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Why doesn’t my video continue playing across multiple slides in my PowerPoint presentation?

Dune 20 Reputation points
2025-07-30T00:08:28.19+00:00

I’ve been using the same PowerPoint file for years, with a video that plays across multiple slides. After the latest Office 365 update, those videos now appear as still images when set to play across slides, and they no longer play in presentation mode. I even tried creating a new file, inserted a video, and selected the option to play it across multiple slides—but it still doesn’t work.

Microsoft 365 and Office | PowerPoint | For home | Windows
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  1. Steve Rindsberg 99,161 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-09-21T17:24:22.43+00:00

    Unfortunately, this is due to a deliberate design decision by Microsoft.

    One of the components that supports the ability to play videos across slides was determined to be a security risk of some sort, so it's been deprecated. That's Microsoftean for "It's dead, Jim."

    There doesn't seem to be any plan for an update to correct this unfortunate data/functionality loss situation.

    I would report it via PowerPoint's built in Send Feedback feature. If enough people do this, MS may reconsider or prioritize some alternate fix for the problem.

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  2. mike schadle 0 Reputation points
    2025-09-02T16:24:53.6+00:00

    This work around is the same directions for how to do this before it stopped working. I have been playing videos across multiple slides for years this way. One day it just stopped working. I have the exact problem from the original poster. Playing through 2 slides or less is not a workable solution as I have usually played video through 20 or more slides. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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  3. Kimberly Olaño 23,550 Reputation points
    2025-07-31T21:46:09.4833333+00:00

    No problem, you're welcome Dune.

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  4. Kimberly Olaño 23,550 Reputation points
    2025-07-31T07:18:13.6833333+00:00

    Hello Dune, users across both Microsoft support forums and community platforms have confirmed:

    When using the Play Across Slides setting with After 2 or more slides, the video does not play at all—it simply appears as a still image.

    But setting it to “After 1 slide” does work reliably. This issue is consistent with recent Office 365/PowerPoint updates. The community reports note that the workaround actually stops working too unless limited to one slide.

    So, until an update is released, limit your Play Across Slides setting with After 1 slide.

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  5. Kimberly Olaño 23,550 Reputation points
    2025-07-30T00:58:28.8966667+00:00

    Hi Dune, this is Kimberly, I'm glad to assist you today.

    It seems to be a known issue, but there hasn't been an official fix. But there are workarounds.

    Workaround: Adjust Video Playback Settings

    Insert the Video:

    Go to the Insert tab and select Video to add your video to the slide.

    Set Video to Start Automatically:

    Click on the Playback tab.

    In the Video Options group, set the video to Start: Automatically.

    Open the Animation Pane:

    Navigate to the Animations tab.

    Click on Animation Pane to open it.

    Modify Video Animation Settings:

    In the Animation Pane, double-click the video animation to open the Play Video dialog box.

    Under the Effect tab, locate the Stop playing section.

    Select After and specify the number of slides you want the video to play across.

    This method has worked for some users experiencing similar issues.

    Should you have more questions, please let me know.

    Best regards,

    Kimberly

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