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How can I disable autoplay and enable hover-based play for background videos in Webflow?

TL;DR
  • Use a custom Embed element with a <video> tag including onmouseover="this.play()" and onmouseout="this.pause()" to trigger playback on hover.
  • Host the video externally, ensure it’s muted, looped, and styled like a background via absolute positioning and object-fit: cover.

To disable autoplay and instead trigger background video playback on hover in Webflow, you'll need to bypass the default Background Video component and use a standard Video element instead, since Webflow’s native Background Video element does not support hover play control.

1. Replace Background Video with an HTML Embed Element

  • Drag an Embed element from the Add panel into your layout where the background video should appear.
  • Use an inline <video> tag with the following attributes:
  • onmouseover="this.play()" – plays video on hover.
  • onmouseout="this.pause()" – pauses when not hovered.
  • muted, loop, playsinline – to meet browser autoplay policies and ensure smooth behavior.
  • Do not include autoplay – this disables automatic playback.

Example inline code inside the Embed element:

<video src="your-video-file.mp4" muted loop playsinline onmouseover="this.play()" onmouseout="this.pause()" style="width:100%; height:auto;"></video>

Replace "your-video-file.mp4" with your video’s hosted URL. Webflow does not allow direct hosting of video files outside the Background Video block, so you'll need to host the video externally (e.g., AWS S3, Dropbox, or your own CDN).

2. Style the Video for Background Use

  • Set positioning and spacing via Webflow Designer:
  • Use a div as a wrapper and apply position: relative.
  • Style the video inside with position: absolute, top: 0, left: 0, width: 100%, height: 100%, and object-fit: cover.

This mimics a background image behavior while using a playable video.

3. Ensure Performance and Compatibility

  • Keep videos short (under 10 MB) and optimized for fast loading.
  • Serve videos in .mp4 format using H.264 codec for maximum browser compatibility.
  • Test on mobile devices—many mobile browsers block hover-triggered playback due to lack of hover support.

Summary

Webflow's native Background Video element forces autoplay and offers no hover controls. To enable hover-based video playback, use a custom Embed element with a standard <video> tag and onmouseover/onmouseout handlers. This gives you full control over playback based on user interaction.

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