CSS animation-play-state

The CSS animation-play-state property allows you to specify whether an animation is running or paused.

An animation that is running can be paused by setting the animation-play-state property to paused. To continue running the animation, the property can be set to running.

This property can be used by scripts - such as JavaScript - to run/pause an animation or to find out what state the animation is currently in (i.e. running or paused).

A paused animation will continue to display the current value of the animation in a static state, as if the time of the animation is constant. When a paused animation is resumed, it restarts from the current value, not necessarily from the beginning of the animation.

Syntax

CSS Syntax:

JavaScript Syntax:

Possible Values

running

Plays the animation.

paused

Pauses the animation.

In addition, all CSS properties also accept the following CSS-wide keyword values as the sole component of their property value:

initial

Represents the value specified as the property's initial value.

inherit

Represents the computed value of the property on the element's parent.

unset

This value acts as either inherit or initial, depending on whether the property is inherited or not. In other words, it sets all properties to their parent value if they are inheritable or to their initial value if not inheritable.

Basic Property Information

Example Code

Basic CSS

JavaScript

Here's an example of a script that can be used to change the animation play state:

Working Example within an HTML Document

CSS Specifications

• This property is defined in CSS Animations Level 1 (W3C Working Draft)

Browser Support

Browser support for CSS properties can vary, particularly for newer or experimental features. Check current browser compatibility before using a property in production, especially when supporting older browsers.

The following table provided by Caniuse.com shows the level of browser support for this feature.

Initial Value

CSS properties have an initial value that applies when the property has not been explicitly set. The initial value is different from the value inherited from a parent element and may vary between properties.

Inheritance

Some CSS properties inherit their computed value from their parent element by default, while others do not. The inherit, initial, unset, and revert keywords can also be used to control how a property gets its value.

Vendor Prefixes

Most modern CSS properties use the standard, unprefixed syntax. Vendor-prefixed properties such as -webkit- are mainly relevant to older browser versions or specific features and should only be used when required by your browser support targets.