How to Play a Video in Zoom

Modified on Fri, May 10 at 10:57 AM

PLEASE READ FIRST: This information is only for Zoom users at the University of Pennsylvania. If you are not affiliated with UPenn and need help with Zoom, please contact Zoom Support.

Please follow these steps to play a pre-recorded video during a live Zoom meeting:

1. Make sure you are using the current version of the Zoom app before attempting to play a video. More information: Upgrade/Update Zoom

2. Open the video you want to play. If the video is on a website (e.g., YouTube), go to the site in your browser. If the video is saved to your device (e.g., an MP4 file saved on your computer), open the video.

3. Log into your Zoom account. More information: Zoom for SAS Faculty, Staff, & Students

4. When you are ready to play the video, click the Share Screen button on your Zoom control panel.

The "Share Screen" button appears in the Zoom control panel between "Polls" and "Chat."

5. Select the video from the menu of options in the "Select a window or an application that you want to share" box.

An example of how to share a locally saved video in Zoom

6. Enable the "Share computer sound" and "Optimize Screen Sharing for Video Clip" setting. Then, click Share.

7. Play the video.

8. When the video ends, click the Stop Share button.

The "Stop Share" button in Zoom appears in the control panel for your Zoom room.

Additional Support:

If you find that the sound is not working when you share a video, please make sure that you have checked the boxes to enable sharing of computer sound in step 6 listed above.
If a black screen is shown instead of the video, this may be due to copyright protections or due to the media player you are using. We recommend trying a different media player of your choosing, such as VLC player.