Firefox Now Lets Videos Stay in Picture-in-Picture When You Switch Tabs

Firefox is adding a new option that helps users keep videos visible in a Picture-in-Picture window when they switch tabs. Automatic Picture-in-Picture opens a small floating window on its own when the tab with a playing video moves into the background. This gives users a way to follow videos while browsing other pages.

Different browsers handle this feature in different ways. Chrome and Microsoft Edge support Picture-in-Picture, but they do not open it on their own when the user leaves the tab. Comet Browser is one of the few browsers that includes an automatic PiP option by default. Firefox now adds a similar control inside its settings.

The latest Firefox Nightly now shows a new preference on the General page in Settings.

The new checkbox appears under the Picture-in-Picture controls as “Keep playing videos in Picture-in-Picture when switching tabs.” When users enable it, Firefox opens a PiP window on its own if a playing video moves into the background.

Mozilla offered an earlier version of this idea inside Firefox Labs. That experiment used the name “Picture-in-Picture: auto-open on tab switch.” It required users to turn on Labs first. Mozilla has now moved this feature out of Firefox Labs and placed it in the Browsing section on the General page.

Users who want this behaviour can open Settings > General > Browsing and turn on the new checkbox under “Enable Picture-in-Picture video controls.” The feature is optional.

Auto PiP is available by default in Firefox 147 Nightly and could appear in a future release for all users.

Firefox is also testing tab notes, custom hotkeys, and a local backup feature for Windows 10.