How to Enable Video Autoplay Settings on Your Website - A Technical Guide

How to Enable Video Autoplay Settings on Your Website - A Technical Guide

By Michael Thompson

February 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM

Enabling automatic video playback on your website requires careful consideration of browser policies and user experience. Here's what you need to know:

Video Autoplay Basics

Imported videos can have customized playback settings, including autoplay. For third-party hosted videos, you'll need to modify the embed code to enable autoplay. Background videos play automatically by default.

Important Considerations

  • Limit one autoplay video per page to prevent simultaneous playback
  • Mobile devices only support autoplay for video banners
  • Video banners and GIFs automatically play on page load
  • Most modern browsers restrict autoplay videos with sound
  • Users can adjust their browser settings to enable autoplay

Browser-Specific Policies

  • Safari and Firefox: Block autoplay for videos with sound by default
  • Chrome: Prevents autoplay for videos with sound unless explicitly allowed
  • Users can modify these settings in their browser preferences

Autoplay Embed Codes

YouTube: Add

?autoplay=1
to the URL (or &autoplay=1 if URL already contains ?)

Vimeo: Add

?autoplay=1
to the embed URL

Animoto: Enable "Autostart" in the Embedded Video settings

Background Videos

These videos automatically:

  • Play on loop
  • Run without sound
  • Start immediately on page load

Gallery Index Support

Autoplay videos work on Gallery pages in:

  • Momentum template family
  • Pacific template family

Note: Grid index pages only support autoplay videos on individual Gallery pages, not in thumbnail grids.

Best Practices

  1. Consider user experience and bandwidth usage
  2. Test autoplay functionality across different browsers
  3. Provide alternative controls for users
  4. Ensure content is accessible without autoplay

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