How to add a spin wheel to Google Slides
By the SpinOfLuck Team · Published August 14, 2026
Google Slides cannot embed a live web page: there is no iframe or embed-code option anywhere in its Insert menu, so no wheel will ever spin inside a slide itself. What works instead is a hyperlinked shape: one click in Present mode opens the wheel in a browser tab, you spin it, and you are back in the deck. Set-up takes under a minute.
Straight answer first
If you came here to find the “embed a website” button in Google Slides: there isn't one. Slides embeds Drive files, images, charts and YouTube video, and that is the whole list. Anything promising a live web page inside a slide is either a different product (Pear Deck, Nearpod) or a screenshot.
Key takeaways
- Google Slides has no iframe or embed-code option, so a live wheel cannot sit inside a slide.
- A hyperlinked shape is the working method: clickable in Present mode, opens in a browser tab.
- Use a view-only link so nobody can edit the entries mid-lesson.
- If you genuinely need it embedded in the page, use Google Sites or your LMS instead.
The method that works
Build the wheel and copy a view-only link
Set up your entries, then copy the view-only share link. View-only matters here: the link opens for whoever is at the keyboard, and you do not want a student editing the list mid-lesson.
Add a shape or image to the slide
Insert a button-like shape, a text box, or a screenshot of the wheel. This is what you will click during the lesson, so make it large enough to hit quickly; a full-width banner across the slide works well.
Attach the link
Select the shape and press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac), or use Insert → Link. Paste the wheel URL and press Apply.
Click it in Present mode
Start the slideshow. Clicking the shape opens the wheel in a new browser tab, ready to spin. Close the tab or Alt-Tab back and the deck is exactly where you left it.
Every option, honestly compared
| Approach | Live and spinnable? | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperlinked shape or image | Yes, opens in a browser tab | Recommended. One click from Present mode, nothing to install. |
| Screenshot of the wheel | No, a static picture | Only as a visual. Pair it with a link so it is still one click. |
| Pear Deck / Nearpod website widget | Yes, inside their lesson player | Good if your school already pays for one. Not plain Slides. |
| Insert → Embed | Does not exist in Slides | N/A. Teachers look for this menu item, but it is not there. |
Making it smooth in a live lesson
A few things that make the difference between this feeling slick and feeling like a detour:
- Put the link on a big shape. A thin line of text is hard to hit with a presenter remote or on a touchscreen. A wide banner is forgiving.
- Open the tab before the lesson. If you pre-load the wheel in a second tab, the click becomes an instant switch rather than a page load in front of thirty people.
- Use fullscreen on the wheel. Press F once the wheel is open and it fills the projector, matching the scale of your slides.
- Name the slide link clearly. “Spin for today's reader” reads better from the back of the room than “click here”.
Build the wheel you will link to
Add your roster, then copy a view-only link for the deck.
Set up a class wheel →Related tools and guides
Common questions
- Can I embed a live website inside a Google Slides slide?
- No. Google Slides has no built-in way to embed an interactive web page: there is no iframe or embed-code option in the Insert menu. Slides can embed Google Drive files, images, charts, and YouTube video, but not arbitrary web content. The practical alternative is a hyperlinked shape that opens the page in a browser tab from Present mode.
- Is there an add-on that can do it?
- Some presentation platforms built on top of, or alongside, Slides do support website widgets, and Pear Deck and Nearpod are the ones teachers most often use. If your school already has one of those, you can place a live wheel inside a lesson there. For plain Google Slides on its own, the hyperlink method is the reliable route.
- Does the link work when I present in full screen?
- Yes. Links on shapes, text and images are clickable in Present mode, which is exactly why this method works for teaching. The wheel opens in a new tab; closing it returns you to the slideshow.
- Will the link work if I export the deck to PowerPoint or PDF?
- Usually yes for the link itself: hyperlinks survive export to both PowerPoint and PDF. The wheel opens in the reader's browser. What does not survive is anything live on the slide, because there was never anything live on the slide to begin with.
- How do I stop students editing the entries?
- Use a view-only link rather than an editable one. A view-only wheel can be spun as many times as you like but the entry list is fixed, so nothing changes if a student gets hold of the keyboard.
- What if I really need the wheel inside the page?
- Use Google Sites or your LMS instead. Both support real embeds, so the wheel sits in the page and spins in place. Slides is the odd one out here, not the wheel.