MediaRecorder: pause() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since April 2021.

The pause() method of the MediaRecorder interface is used to pause recording of media streams.

When a MediaRecorder object's pause() method is called, the browser queues a task that runs the below steps:

  1. If MediaRecorder.state is "inactive", raise a DOM InvalidState error and terminate these steps. If not, continue to the next step.
  2. Set MediaRecorder.state to "paused".
  3. Stop gathering data into the current Blob, but keep it available so that recording can be resumed later on.
  4. Raise a pause event.

Syntax

js
pause()

Parameters

None.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

InvalidStateError DOMException

Thrown if the MediaRecorder is currently "inactive"; you cannot pause the recording if the MediaRecorder is not active. If you call pause() while already paused, the method silently does nothing.

Examples

js
pause.onclick = () => {
  mediaRecorder.pause();
  console.log("recording paused");
};

Specifications

Specification
MediaStream Recording
# dom-mediarecorder-pause

Browser compatibility

See also