Despite the researches into pre-service teachers' perception of online learning has been extensively undertaken during the pandemic COVID-19, little empirical evidence addresses their perception of the learning basic needs during the pandemic COVID-19 in Indonesia. To fill this void, this study aims to explore how Arabic pre-service teachers perception on online learning during the pandemic. Observations and in-depth interviews were carried out in the data collection process. The results of the study indicate that Arabic pre-service teachers' perceptions relating to the basic needs of online learning consist of four things; competence, arousal, self-determination, and relatedness. Finally, this research implies not only contextual but also empirical and policy contributions.