Embedding videos in presentations effectively summarize lengthy and complex topics in minutes. Popular presentation platforms like PowerPoint provide video embedding options to help cater to this essential need, and Google Slides is no exception.
How to Add a YouTube Video to Google Slides
YouTube is the most frequently used video streaming platform for embedding videos in presentations. There are two different methods by which you can embed a YouTube video in a Google Slides Theme.
To insert a Video in Google Slides, go to Insert > Video.
Search and Add a Video from YouTube
A dialog box will appear with three options to embed a video. The first option enables searching and adding videos directly from YouTube. Add the video title or relevant keywords, click the video thumbnail, followed by Select to add it to your current slide.
Insert Video from YouTube via URL
The URL tab is the second method to embed a YouTube video in Google Slides. While the Search tab also enables adding videos via URL, it is mainly meant to search and add relevant videos from YouTube, whereas the URL tab enables adding a video from a specific URL.
Once the YouTube video is added to Google Slides, you can adjust the video playback settings from the right sidebar to automatically trigger the video to play on click or allow it to be played manually.
Other customization options include the ability to mute audio, start the video from a specific point (e.g., after 10 seconds), add the size, rotation, and position of the video, and to a add drop shadow effect.
To preview the video, run it as a slideshow or click on it directly from within the slide deck to play and preview it.
How to Add a Video to Google Slides from Google Drive
If you need to add a video to your slides that is not on YouTube, it can be added via Google Drive. If there are multiple videos, you might want to place them in a single folder according to a naming convention for ease of identification. To add a video from Google Drive to Google Slides, open your Google Drive account, go to a folder or directly select New > File Upload.
Once the video file is uploaded, make sure you remove the restrictions, especially if you need to share the presentation. To do this, right-click on the uploaded video and select Share.
Go to the slide in Google Slides where you intend to add the Google Drive video and select Insert > Video.
Remove restrictions and make the video viewable via the sharing link.
Go to the Google Drive tab, click the video thumbnail, and select insert the video.
Once the video is added, you can adjust the playback options, size, rotation, position, and drop shadow. Videos embedded from Google Drive can take a while before they become available for playback. The rendering time would depend upon the size and length of the video.
Troubleshooting
Fix Error 150 in Google Slides
To tackle the error “Unable to play video: Error 150” with YouTube videos in Google Slides, start by checking the video’s privacy settings on YouTube to ensure it’s not set to private or has restrictions that could block playback. If the video is accessible, the next step is to clear your browser’s cache and cookies, as accumulated data might be causing playback issues. Verify your internet connection’s stability and speed, as these factors are crucial for seamless video streaming. If the problem persists, try re-embedding the YouTube video link into your Google Slides presentation. Occasionally, reinserting the video link can resolve the underlying glitch responsible for the error, ensuring smooth video playback in your presentation.
FAQs
To add a YouTube video, go to Insert > Video, then search for the video by title or keywords, or paste the YouTube URL under the URL tab. Select the video and click Insert.
Yes. Go to Insert > Video, select the Google Drive tab, choose the video you uploaded to your Google Drive, and click Insert.
You can customize playback options such as auto-play, starting the video from a specific time, muting the audio, and adjusting the video’s size, rotation, and position. Additionally, you can add effects like a drop shadow.
After inserting the video, click on it, and you’ll see playback options in the sidebar, allowing you to choose when the video starts, whether it auto-plays, and other customization options.
While you cannot crop a video in Google Slides, you can resize and adjust its position by clicking and dragging the corners or entering precise dimensions in the sidebar.
Error 150 usually occurs due to video privacy settings or restrictions. Make sure the YouTube video is not set to private and has no playback restrictions. If the issue persists, try clearing your browser cache or re-embedding the video.
Right-click the video in Google Drive, select Share, and adjust the sharing permissions so the video is accessible to anyone with the link or to specific users as needed.
Conclusions
In this article, we have explained how to insert videos in Google Slides, but if you use PowerPoint, we recommend reading our article on how to embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint to make your presentations more engaging. Google Slides allows the embedding of videos from YouTube and Google Drive. However, copyright-protected videos cannot be embedded from YouTube, and the rendering time for a video uploaded to Google Drive can be significantly high. If you’re uploading videos to Google Drive, make sure you upload them in advance to allow enough time for them to be ready for playback by the time you begin your presentation.
