Fix common audio and video issues
Revision Information
- Revision id: 107074
- Created:
- Creator: kentuckyfriedtakahe
- Comment: Added updated information about HTML5 video
- Reviewed: No
- Ready for localization: No
Revision Source
Revision Content
Sometimes, the video or audio content in a web page cannot be properly downloaded and displayed in Firefox. A required plugin may be missing, outdated, blocked, in conflict with another plugin or extension, or the content may be blocked for some reason. This article will help you solve these problems.
Table of Contents
YouTube HTML5 Video Player issues
The YouTube HTML5 Video Player may cause various playback issues for some users, such as missing audio or out-of-sync audio and video. Switch to the Flash plugin, if installed and enabled, to see if that fixes the problem. You can use the YouTube Flash Video Player add-on to easily switch between the HTML5 player and the Flash plugin.
HTML5 audio and video
Firefox has built in support for open media formats usually associated with WebM, Ogg and Wave containers. However MP3 and MP4 containers usually depend on platform decoders for MP3, AAC and H.264 audio and video streams.
Mac OSX, Firefox OS
MP4 playback is fully supported on Mac OSX and Firefox OS.
Windows Vista and later
MP4 support is provided on Windows Vista and later through Windows Media Foundation. Windows Vista, N and KN may have missing codecs and require you to install additional software from Microsoft. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-video-audio-problems-firefox-windows
Windows XP
Windows XP supports MP3 playback through Direct Show but does not support the proprietary codecs used with MP4 containers.
Linux/BSD
MP3 and MP4 playback is supported on Linux/BSD if users happen to have ffmpeg/libav installed on their system.
Android
MP3 and MP4 playback is supported on modern Android devices. Some older Android devices have been blacklisted due to stability issues. Blacklisted devices do not support MP4 playback.
Plugins
Install missing plugins
Although Firefox is able to handle certain HTML5 audio and video content on web pages, it may need the help of media players and browser plugins for other content. Although you may have the correct media players installed to play video and audio files, you may be missing the necessary plugins when the media is embedded within the web page itself.
When a plugin is missing, do the following:
- Click on the download link.
- Follow the instructions.
In case the installation fails, install it manually.
When a plugin is missing, a message will appear in place of the content:
- "A plugin is needed to display this content" indicates that the plugin is not installed on your machine.
If a link to download the plugin does not appear, install the plugin manually by visiting the instructions for the plugin that you want:
- Flash plugin: See Install the Flash plugin to view videos, animations and games and Flash Plugin - Keep it up to date and troubleshoot problems
- The Flash plugin is used for embedded audio and video on many websites.
- Java plugin: Use the Java plugin to view interactive content on websites
- Silverlight plugin: See Use the Silverlight plugin to play audio and video
- Windows Media Player plugin: See Play Windows Media files in Firefox with the Windows Media plugin
- The Windows Media Player plugin will only play a specific few Windows media formats (.asf, .asx, .wm, .wma, .wax, .wmp, .wmv, and .wvx) unless the web page is specifically designed for Firefox and other Mozilla browsers.
- QuickTime plugin: See Use the QuickTime plugin to play audio and video
- The QuickTime plugin can handle many different types of embedded media. On older operating systems, the QuickTime plugin may not be configured to handle some common file formats found online, such as embedded .mp3 audio on Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.5 and below. In such cases, you need to select the media formats you want QuickTime to play in Firefox in your QuickTime Preferences.
For other, less common, media players and their plugins, see these websites:
Enable plugins
If a plugin is disabled in the Add-ons Manager, you won't be able to use it.
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- Review the list of plugins to see if any of them are disabled.
- To enable a plugin, select it and click the button.
Enable or activate plugins
If a plugin is disabled in the Add-ons Manager, you won't be able to use it.
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- Review the list of plugins to see if any of them are disabled.
- To enable a plugin, click on and select either or in its drop-down menu.
If you see an Activate (name of plugin) icon on web pages, where the plugin content should be, you'll need to click on the icon to activate the plugin:
For more information, see Why do I have to click to activate plugins?.
Update your plugins
Check that you have the latest versions of all your plugins.
- Go to our Plugin Check page and follow the links to update any plugins that are out of date.
Allow Plugin Container in your Internet security program
Allow your Internet security software (including firewalls, antivirus programs, anti-spyware programs, and more) to trust plugin-container.exe also known as Plugin Container for Firefox. For detailed instructions, see Configure firewalls so that Firefox can access the Internet where in that case Firefox means Plugin Container for Firefox.
Disable a conflicting plugin
If you have more than one plugin installed that can handle the same media type, this can cause a conflict that prevents some embedded media from playing. You may be able to fix the issue by disabling one of the plugins.
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- In the list of plugins, select the plugin you wish to troubleshoot.
- If you want to disable the plugin, click the button.
- If you want to re-enable the plugin, click the button
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- In the list of plugins, select the plugin you wish to troubleshoot.
- If you want to disable the plugin, select in its drop-down menu.
- If you want to re-enable the plugin, select in its drop-down menu.
For example, you may need to disable the VLC plugin to play embedded QuickTime or Windows Media content. For more information about troubleshooting problems caused by plugins, see the Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems article.
Other solutions
Clear the cache
See How to clear the Firefox cache.
Disable interfering extensions or ad-blocking software
- Ad-blocking software, such as anti-banner filters of your Internet Security program, or extensions, such as Flashblock or Adblock Plus, can prevent audio or video content from playing. If the site works with ad-blocking disabled, you may want to add the site to your whitelist in your adblocker filter.
- Any Firefox extension can also block plugins. If the video or audio plays when you disable all extensions, then one of your extensions was causing the problem. For more information, see Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems.
Check some Firefox settings
- Verify that cookies are enabled in the Privacy panel in the OptionsPreferences window. Verify that the site is not blocked in the Cookie Exceptions list.
- Allow the website as an exception in the Firefox pop-up blocker. The "Block pop-up windows" option is found in the Content panel of the OptionsPreferences window.
- Verify that JavaScript is enabled in the Content panel of the OptionsPreferences window.
Remove specific entries in the hosts file (advanced users)
If you use a hosts file, you can temporarily disable it by renaming it Xhosts. Or, you can edit the hosts file to remove specific entries such as ad.doubleclick.net that can cause videos on certain sites to fail (for more information, see this MozillaZine forum thread). To apply changes to your hosts file, you may need to flush the DNS cache by entering the command: ipconfig /flushdns
in the Run dialog box on Windows.
Based on information from Video or audio does not play (mozillaZine KB)