- Short answer
- If your theme has a video section or block, add it in the theme editor; on a page, use Insert video. File limits don’t apply to YouTube or Vimeo.
- Homepage or any template
- Theme editor. Horizon has a Video block and Dawn a Video section; other themes may differ.
- Inside a page or blog post
- Rich text editor: Insert video, then paste the embed code from a host such as YouTube or Vimeo.
- Uploaded file limits
- Up to 1 GB and 10 minutes, in MOV, MP4 or WEBM, at up to 120 frames per second.
- Autoplay and loop
- Theme settings. Horizon's Video block: Autoplay off by default, Loop video on. Dawn's Video section: Loop video off.
- Background video
- In Horizon, a section with background media can use a video, and the Hero section accepts an uploaded video.
- Theme code we read
- Dawn and Horizon, in Shopify's GitHub repositories, on October 11, 2026.
How do you add a video to the homepage in the theme editor?
The theme editor opens on your store's homepage by default, so a homepage video starts there. What you add belongs to your theme, so names vary by theme.
- Open the theme editor. For another page, pick its template from the drop-down menu, such as products, collections, pages or blogs.
- Add a section or block and find your theme's video. In Horizon it is a theme block named Video; in Dawn it is a section named Video. We read both in Shopify's theme code on October 11, 2026. On another theme, look for a video section, or for a Media category when you add a block: Shopify's guide says a theme's blocks might be sorted into categories such as Media “for image and video blocks”.
- Choose the source. Both themes take an uploaded video or a YouTube or Vimeo URL, and the video picker Shopify gives themes lists the videos in the Files section of your admin.
- Set playback with the options your theme offers — the next section lists them.
No video field in sight? Look for a media-type selector: in a block that takes either a video or an image, Shopify notes, the picker might be a conditional setting that appears only after you choose the media type.
If your theme has neither a video section nor a video block, check whether it offers an HTML setting, which Shopify's theme documentation describes as a way to capture “custom blocks of HTML content, such as a video embed”. See where to paste custom HTML.
Can the video autoplay, loop or run as a background?
That depends on your theme. In the two Shopify themes whose code we read on October 11, 2026, video turns up in several places, including these four:
- Horizon, Video block: an Autoplay checkbox, off by default, with the note “Videos will be muted by default”, and a Loop video checkbox, on by default (block code).
- Horizon, a section with background media: the section built from the theme file sections/section.liquid has a background media setting with a Video option, and a video setting appears once you pick it.
- Horizon, Hero section: its media can be an uploaded video, which the section's code sets to autoplay, loop and stay muted, without controls.
- Dawn, Video section: a cover image and a Loop video checkbox, off by default (section code).
The Help Center's accessibility guideline for themes says “Videos don't play automatically.” and “If videos do play automatically, then their audio is muted.” So if you switch Autoplay on, keep the sound off.
We quote theme code because none of the Shopify pages we read on October 11, 2026 — the Help Center pages on theme structure and theme customization, the shopify.dev pages on input settings and the video_tag filter, and the Horizon and Dawn theme listings — walks through a theme's video section or block, or describes an autoplay or background-video setting in the theme editor.
How do you embed a YouTube or Vimeo video on a Shopify page?
For a video inside a page's own content, use the rich text editor. For a YouTube or Vimeo video on the homepage, use the theme editor steps above: in Dawn and Horizon the video section or block takes the URL. The rich text editor also inserts or embeds videos in blog posts, product descriptions and collection descriptions.
- Upload a video you created to a video streaming site such as YouTube or Vimeo, then copy its embed code; Shopify's rich text editor guide builds that code with the Embed Responsively tool from the video's URL.
- In your Shopify admin, open the page and click the Insert video button in the rich text editor.
- Paste the embed code into the box in the Insert video dialog.
- Click Insert video in the dialog, then click Save.
Two YouTube details from Shopify's rich text editor guide: embed code generated directly on YouTube “won't be as responsive to different screen sizes”, and YouTube does not let you switch related videos off, although you can limit them to the channel of the video that just played.
How big can an uploaded video be, and when is a link better?
A video you upload to Shopify can be up to 1 GB and 10 minutes long, in MOV, MP4 or WEBM, between 100 and 4096 pixels on each side, at up to 120 frames per second and UHD resolution.
These limits do not apply to embedded YouTube or Vimeo links. For a video larger than 1 GB or longer than 10 minutes, Shopify's advice is a video hosting service such as YouTube or Vimeo, with the video's sharing link added to your content.
Your plan adds a store-wide ceiling too: Shopify limits how many videos and 3D models a store can upload by subscription plan.
Video in a product's media gallery is a separate question, answered in can you upload 3D models and video to a Shopify product.
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