Introduction

PowerPoint allows you to insert a video onto a slide and play it during your presentation. This is a great way to make your presentation more engaging for your audience. You can even edit the video within PowerPoint and customize its appearance. For example, you can trim the video's length, add a fade in , and much more.

Optional: Download our practice presentation .

To insert a video from a file:

1. From the Insert tab, click the Video drop-down arrow, then select Video on My PC .
   Inserting a video from a file
2. Locate and select the desired video file, then click Insert .
   Selecting a video to insert
3. The video will be added to the slide.
   The inserted video

To insert an online video:

Some websites—like YouTube—allow you to embed videos into your slides. An embedded video will still be hosted on its original website, meaning the video itself won't be added to your file. Embedding can be a convenient way to reduce the file size of your presentation, but you'll also need to be connected to the Internet for the video to play.

Working with videos

To preview a video:

1. Click a video to select it.
2. Click the Play/Pause button below the video. The video will begin playing, and the timeline next to the Play/Pause button will advance.
   The Play/Pause button and the timeline
3. To jump to a different part of the video, click anywhere on the timeline .
   Jumping ahead on the timeline

To resize a video:

• Click and drag the corner sizing handles until the video is the desired size.
  Resizing a video

The corner sizing handles will resize a video while preserving its original aspect ratio . If you use the side sizing handles, the video will become distorted .

To move a video:

• Click and drag to move a video to a new location on a slide.
  Moving a video

To delete a video:

• Select the video you want to delete, then press the Backspace or Delete key on your keyboard.

Editing and formatting videos

The Playback tab has several options you can use to edit your video. For example, you can trim your video to play an excerpt from the original, add a fade in and fade out , and add bookmarks that allow you to jump to specific points in the video.

Most of the features on the Playback tab can only be used with videos that are inserted from a file . They will not work with embedded videos.

To trim a video:

1. Select the video, then click the Playback tab on the Ribbon.

   
   

   Clicking the Playback tab
2. Click the Trim Video command.
   Clicking the Trim Video command
3. A dialog box will appear. Use the green handle to set the start time and the red handle to set the end time .
   Setting the start and end time
4. To preview the video, click the Play button.
   Clicking the Play button to preview the changes
   
5. When you're done trimming the video, click OK .

To add a fade in and fade out:

1. On the Playback tab, locate the Fade In: and Fade Out: fields.
2. Type the desired values, or use the up and down arrows to adjust the fade times.
   Adding a Fade In and Fade Out

To add a bookmark:

1. Click the timeline to locate the desired part of the video.
   Selecting the desired location in the video
2. From the Playback tab, click the Add Bookmark command.
   Clicking the Add Bookmark command
3. The bookmark will appear on the timeline. Click the bookmark to jump to that location.
   The added bookmark

Video options

There are other options you can set to control how your video will play. These are found in the Video Options group on the Playback tab.

• Volume: Changes the audio volume for the video
• Start: Controls whether the video starts automatically or when the mouse is clicked
• Play Full Screen: Lets the video fill the entire screen while playing
• Hide While Not Playing: Hides the video when not playing
• Loop until Stopped: Replays the video until stopped
• Rewind after Playing: Returns the video to the beginning when it is finished playing

Formatting the appearance of a video

Like pictures , PowerPoint allows you to format the appearance of a video by applying a video style , adding a border , changing the shape , and applying effects like 3D rotation.

To create a poster frame:

You can add a poster frame to a video, which is the placeholder image your audience will see before the video starts playing. The poster frame is usually just a frame taken from the video itself.

1. Click the timeline to locate the desired part of the video.
2. From the Format tab, click the Poster Frame command. Select Current Frame from the menu that appears.

   
   

   Adding a poster frame
3. The current frame will become the poster frame.
   The new poster frame

If you want to use a picture from your computer, select Image from file .

To apply a video style:

1. Select the video, then click the Format tab on the Ribbon.
2. In the Video Styles group, click the More drop-down arrow to display available video styles.
   Clicking the More drop-down arrow
3. Select the desired style.
   Selecting a video style
4. The new style will be applied to the video.
   The applied style

For information on corrections , color adjustments , borders , shapes and effects , check out our lesson on Formatting Pictures .

Challenge!

1. Open an existing PowerPoint presentation . If you want, you can use our practice presentation .
2. Insert a video from a file on your computer , if you have one.
3. Preview the video.
4. Trim the video.
5. Add a fade in and fade out .
6. Add a poster frame .
7. Experiment with the different Video Options on the Playback tab.