Video in Email: How to Embed Video in an Email

You can put a video in an email, but in most inboxes it will not play there. Gmail and Outlook remove or block video, so the method that works everywhere is a cover image with a play button that links to the video on YouTube, Vimeo or your own page. That is how video in email works for almost every sender.

This article covers which email apps play video, three ways to embed video in email, the steps for a YouTube link, and when a GIF (a short, silent, looping image) is the better choice.

The example is a small cookery school in Bath. Its monthly newsletter goes to past students and to enquirers who ticked the newsletter box, and this month it has a 90-second video on YouTube previewing a new bread-making course. The aim: get readers to watch the preview and book a place.

Can you embed a video in an email?

Yes and no. Yes, in that your reader sees what looks like a video, clicks play and watches it. No, in that the film does not run inside the message; it opens on a web page.

Email apps strip scripts out of messages for security, and most remove or block the video element of HTML, the language web pages are written in.

So to embed video in email means, in practice, three things placed together: a cover image, a play icon on top of it and a link behind it. The reader's click does the rest.

The cookery school learned this the usual way. First it attached the video file, which was too large to send. Then it pasted YouTube's embed code, the snippet YouTube offers for websites, and the email arrived with a gap where the video should have been.

Which email apps play video in email

Support for video in email is the exception. The table draws on Can I email, an independent project that tests what each email app does with a given piece of code. Its tests of the video element mostly date from 2019 to 2024.

Email app	Plays video inside the email?
Apple Mail on Mac	Yes
Apple Mail on iPhone and iPad	Partly: only with player controls, and no autoplay
Gmail (web, Android, iPhone)	No: the video element is removed
Outlook.com and Outlook on iPhone and Android	No: playback is blocked
Outlook on Windows	No
Outlook on Mac	Barely: playable only by right-clicking and choosing Play
Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail	No
Samsung Email	Partly: only with player controls

Can I email counts full support in 19.51% of the email clients it tests and partial support in a further 4.88%. In the two "partly" rows the video plays only if the code includes player controls.

A method that plays for some readers and shows nothing to the rest is a poor trade, so plan a video email around the cover image.

How to embed video in an email: three methods that work

If you are asking how to add video to email without it breaking, there are three methods, and they are best used together.

Method	What the reader sees	Works in	Use it when
Cover image with a play button, linked to the video	A still frame that looks like a player; one click opens the video	Every email app	Almost always. This is the default
Animated GIF preview, linked to the video	A few seconds of silent movement	Most apps; Outlook on Windows may show only the first frame	Movement is the point: a product turning, a dish coming out of the oven
A text link or button, such as "Watch the 90-second preview"	Words only	Everywhere, including with images off	As a backup under the cover, always

Start with the cover image, which carries the click, and put the text link under it for readers whose images are switched off. Reach for a GIF only when a few seconds of movement say more than a still frame can. The cookery school uses the cover and the link.

A fourth route to video in email exists: coding the video into the message with a fallback image for apps that cannot play it. It plays mainly for Apple Mail readers and needs a developer, so it is not covered here.

How to embed a YouTube video in an email

These steps embed a YouTube video in an email with the video block in the MailGraf email editor. They are the same for Vimeo and Loom. Labels in bold are the ones on screen.

1. Add a video block

In the editor's Content panel, drag Video from the More group onto the email.

2. Paste the link

Copy the video's address from YouTube and paste it into Video link. For YouTube, Vimeo and Loom links the cover image and the title are fetched for you. A link from another platform works too; you upload the cover yourself.

3. Choose the cover

Under Cover, leave Video cover selected to use the video's own thumbnail, or choose My own image and click Upload. A face or the finished dish makes a better cover than a title card, so the cookery school uses a photograph of a loaf just out of the oven.

4. Check the alt text

Alt text is the description shown when an email app does not display images, and what a screen reader says aloud. It is filled in from the video's title. Rewrite it if the title is vague: "Video: a preview of our bread-making course" is more use than "Final v3".

5. Set the play icon

On the Style tab, under Play icon, choose the Shape, Colour and Size. The icon is added onto the cover when the email is sent, so the two go out as a single image and look the same in every email app. This is the job usually done by hand: finding a play button image and pasting it onto a screenshot in a design tool.

6. Add a line of text under the cover

Add a button or a link that says what the video is and how long it lasts.

7. Send a test

Send yourself a test and click the cover on a phone and on a computer. Check that the video opens where you expect.

The help article Add a video block shows each setting.

Embed video in email for Outlook and Gmail: what readers see

Most "not working" complaints about video in email come from these two apps.

Gmail removes the video element, so a pasted embed code leaves nothing behind. The same goes for Yahoo Mail. A linked cover is an ordinary image, and Gmail displays it like any other.

Outlook causes more confusion, because Microsoft does have a feature that turns a video link into a player inside Outlook. If you searched for how to embed a video in Outlook email, that is probably what you found.

A linked cover, by contrast, is an image, and Outlook shows it as one. Outlook on desktop does not show rounded corners, so the cover appears square there; the link still works.

Attachments are the other dead end. Do not attach the video file: it makes the email heavy, and a personal Gmail account, for one, caps attachments at 25 MB (megabytes). The FAQ below has the detail.

GIF in email: a moving preview instead of a still cover

A GIF is a short, silent image that plays in a loop. A GIF in email shows a few seconds of the video where a still cover would be, and like the cover it links to the full film. An animated GIF email earns its extra weight when the first three seconds are the message: dough being folded, steam rising from a loaf.

How to add a GIF to an email: cut a clip of two to four seconds, export it as a GIF at the width of your email, keep the file small, then upload it like any image and link it to the video.

In MailGraf the media library accepts GIF files of up to 10 MB each, though you should aim far lower, and an Image block places the file in the email. Send yourself a test and confirm that it moves.

Weight is the catch. A GIF is heavier than a photograph, and a heavy email loads slowly on mobile data. Shorter clips, fewer colours and smaller dimensions all bring the weight down. A few hundred kilobytes is a sensible ceiling as a rule of thumb; our design guide lists image sizes and file weights for still images.

Then there is Outlook. A GIF in Outlook email on Windows may show only its first frame, so that frame has to make sense alone, ideally with a play icon and a few words in the picture. Can I email lists the apps that do animate, including Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail and Outlook.com.

Video in a newsletter: where it fits and where the click should land

Video in a newsletter works best as one item with one job. Use one video per email, near the top if it is the point of the email and lower down if it supports a story. Tell the reader in a line of text why it is worth their ninety seconds.

For the cookery school a video newsletter could carry a course preview one month and a recipe the next. New sign-ups could get a short welcome video in a welcome email series. And because bakers and companies booking away-days want different things, the school could show a different video for each interest in one email campaign. That is video email marketing at a small scale.

Where the click lands matters as much as the cover. The video's own page on YouTube or Vimeo is the easy option. A page on your own site keeps the reader next to the booking button, so if the goal is a booking, link the cover to a landing page that holds the video and the button together.

Add captions to the video itself. The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative describes captions as a text version of the speech and non-speech audio needed to understand the content, for viewers who are Deaf or cannot hear the audio. They also serve anyone watching with the sound off, on a train or in an open-plan office.

How to measure a video email

A video email produces two sets of numbers in two places, and neither is complete alone. The email tells you who clicked. The video platform tells you how many watched, and for how long.

In MailGraf the cover is a link, and the report for an email campaign counts clicks on links: the Clicks card gives the total and the Click map shows each link over the design. Opens say little, because privacy features in mail apps can register an open that no reader made. The help article on how to read an email campaign report explains each figure.

To learn whether the cover earns its space, try it against a plain button in an A/B test and compare clicks. Our guide to email marketing KPIs (key performance indicators) covers the numbers to watch over time.

Which of your videos answers a question customers keep asking? That is the one to send first.

Frequently asked questions

Can you embed a video in an email?

Not so that it plays in most inboxes. Gmail removes the video element and Outlook.com blocks playback, so the working method is a cover image with a play button that links to the video. To the reader it looks like a video and plays one click later.

How do I embed a YouTube video in an email?

Copy the video's link, place a cover image with a play icon in the email and link that image to the video. In an editor with a video block, such as MailGraf's, you paste the link and the cover is fetched for you.

Why does my video not play in Outlook or Gmail?

Gmail removes the video element from emails, and Outlook.com and the Outlook mobile apps block playback. Outlook's own embedded player is for enterprise users sharing videos stored in OneDrive for work or school or in SharePoint, and recipients outside the organisation see a link. For a newsletter, use a linked cover image.

Do GIFs work in Outlook emails?

Partly. Outlook on Windows may show only the first frame of an animated GIF, while Outlook.com animates it. Design the first frame so that it makes sense as a still image.

How do I send a video that is too large to attach?

Do not attach it. Gmail's attachment limit for personal accounts is 25 MB, and a larger file is replaced with a Google Drive link. Upload the video to a video platform or a shared drive and send the link.

Does a video autoplay in an email?

Not in practice. Most email apps do not play video at all. Apple Mail on Mac can, and on iPhone and iPad Can I email's tests show that autoplay does not work and the reader has to press play.