Upload and embed videos on your pages to engage with your visitors.

Use video on your site to express your brand, tell better stories, and keep your visitors engaged. On Squarespace, you can:

• Upload videos - Host your videos on your site. This option is available for video blocks on all sites and videos pages and section backgrounds on version 7.1 sites. Every Squarespace site can have up to 30 minutes of uploaded video. For more storage, subscribe to a Digital Products plan.
• Embed videos - Embed videos from YouTube and Vimeo. These services are highly respected for their streaming quality, upload ease, and video playback control.

Use this guide to learn where you can add videos, and find links to specific steps for adding videos to your site.

Tip: With the Marketing Kit in the iOS Squarespace app, you can create professional quality videos that match the design and branding of your site. You can then embed or upload the videos to your site.

Watch a video

Where you can add videos

Where you can add videos depends on your site's version.

Option 1 - Upload videos

Upload videos to Squarespace hosting directly from your device. Use this option for videos you own or bought from a third party.

Currently, you can upload video files to:

• Video blocks
• Course pages (versiom 7.1)
• Videos pages (version 7.1)
• Section backgrounds (version 7.1)

To add videos in other areas, embed your video instead. To learn more about using videos on your site, visit Squarespace's Terms of Service.

You can upload videos totaling up to 30 minutes to any site. If the total runtime of your videos reaches the limit, subscribe to a Digital Products plan for more storage, or delete videos to free up storage space. Alternatively, you can explore our Enterprise plan, which offers unlimited video storage. 

When uploading a video file, ensure it meets these requirements.

Video attribute	Specification
File type	Only .mp4, .m4v, .mov
File size	Course pages: 5000 MB limit Videos pages: 5000 MB limit Section backgrounds and video blocks: 500 MB limit
Length	Course pages: three hour limit (storage allowing) Videos pages: three hour limit (storage allowing) Video blocks: 30 minute limit Section backgrounds: 60 second limit
Minimum resolution	360p
Maximum display resolution	1080p
Maximum upload resolution	4K
Aspect ratio	Videos of any aspect ratio will display, but we recommend uploading at 16:9 as that will look best in any video player on Squarespace.
Video bitrate	360p: 1.5 MBps 1080p: 3 MBps
Audio bitrate	128k
Audio codecs	AAC-HE v1, .mp3
Video codecs	.mpeg-4, AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265, ProRes

Note: When you upload a video file to Squarespace directly, we automatically convert it to an .mp4 file that can display at 1080p or 360p to maximize compatibility with all devices, browsers, and internet connections. There's no way to manually select which resolution displays. These converted files have an audio bitrate of 128k and a video bitrate of 1.5 MBps (360p) or 3 MBps (1080p).

Examine video files

To determine if your video meets our requirements listed above, you'll need to examine the video file's metadata. If the video doesn’t meet all the listed requirements, we recommend updating it. In particular, ensure the video uses supported audio and video codecs. 

To examine a video's information on a Mac:

1. Open the video file on your computer.
2. Press Command + I.
3. In the window that opens, click More Info.

To examine a video's information on a Windows device:

1. Right-click the video file and click Properties.
2. Click the Details tab in the Properties window to view metadata. If this doesn’t show information about codecs, visit Microsoft’s documentation.

Option 2 - Embed videos

Embed videos by uploading your videos to a third-party video host, then using the video URL or embed code to add the video to your site. Visit YouTube or Vimeo's help documentation for video file requirements when uploading video to their services.

Whether to use a video URL or a video embed code depends on the video host and the type of video. In general, you can embed YouTube and Vimeo videos with the video's URL. For advanced playback options or videos from other services like Animoto or Wistia, you'll use embed code.

To learn more, visit Embedding videos from third-party services on your site.

Reuse uploaded videos

You can reuse any uploaded video in any other part of your site where you can upload video. Use the Asset library to view and manage all uploaded videos. To learn more, visit Managing and reusing images and videos.

Create video libraries

You can create libraries of video content on your site with videos pages. In a videos page, you can upload videos directly or embed videos hosted on YouTube or Vimeo. To learn more, visit Videos pages.

Add background videos

Add background videos to create an engaging visual element for your site’s design. These videos:

• Display as background, behind page content
• Don’t have sound
• Repeat on a continuous loop

To learn more, visit Adding background videos.

Use animated .gifs

As an alternative to videos, you can use animated .gif image. Animated .gifs play automatically, loop, and don't include sound. You can use a .gif anywhere on your site where you can add images, including image blocks, banners, and gallery blocks.

Review video metrics

We don't currently include video metrics in Squarespace analytics for uploaded or embedded videos.

If you embed videos, contact your video host for details about video metrics. Your video service, not Squarespace, controls how and when video plays count. Plays of embedded videos might add to your view count, depending where you host your videos:

• YouTube - For count views, visit your YouTube analytics, which has a breakdown of where viewers find your videos. Learn more in YouTube's analytics series. For specific questions about count views, visit YouTube's help community.
• Vimeo - For count views, visit your video on Vimeo and open the analytics panel. Learn more in Vimeo's documentation.

For help with other services, visit their documentation.

Troubleshooting

Videos take too long to load

If a video takes a while to load, it probably needs that extra time to buffer. Many longer or HD videos require more time to load, especially depends on the speed of your internet connection.

Clicking "Play" on a video starts the buffering process. If you pause the video and wait for content to load in the background, you should be able to build up the buffer and play the video with fewer issues.

Videos are different sizes

If your videos are different sizes, it's likely due to their aspect ratios. To learn more, visit Understanding aspect ratios.

Video titles aren't appearing in video blocks

If your video block has a custom featured image, the video title is hidden. To display the video title in the upper left-hand corner, delete the custom featured image.

Uploaded videos aren't displaying as expected  

If you encounter issues with how your uploaded video displays, return to your video editing software and try exporting the video again, ensuring your file meets our requirements, without changing any additional settings.

Exporting videos falls outside the scope of our support. 

Related YouTube videos are playing after mine

YouTube automatically displays related videos after a video finishes playing. This is a YouTube feature that isn't controlled by Squarespace and can't be disabled.

To prevent displaying related videos, try uploading your video directly, or hosting your video on another supported service. Note that some services require a paid account to disable related videos.

Unlisted Vimeo videos are displaying an error

If your Vimeo video's privacy settings are set to Unlisted and the video displays an error when embedded to your Squarespace site, you may need to update your video embed code. 

Wistia embed code doesn't work

Wistia's default embed code may not work in certain areas. Instead, we recommend using their Fallback (iframe) Embed code.

Wistia videos are too small

On project pages (version 7.0 only), Wistia videos display in a smaller frame. To avoid the issue, use a different video hosting platform.