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Upload Video / Audio / PDF lessons

Uploading video, audio, and PDF lessons

You can turn your own files into lessons by uploading them directly to 5Mins. Three file-based lesson types are supported: video, audio, and PDF. The upload flow is the same for each: choose the lesson type, select your file, add a title, and add the lesson to a course.

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🎬 Watch this as a short narrated video

Steps shown in this video

  1. Content and Courses, then Upload content, is where every lesson type starts
  2. Add a video for short training, updates or announcements
  3. Audio for podcasts, briefings or voice notes
  4. Or a document - a PDF, slides or a spreadsheet - and this one has a clever trick
  5. Drop in your file - here, a fire safety PDF
  6. Give the lesson a name
  7. Now open the Quiz tab
  8. Tick Generate AI Quizzes, and 5Mins reads your document and drafts a whole quiz from it
  9. Publish, and the quiz is ready for you to review, approve or discard

How to upload

  1. Go to Content & Courses > Your Content and select Add Content, then choose Add a new video, Add a new audio, or Add a new document. If you create content from the Knowledge Hub, open Content Studio and select Create new lesson instead.
  2. Drag and drop your file into the upload area, or browse to select it.
  3. Wait for the file to finish uploading and processing.
  4. Add a lesson title.
  5. (Optional) Add a custom thumbnail in the Lesson thumbnail section - see below.
  6. Select Publish Lesson. Video and audio lessons take a couple of minutes to process after publishing.

Publishing adds the lesson to Your Content. To get it in front of learners, add it to a course: in the course builder, open the Add Content menu and choose Your Content.

Video and audio lessons show a built-in player so you can preview the media before publishing.

Lesson thumbnail

Every lesson can have a thumbnail - the image learners see for it in your content library and courses. In the Lesson thumbnail section you can upload your own image or generate one with AI. If you don’t add one, 5Mins uses an automatically generated thumbnail.

Video lessons

  • Supported formats: .mp4, .mkv, .m4v, .mov
  • Maximum file size: 1GB
  • Recommended resolution: 720px x 1200px
  • Orientation: Vertical (portrait) videos with a 9:16 aspect ratio are preferred. Horizontal videos are padded at the top and bottom to fit the portrait player.

Audio lessons

  • Supported formats: .mp3, .wav, .m4a, .aac
  • Maximum file size: 250MB
  • Quality: Use a clear recording free from background noise, mic pops, or distortion for the best learner experience.

PDF (document) lessons

  • Supported formats: PDF, PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx), Word (.doc, .docx), and Excel (.xls, .xlsx).
  • Conversion: All non-PDF files are converted to PDF on upload, so make sure your PowerPoint, Word, or Excel files are formatted correctly before uploading.
  • Maximum file size: 25MB (under 10MB is recommended; files larger than 10MB may have rendering difficulties).
  • Recommended page size: 1080x1920 (portrait, 9:16).

Tips

  • If a file is rejected, check that it's in a supported format and within the size limit.
  • Large videos can take several minutes to upload depending on file size and your connection.
  • You can add a quiz to any uploaded lesson from the Quiz tab to reinforce the content.

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