How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint

One sure and simple way to enhance a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and audience engagement is to add a video from YouTube. This website is chock-full of educational and entertaining videos that can add a dynamic element to your content. Whether you want to use your own footage or “borrow” it from someone else’s channel, here are some step-by-step guides on how to insert videos into PowerPoint presentations.

1. How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint as an Online Video
2. How to Insert a Video Into PowerPoint Using an Embed Code
3. How to Insert a YouTube Video as a Screencast
4. How to Add a YouTube Video via iSpring Suite

1. How to Embed a YouTube Video in PowerPoint as an Online Video

Starting from version 2010, Microsoft PowerPoint includes a built-in tool for inserting videos from YouTube into slides. Follow these 5 steps to embed a YouTube video in a PowerPoint presentation:

1. Go to YouTube and find the video you want to embed in your presentation. Copy the link from the address bar.
2. Open your presentation and select the slide in which you would like to place the YouTube video, select Insert → Video, and select Online Video.
3. Paste the URL in the pop-up window. Using this field in the opened window, you also can search for a YouTube video directly. Click on the magnifying glass or press Enter on your keyboard to perform a search.
   
4. Click on the thumbnail of the web video and click the Insert tab.
5. You can adjust the online video’s file size, in the same way as with any other slide object.
   

Pros and Cons

Pros 

• Quick and easy

Cons

• Requires that viewers have a stable internet connection
• Playback is not customizable
• Can’t be done in PPT version 2007 and earlier

2. How to Add a Video in Presentations Using an Embed Code

A more advanced way to embed YouTube videos in PowerPoint presentations is to use the embed code. This method allows you to customize the YouTube video’s attributes by using the YouTube API parameters.

Here’s a brief guide on how to embed a YouTube video in your PowerPoint slide:

1. Go to YouTube and find the web video you want to add. Click Share, and then select Embed to generate an HTML code.
   Copy the entire HTML code.
2. Open PowerPoint and select the slide in your presentation. Click Insert tab and choose Video → Online Video again.
   
3. Paste Embed Code into the From a Video Embed Code field.
4.  Click on the Insert button or Enter.

Note: Before you add the YouTube video to PowerPoint, you can add some parameters to the code to make the video play the way you need it to. For example, you can let the video start playing automatically after a user opens the PowerPoint slide it has been placed in, or you can specify how many seconds from the start the video will begin and when it will end.

You can read about all the available YouTube API parameters here.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• More control over the online video’s playback and appearance with the help of parameters

Cons

• More time consuming than inserting a link
• An internet connection is required

3. How to Insert YouTube Videos in PowerPoint as Screencasts

While all of the above tips require viewers to have an internet connection, you can make your presentation internet independent by making a screen capture of the YouTube video by using the built-in screencasting tool. This option is available in PowerPoint 2013 and later versions. 

Here is how to embed a YouTube video in PowerPoint as a Screencast:

1. Open PowerPoint and select the slide you want to insert the screen recording into, click Insert, and select Screen Recording.
2. Open the YouTube video you want to add and click Select Area on the control menu. You’ll see a cross-haired cursor. By clicking on it and dragging it, you can select the area of the screen that you want to record. Note: It automatically records the audio and the mouse pointer. To turn off these options, deselect Audio and Record Pointer on the control dock.

3. 

4. Click Record. Click Pause when you need to stop the recording temporarily or Stop to end it.
5. When you’ve finished, save your presentation with a video: File tab > Save. The recording is now embedded in the selected PowerPoint slide.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Video can be played offline

Cons

• The quality of the captured video content is lower than that of the original version
• Requires more time than other techniques (the time required depends on the duration of the video you capture)
• May violate author’s rights

4. How to Put a YouTube Video in PowerPoint via iSpring Suite

This method assumes that you need to add YouTube videos in PowerPoint presentations and then turn your PPT deck to HTML5 so users can open and view them in a browser or convert the entire PowerPoint presentation to video format. This is a perfect way to go if you want to insert a YouTube video into a PowerPoint document and then share your presentation online and protect it from plagiarism and unfair use. You can do this easily with the help of iSpring Suite, one of the most robust PowerPoint add-ins.

iSpring Suite

Fully-stocked eLearning authoring toolkit for PowerPoint. No training required to start!

Download for Free Learn more→

Here are the simple steps on how to add a YouTube video to a PowerPoint deck before publishing it to the Web:

1. Download iSpring Suite and install it on your computer. 
2. When your PowerPoint presentation opens, go to the iSpring Suite tab. (Once the software is installed, the new tab of this add-in automatically appears in the PowerPoint ribbon). 
3. Select a presentation slide you want to have a video in and click on YouTube. 
4. Insert the video’s link. After that, you can preview a video and set a delay, after which the video will appear on the slide. 
5. Click on OK to insert a video into PowerPoint.
6. To see how your PowerPoint presentation looks in a browser, click on the Preview button.
7. If it looks the way you want it to, click on Publish.  
8. Select My computer on the drop-down menu on the left pane to publish your presentation to the Web. You can choose the HTML5 or MP4 video format. Or, you can upload your converted presentation to YouTube in an .mp4 format, with all effects preserved.
   

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Sharing options: slides can be shared online so learners can see them in a browser from any device (PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone) and on any OS (Windows, Mac, etc.)
• Presentation can’t be edited by external sources after conversion, so copyrights will be protected
• Slides are safe behind a wall of protections – watermarks, passwords, and time and domain restrictions

Cons

• The PowerPoint presentation can’t be opened in offline mode
• Requires downloading third-party software

More than just a converter!

With iSpring Suite, you can not only insert a YouTube video into PowerPoint and convert your presentation to an online format, but you can also create versatile eLearning content. This is a top-rated authoring toolkit that allows you to create engaging online courses, quizzes, video tutorials, role-plays, and eLearning interactions. And no experience or tech skills are required. 

Start your free iSpring Suite trial now →

How to Choose the Best Way to Embed YouTube Videos in Presentations

To simplify matters, take a look at this chart. It compares the pros and cons of all described methods in one place, so you can choose the one that’s most suitable for your needs.

FAQ on How to Embed YouTube Videos in PowerPoint

1. What video formats are supported in PowerPoint presentations?

Here are the video file formats you can add to your presentations.

• Windows Video (.asf)
• Windows Video (.avi)
• MP4 Video (.mp4, .m4v, .mov)
• Movie (.mpg, .mpeg)
• Windows Media Video (.wmv)

2. How do you embed YouTube videos in PowerPoint Presentations and have them play automatically?

This method works for the “Embed It as an Online Video” option. Once you’ve added a video in PowerPoint, you can control how it will play: automatically, when clicked, or in the click sequence. 

To set this up, go to the Playback tab of the PPT ribbon. It appears when you select the video on a presentation slide.

Then click the drop-down menu next to Start and choose Automatically if you want the video to begin as soon as you open the slide.

3. Why can’t I embed YouTube videos in my PowerPoint Presentation?

There may be different reasons why you can’t embed YouTube videos in PowerPoint. To understand this issue, check out this article by Microsoft.

4. PowerPoint can’t insert a video from the selected file. How can I fix it?

There could be several reasons why PPT isn’t allowing you to insert a video from the selected file. The first possible issue is a video format compatibility — PPT may not support the format of the video you are trying to insert. One more reason is codec issues. Codecs are software used to compress or decompress a video or audio file. If your system doesn’t have the correct codec, the file will not play. Check out this article by Microsoft to find out details.

5. Can I download YouTube videos?

There are certain limitations and legal aspects that you should be aware of. YouTube’s Terms of Service specify that videos are intended for streaming, not for downloading, and unauthorized downloading can violate copyright laws. There are also third-party services — free YouTube downloader apps that allow you to download videos from YouTube. But using such services might be against YouTube’s policies, potentially leading to the suspension of your account.

YouTube offers an official way to access videos through its own app for offline viewing, which is YouTube Premium, a subscription-based service. This is legal and permitted by YouTube’s policies.

Additionally, if you are the owner of the content or have explicit permission from the owner, you can download the video directly from YouTube’s site.

Conclusion

There are several ways to add YouTube videos to PowerPoint. Embedding YouTube videos may require different amounts of time and have various playback options. If you want to customize video playback, the best option will be to embed video content in your slide. If your task is capturing a video and inserting it into a PowerPoint presentation that will be played offline, record a screencast. And, finally, in case you want to share your presentation online and are concerned with its security, use iSpring Suite. 

Useful Resources on PowerPoint

We hope you found our step-by-step guide helpful. Are you a PowerPoint lover? If so, here are some other helpful articles that will provide all the tips on how to get the most out of PowerPoint and grab your audience’s attention:

• How to Share a PowerPoint Presentation Online
• How to Protect PowerPoint Presentations
• How to Add Narration to a PowerPoint Presentation
• How to Structure a PowerPoint Presentation
• How to Convert PowerPoint Presentation to an eLearning Module
• How to Remove the Background From a Picture in PowerPoint