Automatically Playing an Embedded YouTube Video in PowerPoint 2019

I have moved all my blogs to my new website:  https://helpfulofficetips.com/2019/04/13/automatically-playing-an-embedded-youtube-video-in-powerpoint-2019/  From now on, all updates will be at the new site, and all links will take you directly to that site.  Please check it out!

PowerPoint 2019 can now embed and automatically play a YouTube video during your slide show!  (Over the last few years Microsoft and Google have changed this process many, many times.  We will see how long this update and cooperation lasts.)

These instructions work as of April 13, 2019.  Tomorrow, you may be on your own.

For PowerPoint 2016 and earlier versions, click here:  https://helpfulofficetips.com/2016/08/02/automatically-playing-an-embedded-youtube-video-in-powerpoint-2016/

YouTube

Using the internet, find your YouTube video.  (Watch the entire video, start to finish, to be sure it is appropriate for your presentation.)  Pause the video (because it’s annoying when it’s running and you’re trying to think).  If you want to practice, here is the URL for a really cute Oreo commercial from India that I show to all my classes:  https://youtu.be/Oe6lBGO6OSk

Click on the word Share below the video.  The Share window will appear.  In the bottom “Share a link” portion, you will see the URL with the word “COPY.”

Click “COPY.”  Copy will place the video’s URL in the computer’s clipboard memory until you need it or copy something else.

PowerPoint 2019

Now return to PowerPoint and the slide where you want to play a YouTube video.  Go to the Insert tab.  On the far right is the word “Video” with a drop-down arrow.  Click Insert tab>Media section>Video>Online Video.



The Online Video window will appear.  Click inside the URL box and right-click>Paste or press Ctrl-V to paste the YouTube video URL.  Click Insert to insert the video-link into your slide.



Your video will appear on the slide.  Drag the corners to fit the slide, usually to the edges.  (To drag the corners, click on the top left corner and hold the mouse button down.  Move or “drag” the mouse to the top edge of the slide.  Do the same for the bottom right corner.)

Notice that when you have selected the video, new special tabs appear in the menu ribbon.  There are two Video Tools tabs:  Format and Playback.  When you inserted the video, PowerPoint selected the Video Tools>Format tab, in case you want to recolor, add a frame or crop the video.   Instead, click the Video Tools>Playback tab.  Remember, these menu tabs only appear if you have selected your video.

 

Play "Automatically" or "In Click Sequence"

The important option in the Video Tools>Playback tab is in the Video Options>Start.  Click the drop-down menu next to Start.


Three options will appear.

1. In Click Sequence:  The slide will pop-up showing a still frame with the YouTube play button in the middle.  To start the video, click the mouse anywhere (or press the space bar or forward on your pointer), and the video will begin.  
2. Automatically:  As soon as you begin this slide, the video will begin.   This is great for a self-running show, but you will not get a chance to introduce the video.
3. When Clicked on:  You will need to move your cursor to the video and click for the video to begin. You do not need to click exactly on the YouTube play button as you did in the past.

For me, I would probably click either In Click Sequence if I want to introduce the video or Automatically if I used a previous slide to set the stage.

Timings and order may be changed via the Animations Pane, but that is another lesson!

Automatically Playing an Embedded YouTube Video in PowerPoint 2016

I have moved all my blogs to my new website:  https://helpfulofficetips.com/2016/08/02/automatically-playing-an-embedded-youtube-video-in-powerpoint-2016/  From now on, all updates will be at the new site, and all links will take you directly to that site.  Please check it out!

If you are using PowerPoint 2019 or MS Office 365 after April 2019, click here for the updated procedure:  https://helpfulofficetips.com/2019/04/13/automatically-playing-an-embedded-youtube-video-in-powerpoint-2019/  

(Updated for PowerPoint 2016 on September 3, 2018 for after YouTube changed its Embed Codes slightly.)

I'm getting ready to teach another PowerPoint class, so I got out my previous class notes.  I teach this class about once a year, and with every new update from Microsoft or Google's YouTube, I know my instructions will be out of date.  Sure enough...

First, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Microsoft has added an “Online Video” option for adding video.  It even has an option to search for a video on YouTube. Great, right?

It’s only great if you want that big red YouTube play icon right in the middle of your PowerPoint show.  You also have to click on the big red YouTube play icon to play your video.  This is not always the easiest thing to do if you are in a presentation hall and using a laser pointer.

My class is beginning PowerPoint, so of course, I will show them how to do it with the big red YouTube play icon, but I was sure I could still use the old instructions.  Right?

Wrong again.  The old version used the “Old Embed Code” which is no longer available from YouTube.  I googled and googled for a workaround and found several, but none that were recognized by PowerPoint.

If finally decided to try my limited HTML skills and combine the old with the new, right?  IT WORKED!

These instructions have been updated and work as of August 2, 2016. Tomorrow, you’re on your own.

1. Using the internet, find your YouTube video
2. Pause the video (because it’s annoying when it’s running and you’re trying to think).
3. Click on the word Share below the video.
4. Click on the word Embed below Share.
5. Scroll down below "Embed Options" and unclick those boxes (at least, that's what I do), especially “Show suggested videos when the video finishes”
6. Scroll back up so you can see the HTML code.
7. Here is the tricky part.  After the video name which is a bunch of gobbledygook like “Oe6lBGO6OSk” you’ll see a question mark (?).  Be sure to uncheck those Embed Options or the question mark may not show up. 
8. Place your cursor to the right of the question mark and type this:
   
   
   ;autoplay=1;
   
   
   (those are semicolons, not colons)  
9. Click the "Copy" button in the Embed Video window, and the HTML code will be copied to your Clipboard.
10. Go back to PowerPoint, click on the Insert tab>Online Video.
11. Instead of using the built-in YouTube search, click on the Video Embed Code box, and paste the embed code by Right-click>Paste (or Ctrl-V).
    
12. Now hit enter, and a black video box should show up on your slide. 
13. Adjust your frame, and as always, preview the current slide in Slide Show tab and to see if it worked.

PowerPoint and YouTube – Errors and Autoplay

June 10, 2015 Update:  YouTube recently removed the "Old Embed Code" function.  For my newest post regarding this issue, click here.

August 31, 2013 Update:  I had written this blog in January 2013, and at the time everything worked.  I was about to redo my presentation, but this time the video wouldn't embed.  PowerPoint gave me an error message that it couldn't embed the video using THIS embed code (which worked fine seven months ago).  Ah... Microsoft.

After lots of Googling (and no Binging) I found this answer on a Microsoft Answers site.  Anyone can find it as long as keep reading and scrolling down and down and down.

Short answer: in the html embed code, make these changes twice.

www.youtube.com becomes http://www.youtube.com

version=3 becomes version=2

And now back to my original blog about AutoPlay:

I am doing a beginning PowerPoint workshop at the University.  I am going to show a group how to embed a YouTube video.  Of course, the video only starts on a mouse click, even though you select Start Automatically in the Playback tab>Video Options>Start drop down.  Now what?  Google, of course.

The first thirty suggestions I found merely suggest using a different product than PowerPoint (no, I’m not going to use your link and download something unknown to my computer) or use a “free” download to hack YouTube (also, not a great idea).

Then, ta da… a site that shows helpful html code for YouTube.  When you embed a video in PowerPoint (another lesson for another day), you have to copy the html code.  I always “Use Old HTML Code,” by the way.  This site “YouTube Embed Code:  Everything You Ever Wanted to Know” shows you the sneaky, and fairly easy codes to add.

For my situation, all you have to do is go to the end of the link in the first line of code and add:

; autoplay=1

to the code.

Long story short, I found an ultra adorable video of a little boy and his dad having fun with Oreos.  I want to embed it.  I click Share/Embed/Use Old Embed Code.  I copy the code.  In PowerPoint, go to the Insert tab>Media section>Video>Video from Web Site window and paste the code into PowerPoint.  Just before the first quote and right-angle-bracket, I’m going to change the original code from this:

<object width="960" height="720"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Oe6lBGO6OSk?version=2&amp;hl=en_US">

to this: 

<object width="960" height="720"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Oe6lBGO6OSk?version=2&amp;hl=en_US;autoplay=1">

Click Insert. It works.  If only I’d known this about ten PowerPoint shows previously.

And if you’re curious, click here to see the cute video.  Does anyone know the language?