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HTMLMediaElement.canPlayType

The HTMLMediaElement.canPlayType() method determines whether the specified media type can be played back.

Note: This feature is not available in Web Workers.

Syntax

str = audioOrVideo.canPlayType(mediaType);

Parameters

mediaType: A DOMString containing the MIME type of the media.

Return value

A String. Possible values are:

'probably': The specified media type appears to be playable.
'maybe': Cannot tell if the media type is playable without playing it.
'' (empty string): The specified media type definitely cannot be played.

Note: Previously canPlayType('video/webm') returned 'probably'. Starting with Gecko 28 (Firefox 28 / Thunderbird 28 / SeaMonkey 2.25 / Firefox OS 1.3), it returns 'maybe'. (bug 884275)

Example

var obj = document.createElement('video');
console.log(obj.canPlayType('video/mp4')); // "maybe"

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living Standard The definition of 'canplaytype' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5 The definition of 'HTMLMediaElement.canplaytype' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	Yes	Yes	3.5	9	Yes	Yes

	Mobile
	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Edge Mobile	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	iOS Safari	Samsung Internet
Basic support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?