If you've ever wanted to share a video with your friends, colleagues, or clients directly via email, you’ve come to the right place. Gmail is a popular email service offering various features to enhance your communication experience.
Embedding YouTube videos is one of those excellent features. By embedding a video, you can provide your recipients with a seamless viewing experience without the need to navigate away from their email.
In this post, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of embedding a YouTube video in your Gmail messages. So let’s get started!
How to attach a YouTube video to an email
Here are the steps to attaching a YouTube video to an email in Gmail:
Step 1: Find the YouTube video
Navigate to your YouTube account and find the video you want to embed in the email. At the bottom of the video, find and click the “Share” button.
Step 2: Copy link
Click the “Copy” button next to the video link.
With the “Start at” setting, you can input the exact timestamp at which you want the video to start when your recipient plays it. This prevents needless waste of time when someone is looking for the relevant part of the video you sent them.
Step 4: Compose a new email
Click the “Compose” button to start a new message. This will open the new message window.
Step 5: Insert link
Now, paste (Ctrl + V) the link in the new message window.
With that, you’re done! Fill out the recipient’s email address, subject, and body text, and click “Send.”
Important things to know about inserting YouTube videos in Gmail
Now that you know how to embed a YouTube video in Gmail, here are a few other helpful things to know:
Video block appears at bottom after sending
Something to note is that when you paste the link into the message window, only the link is visible to you (the sender). However, when your recipient receives the mail, they also see a thumbnail of the video under the link.
Another thing to note is that if you insert body text in your message under the link, the video's thumbnail will still appear at the bottom, under the body text.
There are many other ways to send videos on Gmail
Apart from the method detailed above, there are other ways of sending YouTube videos in Gmail. One option is thumbnail link embedding. Take a screenshot or save the YouTube video's thumbnail image, then click on the "Insert Photo" icon in Gmail.
Upload the thumbnail image and select it, then click the "Insert Link" icon. Paste the YouTube video URL, allowing recipients to click on the thumbnail image to access the video. Learn, in detail, how to hyperlink in Gmail.
The third method for those comfortable with HTML involves using the YouTube video's embed code. Click on the "Insert HTML" icon in Gmail, paste the embed code, and Gmail will render the code to display the embedded video.
Two additional methods include using Chrome extensions and Google Drive.
Many Chrome extensions allow you to easily send videos in Gmail by generating the code for embedding.
Alternatively, you can download the YouTube video and save it to your Google Drive. Then, obtain the video's link from Google Drive and insert it as a hyperlink in Gmail.
Check out the YAMM blog for more Gmail tips
So, now you know how easy it is to embed a YouTube video in Gmail. You can send videos in Gmail to make your emails more engaging in multiple ways.
To embed a YouTube video in Gmail, copy the video URL and paste it into the compose window, use a Chrome extension for easy embedding, or upload the video to Google Drive and insert the link.
If you're interested in exploring the full range of features that Gmail offers and how they can help you send better emails, we recommend checking out the YAMM blog. The YAMM blog provides valuable insights, tips, and tutorials on leveraging Gmail's features to make your emails more engaging and fun!