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How to play video file from Excel worksheet?

Author: Xiaoyang Last Modified: 2024-08-08

Have you ever tried to play a video file from a worksheet? In this article, I will talk about some interesting tricks for you to play a video file which is stored in your computer from an Excel workbook.

Play a video file from worksheet by setting the properties of Windows Media Player

Play a video file from worksheet by clicking a Command Button


Play a video file from worksheet by setting the properties of Windows Media Player

In Excel, there is a useful control - Windows Media Play can help you to play a video file, please do as follows:

1. Click Developer > Insert > More Controls, see screenshot:

a screenshot of opening the More Controls dialog box

2. In the More Controls dialog box, scroll and select Windows Media Player option, then click OK button to close the dialog, and then drag the mouse to draw a Windows Media Play object, see screenshot:

a screenshot of inserting a Windows Media Player in the worksheet

3. Then go to the Properties dialog by clicking Developer > Properties, in the Properties dialog, please do the following operations:

(1.) In the Alphabetic tab, please select True option from the fullScreen field;

(2.) Copy and paste your video file path which should include the file extension into the URL field.

a screenshot of specifying the properties of the player

4. After finishing the above settings, please exit Design mode, and, your specified video is playing now.


Play a video file from worksheet by clicking a Command Button

If you want to play a video file with a command button, when you click the command button, a browse window will pop out to let you choose the video file to play. The following steps may help you:

1. According to the step 1-2 in method 1 to insert the Windows Media Player control, and then go on clicking the Developer > Insert > Command Button to insert a Command Button, see screenshot:

a screenshot of inserting a Command Button control

2. Then right click the Command Button, and choose Properties from the context menu, in the popped out Properties dialog box, type the text Play Video beside the Caption field under Alphabetic tab, see screenshot:

a screenshot showing how to change the Properties of the control

3. And then close the Properties dialog, then double click the Command Button, and then copy and paste the following VBA code to replace the original code into the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

VBA code: Play a video file from worksheet:

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
    Dim FName As Variant
    FName = Application.GetOpenFilename(FileFilter:="Video Files, *.mp4; *.avi; *.mpeg; *.mts", Title:="Please select a Video File", MultiSelect:=False)
    If FName <> False Then
        WindowsMediaPlayer1.Url = FName
    End If
End Sub

a screenshot of using the VBA code

Note: In the above code, CommandButton1 is the command button name you inserted, and the WindowsMediaPlayer1 is the Windows Media Player name you have inserted. And you can add other video file extensions as you need into the *.mp4; *.avi; *.mpeg; *.mts script.

4. Then save and close the code window, and exit the Design mode, now, when you click the Command Button, a browse window will appear to remind you select the video file you want to play, then click Open button, the specific video file will be played at once. See screenshot:

a screenshot of selecting a video you want to play in worksheet


Related article:

How to insert or embed youtobe video in Excel worksheet?


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