Source: https://mindstamp.com/help/how-to-use-interactive-video-branching
Generated from the Help Center records: 2026-10-05

# How do I use video branching?

Topic: [Interactions and logic](https://mindstamp.com/help/interactions) · Updated: 2026-09-25

## Short answer

Branching sends each viewer to different content based on what they choose. In Mindstamp you branch with two click actions: **Switch Video** moves the viewer to another Mindstamp video, and **Change Time** moves the viewer to another point in the same video. Video branching is included on every plan.

## Steps

1. Decide whether each branch is a separate video or a section of one long video.
2. Publish every video that a viewer can reach. A branch to an unpublished video does not run.
3. In the video that holds the choice, add one button, hotspot, image, or text interaction for each option. You can also use a multiple-choice question and set an **Action** on each answer.
4. Open the interaction, go to **Content**, and set **Click Action** to **Switch Video** (then **Select Video**) or **Change Time** (then **Select Time**).
5. To branch without a click, click **More** in the add bar, then choose **Switch Video** or **Change Time** under **Playback & Navigation**. This adds a navigation that runs at its time.
6. Open **More** in the video menu and choose **See branching** to check the map of video-to-video paths.
7. Click **Preview** and follow every path to its end.

![Mindstamp button editor with Click Action set to Switch Video, Dishwasher Drain Branch chosen as the video, and the Switch Time field highlighted](https://cdn.mindstamp.com/website2026/help/switch-video-action.webp)

_Set Click Action to Switch Video, choose the destination video, and set where it starts._

## Switch Video or Change Time

Use **Switch Video** when your branches are separate files. Each video has its own report, so you can see who reached each branch. Each branch video also counts toward the videos in your library.

Use **Change Time** when all branches are sections of one file. The viewer stays in one video, so the branches do not use extra library videos, and the whole path is recorded in one view.

## Start the destination at a chosen time

After you select a destination for **Switch Video**, set **Switch Time** to start the destination video at a point other than 0:00. Use this to skip an intro that the viewer already saw.

## Send viewers back

The **Switch to Previous Video** action returns the viewer to the video they came from, at the time they left it. Use it for a short detour, such as a product demo, that should return to the main story.

The **End Screen** tab also has **Switch Video (Automatic)** and **Show Button: Switch Video**, so the end of one video can lead to the next.

## Keep what the viewer told you

Variables that a viewer sets in one video go with them when they switch. The next video can greet them by name or show only the options that fit their earlier answers. See [Do variables carry over when a viewer switches videos?](https://mindstamp.com/help/do-variables-persist-across-branches).

## Test before you share

- Mindstamp lists unpublished destinations under **Unpublished Video Branches**. Publish them, or the switch does not take place.
- In the editor, an automatic switch shows **Automatic Branching Choice**, so you can stay on the video you are editing. Use **Preview** to test the real viewer path.
- Test each path on a phone as well as a computer.

## Go further

- [Video branching](https://mindstamp.com/features/video-branching)
- [Branching tutorial](https://mindstamp.com/tutorials/branching)

## Related answers

- [Do variables carry over when a viewer switches videos?](https://mindstamp.com/help/do-variables-persist-across-branches)
- [Why won’t my Switch Video action change the video?](https://mindstamp.com/help/my-change-video-is-showing-could-not-change-video-why)
- [What does Change Time do?](https://mindstamp.com/help/understanding-the-change-time-feature-in-mindstamp)
- [What counts as a video toward my plan limit?](https://mindstamp.com/help/what-counts-as-a-video)

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