Add Movies in Excel

You might never use Excel as your movie theater, but it’s a handy feature to know that you can add movies in Excel. Excel handles so much more than data, and adding video is a great example.

In this article, you’ll learn to add movies in Excel. No matter how you use the feature, you’ll see that this simplifies packaging a video with an Excel workbook.

Add Movies in Excel

It always helps to consider not just how to use a feature, but how to use it to your advantage. Here are a few purposes to add movies in Excel:

• Help guides – let’s say that you created a workbook and now you’re handing it off to someone else. Include a screencast of how to use specific parts of the spreadsheet.
• Quizzes and prompts – if you use your spreadsheet for teaching purposes, record a short video clip to give directions on a question to answer.
• Reminders to yourself – if you don’t use a spreadsheet often, record a short reminder in video format so that you can remember how the file functions.

To add a video, make sure you have a clip saved. Then, open Excel and find a spot in the workbook to add your clip. Go to the Insert > Text > Object.

 

 

Now, switch to the Create from File tab and browse to a video clip. Tick the Display as icon box, then press OK.

Now, you’ll see an icon that embeds the video in your spreadsheet. Ask your user to double-click on the icon, and they can open the video file. It’s now included in the Excel spreadsheet.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to embed the video with a player in the spreadsheet.. That means that you can’t add it as a standalone video that will play inside the spreadsheet. You’ll need to add the video file, then ask your user to double-click on it to open it.

Even though it’s imperfect, adding movies in Excel helps to keep your files bundled together.  Remember this feature as a way to teach, spark thinking, or prompt questions.