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Video Autoplay

Whether the video starts playing on its own as the page loads.

Where to find it
Labelled Video Autoplay in the "Selected Component" section of the Modify drawer.
Offered by
The Video component. Other components do not have this setting.
Per device
Yes — you can set one value for every screen, or separate values for phone, tablet, and desktop.

In plain English

Autoplay starts the video without anyone pressing play. There is one rule that governs everything about it: browsers refuse to autoplay a video with sound. Too many sites abused it, so Chrome, Safari, and Firefox now block it outright.

What that means in practice is that autoplay and Video Muted go together. Set autoplay on its own and most visitors will see a still frame that never moves, because the browser quietly declined. Set both and it plays.

So autoplay is really a setting for silent video: a looping clip behind a headline, an animated illustration, a short ambient background. For anything with a voice or music, leave it off and let the visitor choose.

What each option does

OptionWhat you will see
trueStart playing on load. Only works when Video Muted is also "true".
falseWait for the visitor to press play. The right default for anything with sound.

When you would use it

  • A silent, looping background clip.
  • A short animation that is really moving decoration.

How to change it

  1. Click the video component on the canvas.
  2. In the Modify drawer, open "Selected Component", then "Video Autoplay".
  3. Choose "true".
  4. Set Video Muted to "true" as well, or browsers will block it.
One value, or one per device? Every input in this setting sits under a “Same value for all resolutions” checkbox. Leave it checked for a single value everywhere, or uncheck it to give phones, tablets, and desktops their own. How per-device values work.

Watch out for

  • Autoplay without Video Muted does not work. This is the single most common reason an autoplaying video appears frozen.
  • Autoplaying video downloads immediately, on every visit, for everyone — including visitors on a phone paying for data.
  • Movement that a visitor cannot stop is genuinely difficult for some people. If you autoplay, keep the clip short and calm, or leave the controls on so it can be paused.

Related settings

For developers

The technical reference for what this setting produces: MDN: autoplay guide. You do not need any of it to use the setting — it is there for whoever is building the components or debugging the published page.

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