You can link two pads with: GstPad *srcpad, *sinkpad; srcpad = gst_element_get_pad (element1, "src"); sinpad = gst_element_get_pad (element2, "sink"); // link them gst_pad_link (srcpad, sinkpad); .... // and unlink them gst_pad_unlink (srcpad, sinkpad); A convenient shortcut for the above code is done with the gst_element_link_pads () function: // link them gst_element_link_pads (element1, "src", element2, "sink"); .... // and unlink them gst_element_unlink_pads (element1, "src", element2, "sink"); An even more convenient shortcut for single-source, single-sink elements is the gst_element_link () function: // link them gst_element_link (element1, element2); .... // and unlink them gst_element_unlink (element1, element2); If you have more than one element to link, the gst_element_link_many () function takes a NULL-terminated list of elements: // link them gst_element_link_many (element1, element2, element3, element4, NULL); .... // and unlink them gst_element_unlink_many (element1, element2, element3, element4, NULL); You can query if a pad is linked with GST_PAD_IS_LINKED (pad). To query for the GstPad a pad is linked to, use gst_pad_get_peer (pad). You can also force a specific media type on the link by using gst_pad_link_filtered () and gst_element_link_filtered () with capabilities. See for an explanation of capabilities.