, 3, and 4 are the same. Only step 2 is a bit different here. 

In step 2, you still go to Menu and click “Insert,” select “Video”  to insert a video to PowerPoint 2016 using a YouTube URL.

But instead of clicking “This Device,” you click “Online Video ...” as shown below:

Click “This Online Video ...” 

After that, you will need to insert the address for the video online from Slideshare, Vimeo, Steam, and of course, YouTube like this:

Insert the address for the online video

For online videos to work, note that you will need an internet connection during your presentation.  

Read more: How to change a video format?

What Video Formats Can Be Inserted Into PowerPoint?

To successfully insert a video in PowerPoint and let it play properly, you need to add the right video file formats. 

So it’s necessary to know what supported video file formats in PowerPoint are.

Generally, PowerPoint can play different video file formats like Windows video file (.asf, .avi), MP4 video file (.mp4, .m4v, .mov), movie file ( .mpg or .mpeg), MPEG-2 video (.m2v), DVI movie (.dif), Window Media Video file (.wmv), and more. 

But as you know, there are different versions of PowerPoint and the supported video file formats in PowerPoint can also vary depending on the versions and the operating system that we are using. 

Luckily, you can easily convert video formats to another using online tools like VidConverter!

PowerPoint can play different video file formats

Here are the video format recommendations for different PowerPoint versions and OS:

For Windows:

• PowerPoint 2010: .wmv

• Newer versions of Microsoft PowerPoint: .mp4 video files encoded with H.264 video & AAC audio

For macOS: .mp4 video files encoded with H.264 video & AAC audio

For iOS and Android, the supported video file formats include:

• For iOS: MP4 video files (.mp4, .m4v, .mov) and movie files (.mpg or .mpeg)

• For Android: MP4 video file (.mp4), and VP8, VP9 (.mkv)

These are about supported video file formats and recommended video file formats to use in PowerPoint. 

If you also want to know how to insert video into Word, go on to the next part of this post to get the quick guidelines.

Read more: Most common audio file formats

How to Insert Video into Microsoft Word?

Inserting video to Word is also easy and simple

Insert video to PowerPoint is easy and the process is similar to the processes for inserting a video to PowerPoint.

Here are two ways that you can use to embed a video in a Microsoft document. Note that the instructions are for Microsoft Word 2016.

Insert a local video

• Step 1: Open your Word document, then navigate to the position where you want to insert the video. Click the “Insert” tab, and choose “Object” in the Text group.

• Step 2: Next, select the “Create From File” tab and then click “Browse.” From there, choose the video on your PC and click “Open.”

Select the “Create From File” tab and then click “Browse”

Just need to click the “OK” button then you’ll insert the video successfully.

Note that if you choose the “Link to File” option, then Words will create a link to the video. 

And if you choose the “Display as Icon” option, then you can use an icon to display that video.

• Step 3: Don’t forget to preview the video to see if it displays and plays the way you want. 

Insert an online video

• Step 1: Open your Word document, then navigate to the position where you want to insert the video. Click the “Insert” tab, and choose “Online Video” in the Media group.

Choose “Online video”

• Step 2: Paste the video URL that you want to insert into your document and then click the “Insert” icon.

• Step 3: Click the play button over the inserted video to test if it’s working. Note that you need an internet connection to run the video.

You can watch this video to learn how to insert an online video into Microsoft Word:

Why Can’t I Insert a Video into PowerPoint?

Embedding a video into a PowerPoint presentation is a simple process. Still, the video may fail to play for the following reasons.

• Unsupported Video Format: PowerPoint may not support the video format you're trying to insert. Ensure the video is in a compatible format like MP4, WMV, or AVI.

• File Size Too Large: If the video file is too large, it may exceed PowerPoint's limitations for embedding. Try compressing the video or using a link to the video instead of embedding it.

The reasons you cannot insert videos into PowerPoint

• Corrupted Video File: If the video file is corrupted or incomplete, it might not be insertable into PowerPoint. You should play the video outside PowerPoint to confirm it works correctly.

• Outdated PowerPoint Version: Older versions of PowerPoint may have issues inserting certain video formats or have limited support for modern video codecs. Consider updating to the latest version.

• Missing Video Codecs: PowerPoint requires specific video codecs to play certain video files. If the required codec is missing, the video may fail to insert or play properly.

• Insufficient Permissions: If you're working in a restricted environment (like a corporate network), permissions may prevent you from inserting videos. Check your system’s permissions or consult your IT administrator.