Videos cannot be embedded directly in most email clients due to security restrictions. Instead, link to videos hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, or your site from Messages by inserting an image or button with a link pointing to the video URL — a best-practice workaround that works in all email clients.
💡Quick answers
- Why can't videos be embedded directly in Messages emails? Most email clients block embedded video for security reasons; the HTML needed to display video in a browser is stripped out or rendered as a broken element in most inboxes.
- What is the recommended way to include a video in a Messages email? Insert a thumbnail image or play button graphic linked to the video URL (YouTube, Vimeo, or a page on your site); clicking the image takes the recipient to the video.
- Can the YouTube or Vimeo video thumbnail be pulled automatically? Yes; some template editors allow you to paste the video URL and automatically generate a linked preview image; check the template editor's video block options.
- Is there any email client that supports embedded video? A small number of modern clients (like Apple Mail) support HTML5 video, but since most popular clients (Gmail, Outlook) do not, linking to an external video is always the safer approach.
One of the most frequent questions asked about videos used in Messages is how to embed a video into a message. Embedding video is NOT supported in Messages, so we offer a wonderful alternative of being able to link to a video. This article will show you how it works.
In this article
Why can't I embed videos?
- Embedded video works in only a handful of email clients, leaving the majority of recipients unable to view the video.
- Even for those email clients that can play video, each one will only play videos saved in a certain format - and the format that works for one client will not work for others.
- Many spam filters automatically filter emails with embedded objects, because they could be used to deliver viruses or other malware.
Supported video formats
This feature does not work with videos from Resources. Supported formats are public YouTube and Vimeo videos, as well as unlisted YouTube videos.
How to link to a video
The best way to deliver video via email is to link to your video with the Video content block. Follow the instructions below.
- Add a Video content block into your message.
- Click on the Video block to open up the Content tab and configure your Video Properties in the right side panel.
- Paste the URL of the video into the URL field in Video Properties and click Enter on your keyboard so that the editor can search for your URL.
- You'll see your video's thumbnail (that was set in YouTube or Vimeo) automatically pulled in to the message area.
- A Play icon will display on top of the image.
- Change the Title of the video that will appear upon hover.
- Customize the type, color, and size of the Play icon just below.
Now your finalized message will include a way for your recipients to know that a video is available to be watched by clicking on the play button in the video box.
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