Guide: How to Add YouTube Videos in Google Docs
Google Docs is arguably the best cloud-based word processor out there, and it makes document drafting a breeze. But despite its online-oriented nature, Google Docs cannot embed YouTube videos. What a downer! Also a bit surprising considering both services are part of Google’s suite of web apps. Don’t be disappointed. There is a solution you can use to easily add playable videos directly to your documents. And even better, the videos should also be playable by people you share them with online, provided they have the appropriate permissions. So if you’re willing to overlook some minor inconveniences, here’s how to insert YouTube videos into Google Docs.
How it works
Since Google Docs has no built-in functionality to insert videos, our solution is to use Google Slides which supports embedding of YouTube videos. Quite useful for creating great presentations with rich media elements. So any video you insert into a Slides presentation can be copied and pasted onto a drawing in Google Docs. Videos added in that way can be played immediately by double clicking on them. Sounds pretty cool, right? Follow these steps to make the whole procedure easier to follow. Step 1: Start Google Slides and then create a new blank presentation. Cool Tip Type ‘slides.new’ in the address bar on a new tab and hit Enter to load immediately up an empty presentation. Step 2: Bring up the Insert menu, then click Video.
Step 3: In the pop-up box, search for the video or enter the URL of the YouTube video. In the latter case, switch to the By URL tab.
Step 4: Click Select to add the video to the Google Slides presentation.
Step 5: The video should show up on a slide. Right-click the video frame, then click Copy.
Step 6: Go to Google Docs and then load the document where you want to embed the YouTube video. Place the cursor where you want the video to appear. Then open the Insert menu, point to Drawing, and click New.
Step 7: In the drawing window that appears up, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V to paste the video onto the drawing. Click Save and Close to insert the video.
Step 8: The video should show up within the document. Use the handles around the video to resize the frame.
Step 9: Make sure to use the In Line, Wrap Text and Text break options below the video to move the frame as needed in the document.
Step 10: You may have noticed that the video does not have a play icon. So how can you play it? Well, you have to open the drawing window where you originally added the video. To do this, double-click the image and then click the play icon to play the video!
You should see a full set of YouTube controls to manage the video too! When you are done, click Save and Close to exit the video. Yes, it is a bit of a pain to both embed and play videos this way, but we’re stuck until Google implements the necessary tweaks.
When it comes to sharing your documents containing videos, you need to give others editing rights to play them. While it would have been perfect if it worked for everyone regardless of what permissions they have, that’s one limitation you have to go through if you plan on using this functionality.
Improving the user experience
The YouTube videos you inserted will be displayed as images. So other people may not really know it’s a video. One has to double click on the video to play it. You can of course leave instructions somewhere in the document. Better yet, use the text insertion tools in the drawing window to create a message on the video frame itself.
If you are wondering, all text overlaid on the video will disappear during playback. Make sure that the text box does not overlap the play icon in the video frame. Furthermore, you can also stretch the video frame all the way into the panel, so viewers don’t feel like they’re looking at it in the drawing window.
That doesn’t affect the dimensions of the video in the actual document, so don’t worry about that.
Things to Remember
There are quite a few things to keep in mind when embedding YouTube videos. Consider checking the list below for specific information on the solution mentioned above. Point 1: Only YouTube videos are supported. While Google Slides allows you to insert videos hosted in Google Drive into presentations, they won’t work in Google Docs using the above solution. If you have your own videos that you want to embed, consider uploading them to YouTube first. Point 2: Certain YouTube videos may not work. Usually these videos cannot be played anywhere else except YouTube, and you can’t do anything about that unless you publish them on your channel. Point 3: People with permissions to view or comment only on the document cannot play the videos. Again, you need to enable edit permissions for the public link you share or for the individual contacts you add to your document. In the first case, consider a backupup of the document as a security measure against vandalism.
Point 4: You cannot perform this workaround on mobilesNor can you – or others with editing privileges – play videos inserted this way when using the Google Docs app on iOS and Android. Point 5: After adding the video-loaded drawing in Google Docs, you can safely delete the Google Slides presentation to which you originally added the video.
Embed them videos
So, what do you think of this workaround? Granted, it’s not the most convenient way to insert videos, but it should come in handy more often than not, especially since your contributors can also watch them without a hitch. I hope Google adds special video features to Docs. After all, if Presentations can have it, why can’t Documents? Until then, use this method to embed YouTube videos when needed. The next up: Do you find it difficult to switch completely from Microsoft Word to Google Docs? Click on the link below for several reasons why you should ditch it for good.
How to Add YouTube Videos in Google Docs: benefits
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