How to Add a Video to Powerpoint on a Mac

Co-authored by Mitch Harris

Last Updated: August 3, 2021 Tested

Video clips saved to a computer hard drive or streamed over the Internet can easily be imported into a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow presentation on a Mac, using the different video embedding options available to OSX users. This wikiHow shows you how to use the Mac version of PowerPoint to add videos to your presentations.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Importing a Video from a File into PowerPoint

1
Open PowerPoint. You can usually access from File Finder or from the desktop screen, where it appears with an orange icon and a "P" in it.^{[1]
X
Expert Source

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Expert Interview. 16 July 2021.}
2
Select the slide where you want the video to appear. Once you have your presentation ready, select the location for your video.^{[2]
X
Expert Source

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Expert Interview. 16 July 2021.}

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3
Click Insert. This will open a menu with more options.
4
Click on Movie in the menu. This will let you select a video to embed in your PowerPoint slide.
5
Select Movie from File. A new window will pop up where you can navigate to the folder with your video file and insert it into PowerPoint.
6
Locate the video on your hard drive and click Insert. This will complete the process of embedding your video into the designated slide.^{[3]
X
Expert Source

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Expert Interview. 16 July 2021.}

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Importing a Video from the Movies Folder, iMovie or iTunes

1
Open PowerPoint. You can usually access from File Finder or from the desktop screen, where it appears with an orange icon and a "P" in it.
2
Select the slide where you want the video to appear. Once you have your presentation ready, select the location for your video.^{[4]
X
Expert Source

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Expert Interview. 16 July 2021.}
3
Click Insert. This appears in the menu ribbon at the top of the screen in PowerPoint and opens a new menu for selecting an element to insert into your slide.
4
Select Movie in the Insert menu. This is listed near the bottom and has an arrow next to it, which will display more options when you hover your cursor over this setting.^{[5]
X
Expert Source

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Expert Interview. 16 July 2021.}
5
Select the Movie Browser option. This will pull up a new window listing different video services on your Mac for sourcing files.
6
Select the video service you want to search. In the window that pops up, you can select the Movies folder, iMovie, or iTunes as the location for your video.
7
Locate the video from the specified location. You'll see it listed with a preview icon in the folder where it's saved.
8
Click Insert. This will embed the video from its location in your video program of choice to the PowerPoint you selected.^{[6]
X
Expert Source

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Expert Interview. 16 July 2021.}

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Embedding a Hyperlink to a Video Stream on the Web

1
Copy the URL of the video you want to insert. Since Mac's version of PowerPoint doesn't let you embed code for any video in your slides, you'll have to copy the URL and go into PowerPoint's Video options to configure the URL.
2
Open PowerPoint. If you don't already have it opened, open it now to set up your video slide.
3
Choose the slide for your video. Once you have the video URL copied, go into your slideshow and select the slide where you want to insert the video.
4
Click Insert. This will pull up options for adding additional elements to your slide.
5
Click on Hyperlink. This appears at the bottom of the Insert menu when you click it and opens a dialog window where you can format your hyperlink.
6
Paste the URL into the top box. Once you've done so, enter the text you want displayed for the hyperlink in the Displaybox at the bottom of the Hyperlink menu.
7
Click OK. This will embed the hyperlink to the video you want to include in your presentation in the format you've set, and it'll appear in the slide you've selected once you're done.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Editing the Playback Settings of a Video File in Mac

1
Start the video file automatically. Confirm that the video icon in the slide is selected and click the Format Movie tab on the menu bar. The Start pop-up menu will appear. Click the Automatically option from the from the movie options on the Start menu. The video will play automatically at the beginning of the slide.
2
Start the video file when clicked. With the video icon in the slide selected, click the Format Movie tab on the menu bar. The Start pop-up menu will appear. Click the On Click option from the from the movie options on the Start menu. The video will play when the video icon on the slide is clicked.
3
Play the video in full screen. With the video icon in the slide selected, click the Format Movie tab on the menu bar. The Start pop-up menu will appear. Click Playback Options on the Start pop-up menu and select Play Full Screen from the pull-down menu. The video will play in full-screen mode.
4
Loop the video file so that it repeats throughout the presentation. With the video icon in the slide selected, click the Format Movie tab on the menu bar to bring up the Start pop-up menu. Click Playback Options and select Loop Until Stopped from the pull-down menu. The video will continue to play during the presentation until manually stopped by clicking the shortcut or pressing the pause button during playback. The video has been looped.
5
Hide the video while not playing. Confirm that the video icon in the slide is selected and click the Format Movie tab on the menu bar to bring up the Start menu. Click Playback Options and select the Hide While Not Playing option from the pull-down menu. The video will not be visible during the presentation until playback has begun.

Expert Q&A

Question

Can you add a video of yourself to PowerPoint?

Mitch Harris
Consumer Technology Expert
Mitch Harris is a Consumer Technology Expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mitch runs his own IT Consulting company called Mitch the Geek, helping individuals and businesses with home office technology, data security, remote support, and cybersecurity compliance. Mitch earned a BS in Psychology, English, and Physics and graduated Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University.

Mitch Harris

Consumer Technology Expert

Expert Answer

Definitely! Add it to your desired slide by using the "Insert" menu, or click and drag the video directly into your presentation.
Question

What can I do if I cannot right click?

Community Answer

Hold down the control button while you click and it should come up like a normal right click.
Question

I embedded a video (mp4 file) and selected "Play in full screen." After I save the file, it no longer plays in full screen, just actual size. What should I do?

Community Answer

Try using "Shift+Command+F." This is a command that pushes apps into full screen.