- Where to find it
- Labelled Video Preload 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
Video files are large — often larger than every other thing on the page put together. This setting decides how much of that weight a visitor carries whether or not they ever watch.
The default, "metadata", is the sensible middle: the browser fetches just enough to know how long the video is and what shape it is, so it can lay the page out correctly, and stops there. Press play and the rest arrives.
"none" downloads nothing at all until play is pressed. It is the lightest option, and the right one for a video far down a long page that most visitors will never reach. The trade-off is a slightly longer pause when someone does press play.
"auto" invites the browser to fetch the whole thing in advance. It makes playback instant for the people who watch, and wastes a lot of bandwidth on the people who do not. Reserve it for a video that is the entire point of the page.
What each option does
| Option | What you will see |
|---|---|
none | Download nothing until play is pressed. Lightest, with a short delay on play. |
metadata | Download only the length and dimensions. The default, and right for almost every video. |
auto | Let the browser fetch the video ahead of time. Instant playback, at a real cost in bandwidth. |
When you would use it
- A video low down a long page that few visitors reach: choose "none".
- The one video a landing page exists to show: consider "auto".
How to change it
- Click the video component on the canvas.
- In the Modify drawer, open "Selected Component", then "Video Preload".
- Choose "none", "metadata", or "auto".
Watch out for
- "auto" can mean every visitor downloads several megabytes they never watch. On a phone connection that is felt.
- An autoplaying video ignores this setting in practice: it has to download in order to play.
- Setting "none" leaves the video with no known dimensions until it loads, so set Video Intrinsic Width and Height to stop the page shifting.
Related settings
For developers
The technical reference for what this setting produces: MDN: the preload attribute. 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.
Where to go next
- Back to the Video component — everything else it can do.
- The Composer — the editing surface these settings live in.
- Publishing — how a change like this reaches your live site.