Firefox handles many types of audio and video content on web pages, and can also open links to MP3 files and some other types of media. This article explains which media formats you can play and how to control, save, and open them.

Supported formats

Since the use of certain audio and video file types is restricted by patents, a third-party application is required to use them. Firefox, however, is able to play natively open media and some types of patented media.

Open media

Firefox can play the WAV container format (.wav, .wave file types) containing uncompressed audio in PCM at 8 or 16 bits per sample.

Vorbis audio, Opus audio, Theora video and VP8 video are free audio/video compression formats for use without patent restrictions. They can be viewed in Firefox if they are embedded in the following container formats: Ogg (.ogg, .oga, .ogv, .ogx, .spx, .opus file types) or WebM (.webm file type).

Firefox also supports FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) playback (.flac file type) and MP3 playback (.mp3 file type).

Audio and video controls

Control bar

When you follow a link to open a supported audio or video file in Firefox or when you visit a website that includes supported media, you will see controls for managing playback. Controls for video will appear when you hold the mouse pointer over the media on the page.

• Play button: Starts playback.
• Pause button: Stops playback once it has started.
• Position slider:
  Indicates how much time has elapsed since the beginning of the file.
  Drag the slider left or right to go back or forward.
• Volume control:
  Click the loudspeaker to mute or unmute.
  Hover and drag the slider left or right to adjust the volume.
• Full-screen button: Toggles full screen when in default size.
• Default size button: Restores the default size when in fullscreen.

Context menu controls

The context menu (accessible via right-clickCtrl-click) includes the above controls except the sliders, and also let you:

• Accelerate or reduce the playback rate: Select Speed and then one of the available speeds.
• Play video over and over: Select Loop so that the video will play over and over automatically.
• Hide controls: Select Hide Controls so that the bottom control bar never show up. To show them, select Show Controls.

Keyboard controls

After you click the media on a web page, to give it focus, you can control the playback with your keyboard.

Saving media files

To save an audio file from a web page to your computer:

1. Right-clickHold down the Control key while you click the audio controls and select Save Audio As…
2. Select a location on your computer to save the file.

To save a video file from a web page to your computer:

1. Right-clickHold down the Control key while you click the video controls and select Save Video As…
   • Select Take Snapshot… if you only want to save the video snapshot.
2. Select a location on your computer to save the file.

Opening saved files

The media files you save from web pages may not play in your normal media player. To open these types of files:

1. Open Firefox.
2. Click Ctrl + OCommand + O.
3. Navigate to the folder that contains the file you want to play, select the file, and click Open.

Troubleshooting

If you are having problems with audio or video files, see:

• Fix common audio and video issues
• What to do if Firefox won't play any sounds