Google Drive or Slides provides its users the option to embed videos that can be played in the native player. But, there are situations in which the native player is unable to play the videos that are present in Slides or Drive. One such error message encountered by users is “Unable to Play Video Error 5″ which occurs when they try to play videos embedded in Google Slides. This error has also been reported to occur while preparing a presentation in Google Slides. Whenever the user tries to make use of Google Drive videos in their presentation, the above error message is displayed to them.
Generally, this error is seen in Google Chrome when a user tries to play videos embedded in Google Slides that are taken from Google Drive. Some users have noticed that the error disappears when they switch from one browser to another. Usually, this error can be due to the browser’s incompatibility with the videos from Google Drive or the video itself may be causing an issue. Poor internet connectivity, browser cache, a faulty browser extension, or system crashes are some of the other possible causes of this error. Whatever the reason for this error, we need to resolve it so that the embedded videos in Google Slides can be played. If you are confronting this “Unable to Play Video Error 5″, then go ahead and read this article to find some troubleshooting techniques that can help you fix this issue.
Fix 1 – Turn Off Sync In Chrome
Step 1. Open Chrome and click on the three vertical dot menu at the upper right corner of the window.
Step 2. In the menu that opens, click on Settings.
Step 3. On the You and Google page in Settings, click on the Turn off button next to your name and Google Account image.
Step 4. A pop-up appears giving you details on what will happen when you turn off Chrome sync
Here, click on Turn off to complete the process.
Step 5. Restart your Chrome and check if you are able to play videos in Google Slides without error code 5.
Fix 2 – Use the Incognito Mode
Google Chrome
Step 1. Open Google Chrome.
Step 2. To open Google Chrome in Incognito mode, press the Ctrl + Shift + N keys together.
Step 3. Go to your Google Slides and check if you are able to view the embedded video without any error message.
Mozilla Firefox
Step 1. Click on the menu icon at the top-right corner of the browser’s window.
Step 2. In the menu that opens, select New Private Window to open Mozilla Firefox in Incognito mode.
Step 3. Open your Google Slide and check if the problem is fixed.
Fix 3 – Allow Third-Party Cookies
Step 1. Open Chrome and type chrome://settings/privacy in the address bar to go to the Privacy and security tab in the Settings
Step 2. Click on Cookies and other site data under the Privacy and security section.
Step 3. In the General settings, make sure that the option Allow all cookies is selected.
Make sure that the Block third-party cookies option is unselected.
Step 4. Close the Settings window and check if the problem is resolved by opening videos embedded in Google Slides.
Fix 4 – Check your Internet Connection
An issue with the network in your locality or an unstable internet connection can result in the above Unable to Play Video Error 5 in Google Slides. You need to make sure that your internet connection is stable when you are importing videos into Google Slides from Google Drive. Firstly, you need to check if you have a proper internet connection on your PC. Else, try to open the video on your Google Slides using some other network and see if the error 5 is resolved while opening embedded videos in Slides.
Fix 5 – Clear Cache and Cookies from your Browser
Google Chrome
Step 1. Open Google Chrome.
Step 2. Type chrome://settings/clearBrowserData in the address bar and hit Enter.
Step 3. In the Clear Browsing Data pop-up, use the dropdown next to Time range and select All time.
Step 4. Make sure that you check the boxes associated with the following options: Browsing history, Download history, Cached images and files, “Cookies and other site data”.
Step 5. Finally, click on the Clear data button.
Step 6. Relaunch your Chrome browser and check if the embedded video in Google Slides is playing or not.
Mozilla Firefox
Step 1. Launch the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Step 2. In the navigation bar, type about:preferences#privacy and hit Enter.
Step 3. You will be on the Privacy & Security page of the browser’s settings.
Step 4. Scroll down to locate the Cookies and site data section on the right side.
Step 5. Here, click on the Clear Data… button.
Step 6. In the Clear data window, check the boxes next to “Cookies and Site Data” and “Cached Web Content”.
Step 7. Lastly, click on the Clear button.
Step 8. Relaunch the browser and check if the error code 5 is resolved while trying to play videos in Google Slides.
Fix 6 – Check for Browser Updates
Google Chrome
Step 1. Open your Google Chrome browser.
Step 2. Type chrome://settings and hit Enter to open the Chrome Settings.
Step 3. On the Settings page, select the About Chrome tab in the left pane.
Step 4. On clicking, it automatically starts checking for any new updates to the browser.
If there are any new updates to Chrome, they will be installed.
Step 5. Chrome will restart after the update and you can check if the problem with playing videos in Google Slides is resolved.
Mozilla Firefox
Step 1. In the Firefox window, click on the menu icon in the upper right corner.
Step 2. Click on Help in the menu that opens.
Step 3. In the Firefox Help menu, click on About Firefox.
Step 4. As soon as the About Mozilla Firefox window opens, it will start checking for updates.
You will see “Firefox is up to date” if the latest version of Firefox is already installed.
Else, it will download and install the latest version of the browser. You will be asked to restart the browser after updating.
Step 5. Check if the problem is fixed.
Fix 7 – Update Windows OS
Step 1. Press Windows + R to open the Run box.
Step 2. Type ms-settings:windowsupdate and hit Enter to open the Windows Update page.
Step 3. On the Windows Update page, click on the Check for updates button.
Step 4. Windows will start searching for updates to the Windows version installed on your PC.
Step 5. You will be prompted if any update to Windows is available. You can download and install the updates on your computer.
Step 6. Reboot your system.
Open Google Slides and check if you are able to view the embedded video file without any error.
Fix 8 – Change Permission of Video in Drive
Step 1. Open your Google Drive.
Step 2. Go to the location of the video that you are embedding in your Google Slides.
Step 3. Select the video and click on the View Details icon at the top right to see the details.
Step 4. In the Details pane, click on the Manage access link.
Step 5. In the General access section, use the dropdown and select the option Anyone with the link.
Step 6. Click on Done.
Step 7. Reload the video in Google Slides and check if the error is resolved.
Fix 9 – Disable Browser Extensions
Step 1. Launch Chrome browser.
Step 2. In the address bar, type chrome://extensions and hit Enter to go to the Chrome Extensions page.
Step 3. On this page, you can disable those extensions that are not required by turning off the toggle associated with the extension.
Step 4. Check if you are able to play the Google Drive videos embedded in Slides without seeing the error.
Step 5. Once you identify the problematic extension, you can remove it from your browser.
Go to the extensions page and click on the Remove button next to the extension.
Fix 10 – Turn Off Hardware Acceleration in Chrome
Step 1. In your Chrome browser’s address bar, type chrome://settings/system and hit Enter.
Step 2. On this page, turn off the toggle associated with Use hardware acceleration when available.
Step 3. Click on the Relaunch button to restart Chrome.
Step 4. Check if videos embedded in Google Slides are playing without any error.
Fix 11 – Enable JavaScript in Chrome
Step 1. Type chrome://settings/privacy in Chrome’s address bar and hit Enter to go to the Privacy and security page.
Step 2. Click on Site Settings under Privacy and security.
Step 3. In Site Settings, scroll and locate the Content section.
Step 4. Here, click on JavaScript.
Step 5. On the JavaScript page, select the option Sites can use JavaScript under Default behavior.
Step 6. Restart Chrome and check if the error with Google Slides is resolved.
Fix 12 – Repair the Corrupted Video File with Repair Tool
If you are not able to resolve the error code 5 while playing videos embedded in Google Slides, then there are high chances that the embedded video itself is corrupt. In such cases, it is recommended to use professional repair software to fix the damaged video file. Click here to know the best video repair tools that are freely available to users.
Step 1. Download the video from Google Drive onto your computer.
Step 2. Install the video repair tool that you want to use and launch it.
Step 3. Perform the required steps to repair the corrupt video file.
Step 4. Once you have a repaired copy of the video file, embed it in your Google Slides and check if it is playing without any issue.
That’s it!
Thanks for reading.
We hope you have been able to resolve the “Unable to Play Video Error 5″ that is encountered while trying to open Google Drive videos embedded in Google Slides. Did you find this article informative and helpful enough in fixing this issue with Google Slides on your browser? Comment below and let us know your thoughts and the fix that worked in your case.