How to Allow External Users to View Videos in Microsoft Forms
Question details
External users are unable to access or view videos that are embedded inside a shared Microsoft Form.
- Product
- Microsoft Forms
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- A user has embedded a video into a Microsoft Form and is attempting to distribute the form to respondents outside of their organization.
- Observed behavior
- People outside the organization receive a permission error or cannot see the video content when they open the form link, while internal users may be able to view it.
Verify that the embedded video is hosted on a public platform (like YouTube) rather than an internal secure server, and ensure you have the necessary permissions to edit the form's sharing settings.
Enable the 'Anyone can respond' Sharing Setting
Adjust the form's core sharing permissions to allow respondents outside your organization to view the form and its embedded media.
By default, Microsoft Forms may restrict access to users within your organization. Changing the response collection settings generates a public link that grants external users access to the form and its video content.
Navigate to Microsoft Forms and open the specific form that contains your embedded video.
Click on the 'Collect responses' or 'Send' button located in the top right corner of the screen.
In the dropdown menu under 'Send and collect responses', select 'Anyone can respond' instead of 'Only people in my organization can respond'.
Copy the generated sharing link and distribute it to your external users.
Request an External Sharing Policy Review
If changing the form settings does not resolve the issue, organization-wide policies might be blocking external sharing.
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- 1. Download the software: Visit the official WPS website and download the free WPS Office installer.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my embedded video show an error for external users?
This typically occurs if the form's sharing setting is restricted to 'Only people in my organization can respond' or if the video is hosted on a secure internal platform (like Microsoft Stream) that requires an organizational login.
Can I embed a Microsoft Stream video in a public form?
Currently, Microsoft Stream videos require viewers to log in with an organizational account. To ensure a video is visible to external users on a public form, it is highly recommended to host the video on a public platform like YouTube.
Why does the video open in a new tab on my mobile phone?
This is expected behavior for Microsoft Forms on mobile devices. To optimize playback performance and interface responsiveness, the mobile browser often opens embedded videos in a separate tab rather than playing them inline.
