After clicking on the video attachment in a gmail message, expecting it to play, instead this error appears, "Whoops! There was a problem while playing this video".
I've had five customers report this issue where they can't play video attachments in gmail. I rarely receive emails with video attachments, normally they're Google Photos or YouTube links. But I can imagine it would be annoying if I regularly received videos via email attachment. I would want a single click to view the video.
Affected: Gmail on Computers. I've replicated the issue in Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
Unaffected:
- Gmail on Android, iPhone and iPad.
- Thunderbird and other desktop email clients on computers.
- Consuming videos on social media, iCloud, Google Photos and YouTube.
Workaround in Chrome on a computer
This is the best workaround while still using gmail.com to reduces the number of clicks to play a video attachment. Personally, I think this bug is worth putting up with for all the other conveniences, integration with Docs and security the gmail.com interface provides.
- Do this once (for each file type) after clicking Download.
- Click down arrow menu next to the downloaded file
- Enable "Always Open Files Of This Type".
- Next time you get an email with video attachment of the same type, click the Download button to have it download and open automatically in your preferred desktop video player.
How do I undo the Workaround in Chrome?
- Google Chrome menu Settings
- Scroll down and click Advanced
-
Clear the option Open certain file types automatically after downloading
Are there any other options?
Firefox users can do the workaround too by changing what Firefox does when you click on or download a file.
Send feedback to Google
You might want to report the bug to Google via the Gmail Menu > send feedback, as pictured below. I have sent Google feedback to add voice to the issue.
Comments
7 comments
I think you totally misunderstood the problem. It is NOT that the computer won't play mp4 files it is that GMAIL requires you to dowload the file before it will play it AND will NOT play the file just by clicking the message.
I have the same problem while wife's computer with Windows 10 plays the gmail attachment by just clicking it and not having to download. IF I forward the email to another account that uses another email program (email client or Thunderbird) mp4 will open fine by just clicking on the mp4 icon, no downloading necessary)
WHY will ONLY gmail on MY computer not play the dang file by clicking?
Hey Daniel, I get it. I can imagine it would be a major inconvenience, and I would want a single click to play the video. When on gmail.com on a computer, the video attachments don't play unless downloaded. The reason I say "on a computer" is because using the native gmail app on mobile devices, the video attachments play easily. The best I could come up with on a computer was the workaround. Personally, I think this bug is worth putting up with for all the other conveniences, integration with Docs and security the gmail.com interface provides. I've updated the article to try to clarify this.
My father in law is having a similar issue with Gmail on his Windows 10 computer. It won’t use the previewer to simply open the videos. This happened on Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Then I had him log into gmail on my Mac. The same thing happened to HIM. But when I logged onto gmail I could preview videos without downloading. (They were mp4 and mov files in both gmail accounts). I could not find anything in his gmail settings that seemed to pertain to previewing video attachments.
Hey Will, thanks for the report. Good troubleshooting. Can you please clarify "log into gmail on my Mac' What browser/software did you sign into on the Mac that allowed you to preview the video attachments? I wonder what's different about your Google account compared to your father in law's.
I am a big gmail fan but this is a really annoying bug. I tried a few work arounds and was surprised to find that using the web version of Outlook to collect Gmails fixes the problem. Outlook opens all attachments, even without opening the email itself. I ditched Outlook years ago but this has got me thinking of a return. I logged it as a bug with Google and hope it will be addressed. Hope this helps.
I use Filefox to access Gmail and use an Gmail Mod addon which gives you a play button.
addons://detail/{f670f216-9980-42b1-84a3-4c511c27dc3a}
Its not the greatest video player but it works
this is silly....especially from a chromebook standpoint lol....requires downloading the file, and then watching it,, and then deleting it. wish there was a better way to "'stream" it straight from gmail.
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