How to put a video in PowerPoint

Online option (preferable option)

When you want to show your presentation on a computer that is connected to the internet (most computers at ASU), putting a YouTube link into PowerPoint will be your safest option.

Why? YouTube videos are supported by pretty much any computer (Mac and PC). In addition, your video always has an online backup, soeven if PowerPoint refuses to play it for some reason, you can open your link on YouTube.

How does this work?
Copy the link from your YouTube clip

  • Open PowerPoint. Click on “Insert”  “Insert”  “Hyperlink”.

Another safety measure when using YouTube links:
If you are not sure whether the internet will work wherever you will have your presentation, you can also download the YouTube clip to your USB drive. If the link won’t open in class because the internet is down, you can then always open the downloaded YouTube video file from your USB drive.

How to download your YouTube clip?

  • Download the YouTube clip using
  • When opening Zamzar, click on ‘download video’. Then copy/paste your YouTube link, convert it to MP4 or MOV, and enter your email address.

  • You will then receive an email with a download link. Click on that link, and save the video in the same folder as yourPowerPoint file (preferably the USB drive you would bring to class).

On PCs there is also a more fancy option (not explained here) to actually embed these clips (by going into the developer mode). This option often does not work when you try to play the video on MAC computers, so be aware of this when you go for this option.

Offline option

Use this option when you are sure that thereis no internet on the computer you will use to show your presentation. This option can be less ‘stable’ than the online option (because different computers and platforms read different file types), but this will work fine in most cases. When choosing this option, the key is that you will always have to put your video filein the exact same folder as your PowerPoint file.Linking to the video file on your computer, will not automatically make it visible in the classroom. You will also have to copy the actual video file to your USB that you will bring to class.

How to insert a video you created:

  • When you have made a video, save your video(preferably as a .MOV or .MP4 file on your USB drive in the exact same folder as you will save your PowerPoint file.
  • Open PowerPoint. Click on “Insert”  “Insert movie”  “Insert movie from file”.

Caution: Always test this option on another computer before you actually show your presentation. Some computers do not support certain file types and therefore won’t play your file. For example, PowerPoint in Mac only seems to supports AVI, MOV, MP4 and MPG files.

How to embed an video from the internet (like YouTube), but there is internet wherever you will have your presentation:

  • First, download the Youtube clip using
  • When opening Zamzar, click on ‘download video’. Then copy/paste your YouTube link, convert it to MP4 or MOV, and enter your email address.

  • You will then receive an email with a download link. Click on that link, and save the video in the same folder as you will save yourPowerPoint file (preferably the USB drive you’d bring to class).
  • Open PowerPoint. Click on “Insert”  “Insert movie”  “Insert movie from file”.

Caution: Always test this option on another computer before you actually show your presentation. Some computers do not support certain file types and therefore won’t play your file. For example, PowerPoint in Mac only seems to supports AVI, MOV, MP4 and MPG files.

Prezi

A great presentation tool that is often especially recommended because of the ease of inserting videos is Prezi. It is free and easy to use.

How to insert movies in Prezi?

  • Create an account at (sign up is in the top right corner)
  • Click on Create New Prezi
  • In the top left corner, click insert, click either YouTube or ‘load file’
  • For YouTube files, copy/paste the link, for ‘load file’, find your video on your computer.
  • To show your presentation  click meeting  click ‘start online presentation’  copy the link  paste it in your browser, and you are ready to go!