HTML Video Tag: The Complete Guide with Examples

Key takeaways

• Use <video> with an MP4 (H.264/AAC) source; add WebM first if you want smaller files.

• Add controls, a poster and preload="metadata" — autoplay only when muted and inline.

• Reserve space with aspect-ratio and use object-fit to fit any layout.

• Add captions with <track> for accessibility.

• For YouTube or Vimeo use their iframe players; for many videos use a gallery.

Basic example

<video controls width="640" poster="poster.jpg">
  <source src="movie.webm" type="video/webm">
  <source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
</video>

Attributes

Responsive video

video{width:100%;height:auto;aspect-ratio:16/9}

Captions

<video controls>
  <source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
  <track kind="captions" src="captions.vtt" srclang="en" label="English" default>
</video>

Embedding YouTube isn’t the video tag

YouTube and Vimeo videos can’t be played with <video>; use their iframe players — see our YouTube embed code generator.

The no-code way

Need a gallery of YouTube, Vimeo and hosted videos instead of one player? Use a widget.

Try Elfsight Video Gallery

Formats and browser support

Control the video with JavaScript

const v = document.querySelector("video");
v.play();            // returns a Promise
v.pause();
v.currentTime = 30;  // seek to 0:30
v.muted = true;
v.addEventListener("ended", () => console.log("done"));
v.addEventListener("timeupdate", () => console.log(v.currentTime));

Handle the Promise from play() — it rejects when the browser blocks playback.

Lazy loading and performance

• preload="none" or "metadata" keeps the initial page light.

• A poster image shows instantly.

• Use loading="lazy" on iframes; for <video>, set the src when it scrolls into view.

• Reserve space with aspect-ratio to avoid layout shift.

Accessibility checklist

• Add captions with <track kind="captions">.

• Keep controls unless you provide your own accessible controls.

• Never autoplay with sound.

• Provide a transcript for important videos.

Common problems

1. 1.

   Video doesn’t play on iPhone

   Add playsinline and muted for autoplay; check the codec is H.264.

2. 2.

   Black screen before play

   Add a poster image.

3. 3.

   Wrong size on mobile

   Use width:100%; height:auto; aspect-ratio.

4. 4.

   Large file loads slowly

   Compress it or stream it from a video platform.

How the browser picks a source

The browser reads the <source> elements from top to bottom and plays the first one it supports. That’s why you list the smaller, more modern format first (WebM) and the universally supported one (MP4) second. The type attribute lets the browser skip files it can’t play without downloading them — always include it. Text placed inside <video> after the sources is shown only by browsers that don’t support video at all.

<video controls preload="metadata" poster="poster.jpg">
  <source src="clip.webm" type='video/webm; codecs="vp9, opus"'>
  <source src="clip.mp4"  type='video/mp4; codecs="avc1.42E01E, mp4a.40.2"'>
  <a href="clip.mp4">Download the video</a>
</video>

Fit video into any layout

Use CSS to control how the video fills its box. object-fit: cover fills the area and crops the edges — ideal for hero sections. object-fit: contain shows the whole frame with bars. Combine it with aspect-ratio to reserve space before the file loads and prevent layout shift.

.video-box{aspect-ratio:16/9;width:100%}
.video-box video{width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover}

/* vertical clips */
.video-vertical{aspect-ratio:9/16;max-width:360px}

Picture-in-picture and fullscreen

Modern browsers let you move a video into a floating window or fullscreen from JavaScript — both need a user gesture such as a click.

const v = document.querySelector("video");

pipButton.onclick = async () => {
  if (document.pictureInPictureElement) await document.exitPictureInPicture();
  else await v.requestPictureInPicture();
};

fullButton.onclick = () => v.requestFullscreen();

Add disablepictureinpicture to the element if you don’t want the browser’s own PiP button.

Track video engagement

The video element fires events you can send to your analytics tool. Track starts, completions and progress milestones — not every timeupdate, which fires several times per second.

const v = document.querySelector("video");
const sent = new Set();
const track = (name) => window.gtag && gtag("event", name, { video_title: v.dataset.title });

v.addEventListener("play", () => track("video_start"), { once: true });
v.addEventListener("ended", () => track("video_complete"));
v.addEventListener("timeupdate", () => {
  const p = Math.floor((v.currentTime / v.duration) * 4) * 25; // 25, 50, 75
  if (p && p < 100 && !sent.has(p)) { sent.add(p); track("video_progress_" + p); }
});

Video tag, iframe or gallery?

The video tag is the right tool for your own short files: product loops, hero backgrounds, short explainers you host on a CDN. For videos on YouTube or Vimeo, use their iframe players — they handle streaming, quality switching and captions. When you need many videos, feeds that update themselves, or a mix of platforms, a gallery widget saves you from building playlists, popups and layouts by hand.