How to Disable Autoplay Videos on Chrome, Firefox and Edge

Apr. 17, 2021

Autoplaying videos on websites can be a real nuisance, eating up valuable data and slowing down your internet connection. It is an even bigger problem when videos play in the background, especially on sites that autoplay one video after another without permission. If you are tired of websites following this practice, today we will show you how to disable autoplay videos on your web browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge). This guide will help you get rid of one of the biggest annoyances on the Internet.

This tutorial will show you how to disable autoplay videos on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge on desktops and mobile. So without further ado, let’s get going.

Google Chrome does not offer a built-in method to disable autoplay videos. You can only mute autoplay videos by going toSettings -> Site Settings -> Additional Content Settings -> Sound, but that option mutes all videos globally (on all websites), which breaks media functionality on all websites, including YouTube and Twitch. So to disable autoplay videos on Chrome on desktop, you need to use a third-party extension.

Add Autoplay Stopper to Google Chrome(Free)

Like on desktops, Google Chrome on mobile also no longer blocks autoplay videos. You could once block autoplay media in Chrome for Android, but the feature has since been deprecated. You can still mute videos on Google Chrome for Android (Settings -> Site Settings -> Sound), but again, it will mute all videos on all websites every time.

Unlike Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox offers you built-in options to disable autoplay media on both desktops and mobile.

Here’s how you can disable autoplay videos on Firefox in Windows 10:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox on your computer and click on thehamburger menuat the top-right corner. Now select‘Options’from the drop-down menu.

2. On the Options window, selectPrivacy and Securityfrom the left sidebar. Under the‘Permissions’section on the right pane, click on‘Settings…’next to Autoplay.

3. On the popup window, click on the drop-down menu next to ‘Default for all websites’ and select‘Block Audio and Video’. Make sure to save your changes using the blue‘Save Changes’button at the bottom.

4. When Firefox is blocking media on a website (say, on YouTube), you’ll see a special icon [1] in the address bar. Click on that icon to open the Site Information drop-down panel, where you canselect the ‘Allow Audio and Video’ optionfrom the drop-down menu next to ‘Autoplay’ to whitelist the site. That means videos will autoplay the next time you visit the website unless you manually remove the site from your whitelist.

5. For even more comprehensive autoplay blocking options on Firefox, you will need to tweak a few settings in about:config. To do that, type about:config in the Firefox address bar and hit Enter. To dismiss the warning and access advanced settings, click on ‘Accept the Risk and Continue‘.

6. On the about:config page, search formedia.autoplayusing the dedicated search bar at the top. Now change the following options:

This should stop all autoplay videos globally on all websites in Mozilla Firefox on your Windows 10 or macOS computer.

Like its desktop counterpart, Firefox on mobile also offers a built-in option to disable autoplay videos on websites. Here’s how you can access the feature:

1. Open Firefox on your Android phone and tap on thethree-dots menuat the top-right corner. From the popup menu, selectSettings.

2. On the Settings page, select ‘Site permissions’ and then tap on the‘Autoplay’option on the next page.

3. Finally, select the “Block audio and video” option as we did on the desktop browser.

Microsoft hasended support for Edge Legacy. The latest version of Microsoft Edge is based on Chromium, just like Google Chrome. However, unlike the latter, it offers a built-in option to disable autoplay media on both desktops and mobile. Here, we will show you how to disable autoplay videos in Microsoft Edge both on Windows 10 and Android.

By default, Microsoft Edge only allows you to ‘Limit’ autoplay on websites. However, you can use aMicrosoft Edge flagto ‘Block’ all autoplay videos. Here’s how:

1. First off, open Microsoft Edge on your computer. Now type-inedge://flags/in the address bar and hit Enter. On the Edge flags page, search for ‘autoplay’. You should find a single entry:Show block option in autoplay settings. Use the drop-down menu next to it to change the value to ‘Enabled‘. Restart your browser.

2. Now type inedge://settings/content/mediaAutoplayin the address bar and hit Enter. Here, you will find the “Control if audio and video play automatically on sites” option. Use the drop-down menu to change the setting to ‘Block’. The change will be auto-saved, and videos no longer autoplay on websites.

Note:Without the first step, you will only find two options under Autoplay – ‘Allow’ and ‘Limit’. The ‘Block’ option will only show up once you enable the ‘Show Block Option’ flag.

Here’s how to disable autoplay videos in Microsoft Edge on Android:

1. Open Microsoft Edge on your Android phone or tablet. Tap on thethree-dots menuat the bottom and select‘Settings’from the slide-out panel.

2. On the Settings page, tap onSite permissions. On the next page, scroll down and selectMedia.

3. On the Media settings page, you will see that the‘Autoplay’option is enabled by default. To disable this option, tap on it and switch off the toggle on the next page.

That’s it. Now no media (audio or video) will autoplay on any website while surfing the internet on Microsoft Edge for Android.

Reclaim Your Sanity by Stopping Autoplay Videos on Your Web Browser

Autoplay video and audio can be a real pain while surfing the web, so we hope that our tutorial will help you get rid of that annoyance for good. Now that you know how to end this nuisance while surfing the internet, you should also check out how you can get rid of other annoyances. On your Windows 10 computer, learn how todisable notificationsandremove all adsfrom the OS. Meanwhile, if you are concerned by the lack of power-user options and privacy-related complaints, check outChrome alternativeson desktop and thebest browsers for privacyon Android and iOS.

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