How to Embed a YouTube Video in a Google Slide

Embedded YouTube Videos can make your Google Slide presentation more engaging and informative. This tutorial takes you step-by-step through the process of embedding a YouTube video.  

4 Steps to embed a YouTube video in a Google Slide: 

  • Create or open your Google Slide presentation
  • Insert the YouTube video 
  • Position and resize the video
  • Set the video format options

Let’s get started.


Step #1: Access your Google Slide presentation 

You can either access an existing presentation, or create a new presentation.

To create a new one:

Click the colorful cross on the Google Slides home screen at slides.google.com to create a new blank presentation.

Or 

Select a template from the template gallery to create a new template based presentation.

Or

Create and open a new blank presentation from the URL https://slides.google.com/create.

Step #2: Insert the YouTube Video 

In the open presentation, navigate to the slide where you want to embed a YouTube video.

Click on the slide.

From the main menu, click on Insert.

From the drop-down menu that appears, select Video.

An Insert Video dialog box will open up.

Here you have two options for inserting a YouTube video:

  • Search YouTube
  • Enter YouTube video URL 

Option #1: Search YouTube

Click on the Search tab.

Enter keywords in the search box for the kind of video you want to insert.

If you know the title of the video you are looking for, type it in the search box. 

Press the Enter key or click the magnifying glass button to start the search. 

You will get a list of results, as in the example search below:

Click the result you want and click the blue Select button to add the video to the slide.

The video you select is inserted into the slide, as shown in the example below:

Option #2: Enter YouTube video URL

Click the By URL tab in the Insert video dialog box.

Open the YouTube video you want in another browser tab. 

Click the Share button at the bottom of the video to open the Share dialog box.

In the Share dialog box that pops up, copy the video URL by clicking COPY.

Switch back to your Google Sheet and the Insert video dialog box.

Click in the Paste YouTube URL here box, and press Ctrl + V on your keyboard to paste the video URL.

The preview of the video you selected will show up. If it is a large video, the preview may take some time before it shows up. 

Click the blue Select button to add the video to the slide.

The video is added to the slide as in the example below:

Note: Before using any YouTube video that is not your own, check and adhere to the applicable copyright and licensing rules. Rules differ by country and depend on the venue of the presentation and if the presentation will be used online, broadcasted, or shared.

Step #3: Position and resize the video

Hover over the video and see the cursor turn into a four-headed arrow. 

Click and drag the video to your desired location on the slide. 

As you drag the video, red guidelines appear to assist you in centering the video within the slide.

Resize the video by clicking and dragging one of the blue boxes on the border of the video. 

Only use the corner boxes when resizing the video to avoid making it either too wide or narrow.

Step #4: Set the video format options

The video playback during your presentation depends on the format settings.

There are four options on the Format options pane on the right side of the slide:

Option #1: Video playback

Click on the arrow next to the Video playback option to open the settings.

Click the down arrow in the Play drop-down control to see the options that control video playback:

Play (on click) is the default setting. It means the video plays when you advance the slide by using a remote clicker, pressing a key, or clicking a mouse.

Play (automatically) – The video starts to play without your intervention.

Play (manual) – The video plays when you specifically click on the embedded video.

If you do not want to show the entire video, you can limit the section which must play. 

Enter in the Start at box, the time into the video when you want the video to start to play.

Enter the time when you want it to stop in the End at box.

Check the Mute Audio checkbox if you want the video to play without audio during your presentation.

Option #2: Size and rotation

Click the arrow next to the Size and rotation option to open its settings:

Here the size of the video can be changed. The video can be flipped or rotated.

Before making these changes, check the Lock aspect ratio checkbox. This will prevent the video from being distorted while adjusting the settings.

Option #3: Position

Click the arrow next to the Position option to open the settings:

You can change the vertical (x) position and/or the horizontal (y) position of the video on the slide to your preference. 

Top left, or Centre of the video as the starting point or origin.

Option #4: Drop Shadow

Click the arrow next to the Drop shadow option to open the settings.

You can adjust these settings to add a shadow effect to the frame of the video and adjust its colour, transparency, angle, distance, and blur radius.


Conclusion

Adding YouTube videos to your Google Slide presentation can make your presentation more engaging. 

In this tutorial, we have shown you step-by-step how to embed a YouTube video in a Google Slide, and the settings you can apply.

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