:paused CSS pseudo-class
Baseline 2026
Newly available
Since August 2026, this feature works across the latest devices and browser versions. This feature might not work in older devices or browsers.
Want more browser support for this feature? Tell us why.
The :paused CSS pseudo-class selector represents an element that is playable, such as <audio> or <video>, when that element is "paused" (i.e., not "playing").
A resource is paused if the user explicitly paused it, or if it is in a non-activated or other non-playing state, like "loaded, hasn't been activated yet".
This is different from :buffering or :stalled, which are states that occur while the resource is considered "playing".
Syntax
css
:paused {
/* ... */
}
Examples
CSS
css
:paused {
border: 5px solid orange;
}
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| Selectors Level 4 # selectordef-paused |
| HTML # selector-paused |