How can I turn the sound off/on on the background video in Webflow, either natively or through a workaround? It's for a movie site and having audio in the background would be helpful. Should I separate the audio and video and control the audio with a separate HTML 5 to avoid sync issues? Thank you.
TL;DR
- Use a custom HTML5
<video>embed in Webflow instead of the native background video element to enable audio playback. - Add a toggle button with JavaScript to control the video's
mutedproperty, and host large videos externally for best performance.
Webflow’s native background video element does not support audio playback, and there's no built-in toggle option for sound. However, you can work around this by embedding a custom HTML5 video element and controlling the audio separately if needed.
1. Understand Background Video Limitations
- Webflow’s background video element auto-mutes all audio and does not include audio controls.
- Browsers block autoplay with sound as a default behavior, requiring user interaction to play audio.
2. Use a Custom HTML5 Video Embed
To retain audio playback and toggle controls, use an HTML embed instead of the Background Video element:
- Add an Embed component to your Webflow page.
- Inside it, add a standard
<video>tag with attributes likeautoplay,loop,muted, andplaysinlinefor mobile compatibility. - Note: unmuted autoplay will not work in most browsers — users must interact with the page first.
3. Sync Separate Audio (Optional but Not Ideal)
If you separate video and audio:
- Embed an HTML5
<video>that is muted and looped. - Embed a separate
<audio>tag and script it to play together with the video. - Syncing issues may occur, especially on slower devices or if users seek in the video. This method is not reliable for long content.
4. Add Audio Toggle
To let users toggle sound:
- Use JavaScript to control the
mutedproperty of the video. - Add a button in Webflow with an ID (e.g.,
toggle-audio-btn). - Use a Webflow Embed with script:
- On click, toggle video.muted = false/true.
- Update the button label/icon accordingly.
5. Hosting Considerations
- Videos with sound are best hosted via a reliable CDN or service like AWS or Vimeo with custom player APIs.
- Webflow limits video file size to 30MB in the asset manager — host externally and reference via direct URL in your embed.
Summary
To use video with audio on Webflow, skip the built-in background video and use a custom HTML5 video embed. Avoid separating audio and video if sync matters. Add a toggle button using custom code to control sound interactively.