On their pages, many websites on the internet use autoplay videos. These are usually revenue-generating advertisements. However, because these videos play automatically, many people may find them irritating. Fortunately, you can configure your browser to prevent videos from automatically playing on websites. In this article, we’ll look at how to disable video autoplay in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox.
Stop Autoplay for Videos in Google Chrome
If you have limited bandwidth, you may be irritated by videos that begin playing as soon as you open a webpage. Fortunately, you can easily prevent your browser from automatically playing videos on websites. Read on for detailed instructions for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
On Windows and Mac,
Unfortunately, Google Chrome does not provide a dedicated option to disable video autoplay. Instead, you can mute the audio in videos to make them less annoying. Alternatively, as shown below, you can use third-party extensions to disable auto-playback.
- Mute the audio in autoplay videos.
- Launch Google Chrome on your Mac or Windows computer.
- Click the three-dot menu in the upper right corner.
- Choose Privacy and Security from the left-hand sidebar.
- Navigate to Site Settings > Extra Content Settings > Sound.
- Select Sites should not be allowed to play sound.
Using an Extension, you can disable autoplay in Chrome.
Several third-party Chrome extensions allow you to disable autoplay for videos on websites. Autoplay Stopper is one such extension that works quite well. These extensions are also compatible with other Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge and Brave.
Here’s how to put it to use:
- Install the AutoplayStopper extension from the Chrome Web Store.
- Tap the extension icon in the toolbar once it has been added.
- To disable autoplay videos on all websites, select Disable Everywhere.
Android and iOS
You can no longer stop videos from playing on their own in Chrome mobile, as you can in Chrome for PC. However, you can mute videos in Chrome for Android, which will mute the sound on all websites by default.
- Launch Google Chrome on your Android device.
- Select Settings from the three-dot menu at the top right.
- Select Site Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Select Sound and deactivate the toggle.
Stop Autoplay for Videos in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge is built on the Chromium engine, which is also used by Google Chrome. It does, however, allow users to disable autoplay, giving it an advantage over the latter.
Method 1 on Windows and Mac:
Disable Autoplay Media Using Flags
By default, Microsoft Edge allows you to limit autoplay, which means that media will be blocked based on what you previously blocked on sites. However, the option to completely disable auto-playing videos is currently hidden under flags.
To enable the option to block media autoplay, you must first enable the flag, as shown below:
- In the address bar of Microsoft Edge, type edge:/flags.
- Search for “autoplay” once the flags page has loaded.
- In the autoplay settings, look for the Show block option flag.
- Tap the drop-down menu to the right of it. Set it to Enabled.
- Finally, you should restart your browser.
- Now, in the address bar, copy and paste edge:/settings/content/mediaAutoplay. It will take you to the page where you can configure the media autoplay settings.
- Select Control if audio and video play automatically on sites from the drop-down menu.
- Change it to Block.
Method 2: Make Use of the Windows Registry
If you’re logged into the administrator account, you can also disable autoplay in Microsoft Edge via the Windows registry. Follow the steps below:
- To open Run, press Win + R on your keyboard.
- Enter Regedit into the search box.
- Navigate to the following path in the registry editor: HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge.
- Right-click on the right panel and select New > DWORD 32-bit Value from the menu that appears.
- Change the name of the Value to AutoplayAllowed.
- To disable autoplay, set the Value data to 0. Set the value to 1 to allow.
Android and iOS
Unfortunately, there is no built-in option to disable the autoplay video feature in the mobile version of Edge browser on Android or iOS.
In Mozilla Firefox, disable video autoplay.
In contrast to Chrome, Mozilla Firefox provides a direct option to disable autoplay videos. By default, the browser disables audio for videos that play automatically. You can completely disable them by following the steps outlined below.
Method 1 (Windows and Mac): Disable Autoplay in Settings.
- Launch the Firefox browser on your computer.
- Select Settings from the hamburger menu in the upper right corner.
- Choose Privacy & Security from the left-hand sidebar.
- Scroll down to the Permissions section.
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu next to Autoplay.
- Select Block Audio and Video from the drop-down menu at the top.
- At the bottom, click Save Changes.
Allow Certain Websites to Autoplay
When Firefox is actively blocking media on a website, a special icon will appear in the URL bar. You can change the autoplay settings for that website by clicking that icon. Any website for which you have set exceptions can be viewed and managed in the autoplay settings.
Method No. 2: Using an Add-On Or Extension
The method described above disables autoplay on all websites. If it does not work for some reason, you can use a third-party extension to complete the task.
- In Firefox, go to the Disable HTML5 Autoplay add-on page.
- Select Add to Firefox. Tap Add once more.
- Once added, you can disable autoplay for websites you visit by clicking the add-on icon in the toolbar.
Method 3: Disable autoplay completely.
By changing the configuration, you can force Firefox to block autoplay on your Windows or Mac computer.
In the address bar, type about:config and press enter.
When prompted, tap Accept the Risk and continue.
On the following page, use the search bar to look for “media.autoplay.”
Change the following options:
- media.autoplay.default = 5 (0: allow; 1: block audible; 2: prompt; 5: block all)
- media.autoplay.blocking_policy = 2
- media.autoplay.allow-extension-background-pages = false
- media.autoplay.block-event.enabled = true
That’s all. Firefox will now prevent all media from automatically playing on your computer.
On Android
- Launch the Firefox browser on your Android device.
- Click the three-dot menu at the top or bottom right of the screen.
- Navigate to Settings > Site Permissions.
- Select Autoplay from the drop-down menu.
- Change the setting to Block audio and video.
- Select Block audio and video on mobile data only if you only want autoplay to stop when you’re using mobile data.
When using iOS,
Unlike the Android version, Mozilla Firefox for iOS does not allow you to disable video autoplay. However, if you use Safari and find that videos bother you, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion. Disable Auto-Play Video Previews here.
Autoplay Videos in Social Media Apps and Websites
Popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube provide dedicated options to prevent content from automatically playing on their platforms. So, if you’re annoyed by automatically playing videos or concerned about using up too much data bandwidth, read a detailed guide on how to block autoplay videos on social media here.
