What is Picture-in-Picture (PiP)?

Picture-in-Picture is a browser feature that lets you pop a video out of the current tab into a small floating window that stays on top of everything else on your screen. You can move it anywhere, resize it, and keep watching while browsing other tabs, writing documents, or doing anything else on your computer — the video stays visible the whole time.

PiP is built into all modern desktop browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) through a standardized web API. It requires no plugins or extensions, and the floating window is managed entirely by the operating system, so it persists even when you switch applications.

Tool description

This tool loads any direct video URL into an HTML5 player and lets you launch it in Picture-in-Picture mode with one click. Paste a link to a publicly accessible video file, load it, and press "Launch Picture-in-Picture" to detach the video into a floating overlay window.

Supported formats

Any video format that your browser's native HTML5 player supports:

  • MP4 (H.264 / H.265) — universally supported
  • WebM (VP8 / VP9 / AV1) — supported in Chrome, Firefox, Edge
  • OGG / OGV (Theora) — supported in Firefox and Chrome
  • MOV — supported in Safari; limited support elsewhere
  • M4V — supported in most Chromium-based browsers and Safari

The video file must be served over HTTP/HTTPS and the server must allow cross-origin requests (CORS) for the browser to load it.

How it works

  1. The URL you enter is loaded as the src of a standard HTML5 <video> element.
  2. When you click "Launch Picture-in-Picture", the browser calls the native requestPictureInPicture() API on that element.
  3. The browser detaches the video into a floating window managed by the OS window manager.
  4. Clicking "Exit Picture-in-Picture" (or the close button on the floating window) calls exitPictureInPicture() and returns the video to the player.

Features

  • One-click PiP launch and exit directly from the browser — no extensions needed
  • Works with any publicly accessible direct video URL
  • 16:9 aspect ratio player with full native controls (play, pause, seek, volume, fullscreen)
  • Automatically starts playback before entering PiP so the video is not frozen
  • Detects if PiP is unsupported in the current browser and shows a clear message

Use cases

  • Watch a tutorial video in a floating window while following along in a code editor or another browser tab
  • Monitor a live stream or recorded video feed while working in other applications
  • Keep a video reference visible while editing documents, spreadsheets, or design files

Limitations

  • The video server must allow the file to be fetched from a different origin (CORS headers required). Many CDNs and direct file hosts already do this; some do not.
  • PiP is not available in all browsers — notably some mobile browsers and older desktop versions do not support the API.
  • Streaming playlist formats such as HLS (.m3u8) and DASH (.mpd) are not supported directly; only progressive download URLs work.

FAQ

Why does the video fail to load? The server hosting the video may not include the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header that allows cross-origin loading, or the URL may require authentication. Try a direct public link to a video file.

Why is the PiP button disabled? You need to load a video first by entering a URL and clicking "Load Video". The button becomes active once a source is set.

Does this work on mobile? The Picture-in-Picture API has limited support on mobile browsers. On iOS, Safari supports PiP for videos but the behavior may differ. On Android, Chrome may support it depending on the version and OS settings.