Can’t play or insert video in Google Slides [Fix]

If you can’t play or insert/add a video in your Google Slides presentations, this guide will help you fix the issue.

How do you enable video on Google Slides?

You can insert a video in Google Slides using its Insert menu. First, go to the Insert menu and choose the Video option. Next, you can add a video from YouTube or your Google Drive. If you want to insert a video from Google Drive, upload the video to Google Drive and then insert it to your Google Slides.

Can’t play video in Google Slides

If you are unable to play a video in your Google Slides, here are the methods you can use to fix the problem:

1. Initial checklist.
2. Clear cache and cookies from your web browser.
3. Check in an incognito window.
4. Try a different web browser.
5. Disable hardware acceleration.

1] Initial checklist

The first thing you should do if you cannot play a video in Google Slides is ensure your internet connection works fine. Apart from that, if you are using an outdated version of your web browser, it is likely to give such performance issues. So, ensure that your web browser is updated to its latest version.

2] Clear cache and cookies from your web browser

Corrupted and outdated browser cache and cookies might prevent you from playing a video in Google Slides. Hence, if the scenario is applicable, you can clear the cache and cookies from your browser and check if the issue is resolved. Here, we will show you steps to delete browser cache and cookies in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

Google Chrome:

• First, open the Chrome browser and press the Ctrl+Shift+Delete hotkey to open the Clear browsing data option.
• Now, set the Time range to All time from its drop-down options.
• After that, checkmark the Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files checkboxes.
• Once done, hit the Clear data button and all the cache and cookies data will be deleted.
• Lastly, you can open Google Slides and check if you can play video in presentations or not.

Microsoft Edge:

• First,  click on the Settings and more button in Edge and choose the History option.
• In the appeared History panel, click on the Clear browsing data button.
• Now, choose the Time range as All time and tick the checkboxes called Caches images and files and Cookies and other site data.
• Finally, press the Clear now button and then reopen Google Slides to check if the issue is resolved.

Read: Fix Google Drive You are not signed in loop error.

3] Check in an Incognito window

You can also check if the issue persists in an incognito window or not. Some external add-in or extension might interfere with Google Slides and causing the issue. So, you can launch an incognito window and open Google Slides to determine if you can play videos in presentations or not.

In Google Chrome and Edge, you can press CTL+SHIFT+N to open an Incognito or InPrivate window. For Firefox, you need to hit CTL+SHIFT+P to open a private window. Check if the problem is resolved. If yes, you can disable suspicious extensions from your browser to resolve the problem.

Google Chrome:

• First, open the browser and tap on the three-dot menu button from the top right corner of the window.
• Now, go to the Extensions option and select the Manage Extensions option.
• After that, look for problematic extensions and disable the toggle associated with them.
• To permanently uninstall extensions, you can click on the Remove button.

Microsoft Edge:

• First, type edge://extensions/ in the address bar in Edge and press Enter.
• On the opened page, disable or remove a problematic extension.

See: Fix Google Drive You don’t have authorization error.

4] Try a different web browser

If you still can’t play a video in Google Slides, switch to a different web browser. There are a lot of good free web browsers that you can choose from.

5] Disable hardware acceleration

If you have enabled hardware acceleration in your web browser, it might cause this issue. Hardware acceleration is useful in utilizing your GPU capabilities to the fullest. However, it may cause browser instability and other performance issues. So, try disabling hardware acceleration and check if the problem is resolved.

Google Chrome:

• First, open Chrome, click on the three-dot menu button, and select the Settings option.
• Now, go to the System tab.
• Next, switch off the toggle associated with the Use hardware acceleration when available option.
• After that, restart Chrome and open Google Slides to check if the issue is resolved.

Microsoft Edge:

• First, open Edge and click on the Settings and more > Settings option.
• Now, navigate to the System and performance tab in the left-side pane.
• Next, disable the Use hardware acceleration when available option.

Read: Can’t download files from Google Drive.

Can’t insert video in Google Slides

If you can’t insert or add a video in your Google Slides presentations, it might be the case that the video you are trying to upload or add is corrupted. Also, the format of the video file might be unsupported by Google Slides causing this issue. Another cause of this issue could be the Age-based Access Settings configured by your administrator which is preventing you from adding YouTube videos to your slides.

Now, if you are experiencing this issue, you can use the above-mentioned solutions to fix the issue. If the problem continues, follow the below fixes:

1. Make sure the video is not corrupted.
2. Ensure the video is in a supported format.
3. Change your Google Admin Age-based Access Settings.
4. Contact Google Support.

1] Make sure the video is not corrupted

If you are trying to upload a video to Google Drive and then add it to Google Slides, you need to ensure that the video file is not damaged or broken. Try playing the file and see if there is an issue with the file. If so, you can repair the corrupted video file and check if it helps.

2] Ensure the video is in a supported format

The next thing you should do is check the format of the video file you are trying to add to your Google Slides. There are some video file formats supported by Google Slides which are as follows:

• MP4,
• WebM,
• OGG,
• WMV,
• 3GP,
• AVI,
• MPEG,
• FLV,
• MTS and
• MOV.

If your video file is in an unsupported format, it won’t be added to your presentations in Google Slides.

TIP: How to convert Google Slides to PowerPoint and vice-versa?

3] Change your Google Admin Age-based Access Settings

If you are facing this issue on your work account, you need to contact your administrator. The age-based access settings for your G-Suite may prevent you from adding YouTube videos to Google Slides. The user accounts that are designated as under 18 won’t be able to insert YouTube videos. So, you can contact your administrator and request him/her to change the age-based access settings.

The feature is only available for Google Workspace for Education editions. Here’s how to change these settings:

First, log into your Google Admin console and move to the Account settings > Age-based access settings.

Next, for the Choose an appropriate age label option, select Some or all users are under 18 years of age or All users are 18 or older. Finally, press the Save button.

Read: How to import a Canva Presentation into Google Slides?

4] Contact Google Support

If you are having an issue with your regular account, you can contact Google Support and generate a ticket describing your problem. They should be able to fix the issue.

Now read: Google Slides Tips and Tricks and Advanced features.