Store & play video in Google Drive

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You can store and play videos directly from Google Drive.

Learn more about uploading files and folders to Google Drive.

Upload a video file

You can upload files or videos into private or shared folders from your desktop or drive.google.com.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
At the top left, click New File upload.
Choose the video file you want to upload.

Play videos

To find your uploaded videos:

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Click the Search box.
In the box marked "Type," scroll and select Videos.
At the bottom right of the search box, click "All results."

To play your video:

Double-click the file.
To play full-screen, in the bottom, click Fullscreen .

Tip: When you upload your videos, even if they’re still processing, you can watch them as soon as the “Ready to watch” message shows.

Use more playback options on your video

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Open a video.
You can use different playback options.
- To fast forward by 10 seconds: At the bottom left, click Fast forward 10 seconds.
- To rewind by 10 seconds: At the bottom left, click Rewind 10 seconds .
- To select your preferred playback speed:
  - At the bottom right, click Playback speed .
  - At the bottom right, click Settings Playback speed .
- To watch your video with closed captions or automatically generated translations:
  - At the bottom right, click Subtitles/Closed captions .
  - At the bottom right, click Settings Subtitles/CC .

Copy the link of a video

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Open a video.
At the upper right, click the drop down beside "Share."
Click Copy link .
- The video is copied to your clipboard.

Copy a specific time in the video

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Open a video.
Go to a specific time in the video that you want to share.
At the upper right, click the drop down beside "Share."
Click Copy link to this time .
- The video is copied to your clipboard.

Tip: To play videos in Drive, you need to turn on third-party cookies. Learn how to turn cookies on and off.

Limits & errors

Limits for video

You can store videos up to 5 TB if you have purchased at least that much storage. Otherwise you are limited to how much storage you have available.
You can upload video of any resolution, but the minimum size for playback in Drive is 4 KB. The maximum playback resolution is 1920 x 1080.
Internet quality and speed may affect playback quality.

Instant video playback

When you upload videos, you can watch them right away.

This feature is available for videos you upload in the same browser session.
While you enjoy instant playback, the video might still be processing so that it can be viewed on other devices or by people you shared it with.

File types for video

Supported formats

Not all video types may work on all devices.

WebM files (Vp8 video codec; Vorbis Audio codec)
MPEG4, 3GPP, and MOV files (h264 and MPEG4 video codecs; AAC audio codec)
AVI (MJPEG video codec; PCM audio)
MPEGPS (MPEG2 video codec; MP2 audio)
WMV
FLV (Adobe - FLV1 video codec, MP3 audio)
MTS
OGG

Fix issues when you upload a video to Drive

Check your internet connection for stability: A slow or bad connection can cause uploads to fail.
Check the file size: Your video can’t be bigger than your available storage in Drive.
Try incognito mode: Open a new incognito window in your browser and try to upload the video again. This can help bypass issues related to cookies or extensions.
Use a different browser: Switch to another browser or clear the cache and cookies of your current browser. Turn off any browser extensions temporarily, as they can interfere with uploads.
Check for the CORS plugin: If you’re a developer with this plugin installed in Chrome, turn it off and try to upload your files again.
Use the Google Drive app: If you upload from a web browser, try the Google Drive desktop app or mobile app for a better upload performance.
Check the file format: Different video formats are supported by Google Drive, if yours is unusual, you need to convert it.
Check for updates: Verify that your browser or app is up to date. An outdated version can cause compatibility issues.
Log out and back in: To resolve these issues, log out of your Google Account and back in.
Uninstall and reinstall the Drive app: Uninstall the Drive app and reinstall it. Try to upload video files again.

Error messages

When you upload or watch video in Drive, you may get some of these error messages.

"Video is unplayable."

The video may be corrupted or uploaded in a format that won’t work. Try to upload the video again or in a different format.

"Video is still processing. Try again later."

The video is not ready to be played.

If the file is large, it may take awhile before your video is ready. Try again in a while.

"This video is currently unavailable."

The video is not ready to be played. Try again in a few minutes.