How to Turn a Video Into a Link: 4 Easy Ways

Quick Answer

A video becomes a link when you put the file somewhere that plays it in a browser, then copy the address of that page. Four routes cover most jobs, and three of them are free.

1. Google Drive. Free, plays in any browser, and the link works without signing in. Your name is not on the page.
2. iCloud Drive. Free for Mac users with space left, but the video has to live in iCloud Drive first.
3. YouTube Unlisted. Free and public-facing in look, hidden from search. YouTube can review every video.
4. Loop. A Mac app that makes a link with your own logo, a password or an expiry, and shows whether the video was watched. It is $49 once after a 14-day trial.

Loop makes links from a Mac only. A reader on a phone needs another route: we did not read the phone steps for Google Drive, iCloud Drive or YouTube, so this page covers a computer. For a finished film going to a client, see our seven-step delivery checklist.

Free Ways

Google Drive. Upload the video to Drive, select it and click Share. Under General access, choose Anyone with the link, then click Copy link and Done. These are the steps on Google's sharing page, which also says people with the link can use the file without signing in to a Google account.

The catch is the player. Google says the preview in Drive is a scaled-down version of the complete file, and Drive previews video formats including MPEG4 (the type MP4 files use), MOV, WebM, AVI and WMV. A file can be up to 5 TB.

iCloud Drive. Put the video in iCloud Drive first. In Finder, select the file under iCloud Drive and click the Share button, or Control-click the file and choose Share. Choose Share a Link, open Who can access, choose Anyone with the link, set the permission to Can view or download, then click Copy Link. See Apple's guide to sharing files.

Apple's page does not say whether a viewer can play the video in their browser or only download it, and we could not confirm which. iCloud gives 5 GB free, and iCloud+ with 50 GB is $0.99 a month.

YouTube Unlisted. In YouTube Studio, open Content, find the video and open Visibility, then choose Unlisted. YouTube's table says an unlisted video can be shared by its URL and does not appear in search, related videos or recommendations. It also says comments are allowed on it and that YouTube can review any video for ad suitability, copyright and abuse. Unlisted is hidden, not private: anyone with the address can find the video.

By default you can upload videos up to 15 minutes long, and verified accounts can go longer. The maximum is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less, per YouTube's upload page.

Video to Link Tools

Search for video to link and most results are small upload tools. Kapwing, VEED and FlexClip are examples of free tools like these. We did not read their plan limits, so we say nothing about them here.

Two we did read:

• Streamable. Its pricing page lists a free plan with a 250 MB and 10 minute limit, 90 days of retention and ad-supported playback. The home page says upload needs no credit card or account. Basic lifts the size and length limits, but the page showed different monthly prices on different visits, so we do not quote one. Its footer lists password-protected video, but we could not confirm which plan includes it.
• Descript. A video editor that also makes share links. Descript's pricing lists unlimited shareable pages and links on the free plan, with 720p web links up to 1 hour. Its link tool page says anyone with the link can view without signing in. Hobbyist is $16 a month billed yearly, or $192 a year.

Both pages show a dollar sign without naming the currency, so we read them as US dollars.

Private Link

A free link is the wrong tool when the video is for a client, a paid course or a film that should not be public. Look for four things:

• A password, so the address alone is not enough.
• An expiry, so the link closes by itself.
• Your name on the page instead of a stranger's.
• A way to see that it was opened or watched.

Google Drive lets you restrict a file to chosen people instead of anyone with the link, per the same sharing page. It does not put your name on the page. Jumpshare is the closest rival to what Loop does: its Plus plan lists password protection, analytics, a custom domain and branding for $12 a month billed yearly, or $144 a year. See our Loop vs Jumpshare page for the full comparison.

Loop

Loop is a Mac app that turns a file into your own branded link. It plays the video you uploaded in the reader's browser, and the reader needs no account.

1. Drop the Video on the Loop icon in the menu bar, or choose File > New Link.
2. Link Copied. Loop copies the link, ready to paste.
3. Paste It into an email, a message or a page. Loop does not send anything for you.

What you can set on a link:

• Your own brand. Logo, colors and typeface, and your own subdomain such as films.yourstudio.com.
• Password. Readers type it before the video plays.
• Expires. Never, or after 1, 7, 30 or 90 days. The default is Never.
• Allow Downloads. On by default. Turning it off hides the Download button, though it is not copy protection, because the browser still has to fetch the file to play it.
• Ask for Email. Loop checks only that what a reader types looks like an email address.
• Know it was watched. Loop tags a person "Opened" or "Downloaded" and sends a Mac notification once per visitor per link, while Loop is running. A Watch Time card shows the average time watched, how many people reached the end and where most stopped. We cover that card in our delivery checklist.
• Show QR Code. A link's menu has Show QR Code, and a phone camera opens the link from it.
• Replace File keeps the link. Swap in a new cut on the same address, with earlier versions kept.

Limits

Loop is a way to share your own file under your own name. It is not a video host for the public, and these gaps matter:

• Mac only to make the link. Readers open it in any browser, but you need a Mac to create it.
• Loop does not convert video. The page plays the file you uploaded, so playback depends on the reader's browser and the file's codec. A ProRes file may not play. Send an H.264 MP4. We have not tested every codec in every browser.
• We do not promise a maximum file size.
• No captions, subtitles or TV apps. The play bar has play, time, timeline, sound and full screen.
• No email or phone alert. Notifications are on your Mac only.
• No free plan. There is a 14-day trial, then $49 once, and Loop needs a free Cloudflare account to store the files.
• The QR code. The code card has no save button, so it is for pointing a phone at, not for printing.

If you only need one quick public link to one video, use Google Drive, iCloud Drive or YouTube. Loop fits when the link should carry your name, a password or an expiry, and you want to know whether the video was watched.

File Types

A link only helps if the reader's browser can play the file. Editing formats such as ProRes usually do not play in a browser, and an iPhone MOV may use HEVC, which not every computer plays. Export an H.264 MP4 for anything you send as a link.

Our free MOV to MP4 tool converts in your browser without uploading the file. Its own FAQ says it does not support ProRes and other editing formats. Camera masters and editing files do not belong on a link, so send those by file transfer.

Cost

These are US dollars for one person, before tax, on the cheapest paid plan that does the job where one is named, billed yearly where the vendor offers it. iCloud+ 50 GB is billed monthly, at $0.99 a month, so $11.88 over a year. Descript Hobbyist and Jumpshare Plus use their annual prices. Google Drive gives 15 GB free, and the next step up, Google One 100 GB, is $19.99 a year on an archived US copy of the page.

Over three years, iCloud+ 50 GB is $35.64, Jumpshare Plus $432, and Descript Hobbyist $576. Loop is $49 once.

Loop's files are stored in your own Cloudflare account, free up to 10 GB. Past that, Cloudflare bills you. Cloudflare's pricing page, updated 30 October 2026, lists $0.015 per GB-month with no data-transfer charge for downloads, so keeping 50 GB for a year is about $7.20 after the free 10 GB. Loop includes a 14-day free trial, during which a small "Shared with Loop" badge shows on the pages your readers see, and it goes with a licence.