The HTML element is used to show a video on a web page.
The HTML Element
To show a video in HTML, use the element:
Example
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Try it Yourself »
How it Works
The controls attribute adds video controls, like play, pause, and volume.
It is a good idea to always include width and height attributes. If height and width are not set, the page might flicker while the video loads.
The element allows you to specify alternative video files which the browser may choose from. The browser
will use the first recognized format.
The text between the and tags will only be displayed in browsers that do not support the element.
HTML Autoplay
To start a video automatically, use the autoplay attribute:
Example
Your browser does not
support the video tag.
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Note: Chromium browsers do not allow autoplay in most cases. However, muted autoplay is always allowed.
Add muted after
autoplay to let your video start playing automatically [but muted]:
Example
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Try it Yourself »
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the element.
| 4.0 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 10.5 |
HTML Video Formats
There are three supported video formats: MP4, WebM, and Ogg. The browser support for the different formats is:
| Edge | YES | YES | YES |
| Chrome | YES | YES | YES |
| Firefox | YES | YES | YES |
| Safari | YES | YES | NO |
| Opera | YES | YES | YES |
HTML Video - Media Types
| MP4 | video/mp4 |
| WebM | video/webm |
| Ogg | video/ogg |
HTML Video - Methods, Properties, and Events
The HTML DOM defines methods, properties, and events for the element.
This allows you to load, play, and pause videos, as well as setting duration and volume.
There are also DOM events that can notify you when a video begins to play, is paused, etc.
For a full DOM reference, go to our HTML Audio/Video DOM Reference.
HTML Video Tags
| Defines a video or movie | |
| Defines multiple media resources for media elements, such as and | |
| Defines text tracks in media players |
Example
Play a video:
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Try it Yourself »
Definition and Usage
The tag is
used to embed video content in a document, such as a movie clip or other video streams.
The tag contains one or more tags with different video sources. The browser will choose the first source it supports.
The text between the and tags will only be displayed in browsers that do not support the element.
There are three supported video formats in HTML: MP4, WebM, and OGG.
| Edge | YES | YES | YES |
| Chrome | YES | YES | YES |
| Firefox | YES | YES | YES |
| Safari | YES | YES | NO |
| Opera | YES | YES | YES |
Tips and Notes
Tip: For audio files, look at the
tag.
Browser Support
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the element.
| 4.0 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 11.5 |
Optional Attributes
| autoplay | autoplay | Specifies that the video will start playing as soon as it is ready |
| controls | controls | Specifies that video controls should be displayed [such as a play/pause button etc]. |
| height | pixels | Sets the height of the video player |
| loop | loop | Specifies that the video will start over again, every time it is finished |
| muted | muted | Specifies that the audio output of the video should be muted |
| poster | URL | Specifies an image to be shown while the video is downloading, or until the user hits the play button |
| preload | auto metadata none | Specifies if and how the author thinks the video should be loaded when the page loads |
| src | URL | Specifies the URL of the video file |
| width | pixels | Sets the width of the video player |
Global Attributes
The tag also supports the Global Attributes in HTML.
Event Attributes
The tag also supports the Event Attributes in HTML.
Related Pages
HTML DOM reference: HTML Audio/Video DOM Reference
Default CSS Settings
None.