PowerPoint Cannot Play Media? 7 Seriously Useful Tips

If you find your PowerPoint cannot play your media file, just get the 7 tips.

Photo by Nghia Nguyen on Unsplash

I have .wmv video files which are listed as being compatible with PowerPoint 2016 but when I embedded video in PowerPoint and played the video, it did not work but the audio played as expected. Please tell me why my video doesn’t play in PowerPoint?

Sometimes while using office product i.e. PowerPoint on the device, it makes you confront some errors. And out of them one is PowerPoint cannot play media mp4. This error may cause the media content i.e. videos or audios that are embedded in power presentation to not work properly or not play at all.

For the appropriate working of the media files, it is necessary to choose the correct media format that is suitable for the office version in use. PowerPoint 2016 cannot play media is a common error while using PowerPoint slides and it may also occur due to some faulty functioning of PowerPoint itself.

Here in this article, you will get to know about the potential reasons causing the error i.e. PowerPoint 2016 cannot play media as well as suggest appropriate solutions to fix the error at first hand.

Why can’t I play video/audio media in PowerPoint?

As an answer to this question, it is always suggested that if your device’s screen pops up with an error message i.e. PowerPoint cannot play media, then you need to follow is a checklist mentioned below:

1. Try it on one other computer. Sometimes, due to any background application or software, the operating system is unable to play the media files. Try to play them on another device to check if they work at all.
2. If the media file is working appropriately on other devices, then issue exist in your device. Reboot the device.
3. Always check the system volume and adjust it to the audible level and then play the media files in PowerPoint.
4. The media files i.e. audio/video will not play unless the slideshow option of PowerPoint is on.
5. Always check the slide volume, sometimes it is muted that may confront you with PowerPoint cannot play media mp4.
6. Sometimes up-gradation issues of Windows media player cause the error i.e. PowerPoint cannot play media mp4. Update, repair, or replace as per the requirements.

Once you get to know about the reason causing an error on your device, the next step is to opt for a suitable solution. Here is the list of potential solutions for fixing the error i.e. PowerPoint cannot play media mp4.

Solution 1 — Set the Media Compatibility

Media compatibility with PowerPoint is key to all essentials. Your embedded media will not play in PowerPoint unless it is not in a format supported by the office. So if you are getting error of PowerPoint cannot play media mp4, then set the media compatibility with the following steps.

Step 1: Launch PowerPointand presentation. In the File menu, select the option of Info.

Step 2: In case if the media embedded in slide is incompatible, the Optimize Media Compatibility dialogue box will appear on the screen.

Step 3: By clicking the option, the media file will be processed by scanning. If the problem is at its initials, the compatibility optimizing wizard will fix it, but in case, the problem is not solved, the actual reason will appear in the dialogue wizard.

Solution 2 — Check the codecs

If optimizing media compatibility in PowerPoint is not the solution for your problem, then the next efficient solution is to check the codecs for fixing PowerPoint cannot play media mp4.

Step 1: Install the multimedia codecs on your device. Installing them will allow the smooth functioning of media files on the device.

Step 2: in case of already installed codecs, update them. If still not working appropriately, give them a reinstallation.

Solution 3 — Make sure the audio/video format is supported

One of the important factors that may impose the error i.e. PowerPoint cannot play media mp4 is media compatibility with device pr PowerPoint. Using the supported media versions and formats helps to rule out the error.

For the audio media files, PowerPoint 2010 supports WAV files. It means if using an MP3 file format, you will get the error message i.e. PowerPointcannot play media. In addition to WAV, PowerPoint 2016 supports M4a encoded with AAC audio.

For the video formats, the .wmv for PowerPoint 2010 and .wmv along with MP4 second with H.264 video are supported.

Solution 4 — Convert your audio or video file

In case if the media file format is not supported by the PowerPoint, one can always use the option of converting the media format by using any third party or online software.

Solution 5 — Set the link value

Setting the link value can solve the issue of PowerPoint cannot play media. PowerPoint usually serve for small or limited link values, so it is practical to set an appropriate link value. By increasing the link value in PowerPoint will allow you to embed larger files to the slides. Here are the steps to increase the link value.

Step 1: Open PowerPoint and in the option of Tools select Options.

Step 2: Select the option of General, here you are going to see the option for setting link value i.e. Links Sounds With File Size Greater Than to 500000 KB (mentioned just as an example)

Step 3: Select the desired range you want to set for the files and click Ok to save the changes made.

Solution 6 — Clear the TEMP folder

A reason behind PowerPoint cannot play media is also the temporary folders that may affect the overall performance of PowerPoint. In case you know, you are using the compatible media format, the codec is installed, the link value is doing well and everything else is in place then try deleting some temporary folders to see if it make difference. Here are the steps.

Step 1: Start with pressing Window+R

Step 2: A dialogue box for the window will appear, type the path i.e. %temp%

Step 3: Select all the files with the TMP path extension and delete them.

Step 4: Once the temp files are deleted, restart the computer

Originally published at https://recoverit.wondershare.com.