Safari video autoplay not working
How to turn off autoplay videos on Facebook, Twitter, Firefox, and moreTurn off this annoying and potentially harmful feature Show
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Youve probably been caught off guard by videos that play automatically on Facebook, Twitter, or just across the internet in general. They begin playing as soon as you load a page or (if theyre more deviously implemented) when you start scrolling through a page. Automatic video play is a feature that, while nice to have when its surfacing content thats related to your interests, can be pretty annoying. Autoplay videos can be harmful, too, exposing you to violent, offensive, or otherwise unwanted content that you shouldnt have to see by default. Whether you just want to put an end to autoplay videos on social media platforms or are looking for a more comprehensive fix, weve got some tips. Keep in mind that youll need to adjust these settings for every device that you use, since your preferences on, say, your phone do not automatically push to your PC.
Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge
If youre using Facebook on your browser, you can turn off autoplay videos this way:
Facebook has similar options available for its iOS and Android apps: Using the iOS app
Using the Android app
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Using the iOS and Android apps
Instagram doesnt allow for autoplay videos to be turned off, so youll have to tread carefully here. Videos wont autoplay with sound if you use Instagram on your browser. Stopping autoplay on mobile devices is possible, but a little roundabout. Using a mobile app
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Reddit, like most sites that host video, autoplays videos by default. However, its pretty easy to turn it off. Using the newest design
Using the legacy version
Using the mobile app
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Desktop browsersThere are a variety of desktop browsers out there some of which let you turn off video autoplay and some of which dont. Using Google ChromeIf you use Google Chrome and want to turn off video autoplay you cant. There used to be an experimental command-line flag that allowed you to turn them off (you can find the flags by typing chrome://flags/ into Chromes address field), but its disappeared. You can turn the sound off (which might help a bit):
Using Microsoft EdgeInterestingly, Microsofts Edge browser, which is also based on the Chromium open-source design, does let you turn off well, at least, limit video autoplay:
You can either allow audio and video to play automatically or limit it. According to the instructions, whether autoplay will work or not will depend on how youve visited the page and whether you interacted with media in the past. Using FirefoxFirefox has a similar feature that lets you turn off autoplay, for the most part.
A drop-down menu will let you allow audio and video, block audio, or block audio and video. You can also specify sites that you want to differ from your defaults for example, if you block audio and video as a default, but you want to allow it for, say, The Verge. Using SafariSafari makes it simple to disable autoplay. In fact, it assumes that you want the feature disabled to begin with. However, if it hasnt been disabled or if you want to make some exceptions to the rule heres what you do:
As with Firefox, you can whitelist any sites that you want to be an exception to the rule. Update September 4th, 2020 5:11PM ET: This article was originally published on March 15th, 2019. Most of the entries have been updated. Update April 15, 2021 5:30PM ET: Additional entries have been updated. Next Up In Tech
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