You probably know Google Drive as a platform to share videos and files with colleagues and friends, but what happens if you want to share a video that plays at a specific time when your recipient opens it?

Fortunately, if you want to share your Google Drive video with a timestamp for your recipient, you can do just that.

Whether you want to share your video file with non-Gmail accounts or Gmail accounts, there’s a way to do it without making them watch the entire video. To link a specific time in your Google Drive video, you need to create a custom link by adding a parameter to the video’s URL.

Here’s what you have to do:

  1. Open Google Drive.
  2. Go to your video file.
    Google Drive file menu
  3. Right-click on your video and select Get link.
  4. Select Copy link.
    Copying a video file link in Google Drive

How to Add a Parameter to Your Video URL

To add parameters, all you need to do is follow the steps listed below.

  1. Paste your video link into a new tab on your browser.
    Pasting link in a new tab
  2. Your link will look similar to this one: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DF1TNmf3siMh8slZJ49dZ1BY_XT7B9tW/view?usp=sharingm
  3. Edit the link and remove all the symbols you see after view?.
  4. Add t= along with the time you want your video to start.
  5. In the link, you’ll add m for minutes and s for seconds. So if you want your video to start at two minutes and ten seconds when your recipient plays it, your link will look like this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DF1TNmf3siMh8slZJ49dZ1BY_XT7B9tW/view?t=2m10s

This link will not restrict your recipients from watching the full video; it will merely start at the time you have set. You also need to make sure that they have shared access to your Google Drive file.

Make Sharing Videos Hassle Free

You can become a Google Drive pro by easily sharing files without inconveniencing your recipients. The above-mentioned instructions will allow you to get straight to the point when you’re sharing a Google Drive video file.

Linking a timestamp in a Google Drive video is one of the best ways to share files with anyone over the web. However, there are plenty of other ways to share files online.