How to Turn Off Autoplay in Your Browser | WIRED

You can block media from autoplaying in the Edge settings. Microsoft Edge via David Nield. Microsoft Edge is based on the same Chromium code as ... SkiptomaincontentBackchannelBusinessCultureGearIdeasScienceSecurityPodcastsVideoArtificialIntelligenceClimateGamesNewslettersMagazineEventsWiredInsiderCouponsTheBestRobotVacuums7GoogleDocsProductivityTipsOurFavoriteOfficeChairsHowtoDownloadVideostoWatchOfflineBuyingGuidesGadgetLabNewsletterAtsomepoint,you'veprobablyhadyourwebbrowsingrudelyinterruptedbyanunexpectedburstofmusicorotheraudio—usuallyaccompanyingsomekindofvideocontentonthepagethatyou'reviewing.Sometimesthesevideosareadverts,sometimesthey'recontentpostedbyusers,buttheclipandtheaccompanyingsoundsthatgoalongwithitareoftennotwhatyouwanttofocuson.Theycanalsostartupatthemostinconvenienttimes:Youdon'twantanadblaringthroughyourlaptopspeakerswhenyou'restudyinginacoffeeshop,forexample.Itdoesn'thavetobethisway,becausetherearesettingsinallthepopularbrowsersthatcanstopthisbehavior.It'salsoworthcheckingthesettingsforthesitesyouusetoseeifthereareoptionsyoucantweak.InthecaseofYouTube,forexample,clickyourprofileavatar(topright),thenSettings.UnderPlaybackandperformance,turnofftheInlineplaybacktoggleswitchsovideosdon'tstartrunningasyouhoverthecursoroverthem.OnNetflix,clickyourprofileavatar(topright),thenAccount.Clickyouraccountname,thenChangenexttoPlaybacksettings,andunchecktheAutoplaypreviewswhilstbrowsingonalldevicesbox.Othersiteshavesimilarsettings,butifyoucan'tfindwhatyou'reafter,youcanmakesomechangesatthebrowserlevelaswell.GoogleChromeAutoplayStopperwillblockmediaasitattemptstoplay. AutoplayStopperviaDavidNieldWhiletherewas,onceuponatime,asettinginsideChrometostopvideoandaudiofromautoplayingassoonasapagewasloaded,it'snowbeenexcisedfromthebrowser.Togetthesameendresultsyouneedtoturntoathird-partybrowserextension,andoneofthebestisAutoplayStopper.It'sfree,it'ssimpletouse,anditdoesthejobeffectively.Videosstillshowuponscreen,butyou'reonlyshownastaticthumbnail—they'renotallowedtostartplayingwithoutyourapproval.Ifyoudecidethatyoudowanttoseeavideo,justclickonit.TheAutoplayStoppericonintheChrometoolbarkeepstrackofhowmanyvideoshavebeenblocked.Ifyouright-clickonitandchooseOptions,youcanaddparticularwebsitesthatyouwanttobeexemptfromtheAutoplayStopperrestrictions.ThereisonesettingbuiltintoChromethatyoucantakeadvantageof:Ifthere'soneparticularwebsitethat'salwaysinterruptingyourbrowsingwithaudiothatstartsupautomatically,right-clickonthebrowsertabatthetopandpickMutesite—youwon'thearapeepfromanymorepagesonthatparticularsite.AppleSafariSettingautoplayoptionsinSafarionmacOS. AppleviaDavidNieldTheoptionsbuiltintoSafaricoverthebasesprettywellwhenitcomestocontrollingautoplaybehavior—whichisjustaswell,asApple'sbrowserisn'taswellprovidedwiththird-partyextensionsassomeofitscompetitors.Tostopmediafromautomaticallyplayingonaspecificsiteinthebrowser,opentheSafarimenuandchooseSettingsfor...(thesitenamewillbelistedhere).NexttoAuto-Playyou'llseethattherearethreeoptions:AllowAllAuto-Play,StopMediawithSound(videoswithaudioareblocked),andNeverAuto-Play(allvideosareblocked).TocontrolautoplayinSafarimoregenerally,opentheSafarimenuandpickPreferences.OpentheAuto-Playtab,andyou'llseeyoucansettheoptionsforthesiteyou'recurrentlyon.Anysitesthatyou'vepreviouslycustomizedarelistedheretoo.Atthebottom,there'sanotherdrop-downmenuthatletsyouconfigureanywebsitesthathaven'tyetbeencustomizedindividually.Toremoveawebsite'sindividualsetting,clickonitsentryinthelistandthenchooseRemove.MozillaFirefoxFirefoxenablesyoutoblockaudioonitsown,orbothaudioandvideo. MozillaFirefoxviaDavidNieldFirefoxcomeswithaspecificsettingformediaautoplay,soyoudon'tnecessarilyhavetorelyonanextension.Tofindit,openthebrowsermenu(thethreehorizontallines,topright),thenchooseSettings,Privacy&security,andSettingsnexttoAutoplay.You'vegotthreeoptions,whicharefairlyself-explanatory:AllowAudioandVideo,BlockAudio,andBlockAudioandVideo.Thatmiddleoptiongivesyouanalternativebetweenthetwoextremesofallornothing—youcanuseitifyou'rehappyforvideostoplaysilentlyassoonasthey'reloadedonaparticularpage.Tomakeanexception,clicktheiconnexttoawebsiteURL(it'llusuallybeapadlock),thenclicktheconnectionlink,MoreInformationandPermissions:YoucanmakechangesunderAutoplay.There'salsotheoptiontoquicklymuteasitebyright-clickingonitstabandchoosingMuteTabfromthemenuthatpopsup.Witheverythinghandledbythebrowser,there'slessdemandforautoplayadd-ons,butyoucanstillfindonesthatapplytospecificsites:AutoplayNoMore,forexample,willstopvideosfromautomaticallyplayingonYouTube,Vimeo,andseveralothersites.MicrosoftEdgeYoucanblockmediafromautoplayingintheEdgesettings. MicrosoftEdgeviaDavidNieldMicrosoftEdgeisbasedonthesameChromiumcodeasGoogleChromethesedays,andsoyoucanusethesamebrowserextensionswithit.Ratherthanjustrecommendthesameadd-onasecondtimethough,we'llgiveyouanalternativetotry:VideoAutoplayBlocker.Itdoesexactlywhatitsnamemightsuggest,stoppingvideosfromplayingwithoutyourexpresspermission.Thatpermissioncanbegrantedbysimplyclickingonthevideoyouwanttowatch—anduntilthathappensyou'lljustseeastaticthumbnail.UnlikeChrome,Edgedoesstillhaveabuilt-insettingforcontrollingautoplayingmedia.Openthe"edge://flags"page,searchforShowblockoptioninautoplaysettings,andchangeittoEnabled.Youcanthenclickthethreedots(topright),Settings,Cookiesandsitepermissions,andMediaautoplay,andchangetheControlifaudioandvideoplayautomaticallyonsitesoptiontoBlock(orLimittobelessrestrictive).Finally,youcanquicklysilenceasiteinparticularbyright-clickingontheheaderofthetabthatit'sopeninandchoosingMutetab.Atthemomentyoucan'tmutesitesintheirentiretyusingtheintegratedoptionsinEdge,asyoucanwithChrome.MoreGreatWIREDStories📩Thelatestontech,science,andmore:Getournewsletters!Theaftermathofaself-drivingtragedyHowpeopleactuallymakemoneyfromcryptoThebestbinocularstozoominonreallifeFacebookhasachildpredationproblemMercurycouldbelitteredwithdiamonds👁️ExploreAIlikeneverbeforewithournewdatabase💻UpgradeyourworkgamewithourGearteam’sfavoritelaptops,keyboards,typingalternatives,andnoise-cancelingheadphonesTopicsBrowsersmultimediahow-totipsWIREDCOUPONSTurboTaxExtrasavingsupto$15withTurboTaxdiscountH&RBlockTaxTaxSeasonSale:Upto$23offH&RBlockOnlinetaxservicesFinishLineShopsaleshoesforunder$100fromFinishLineDoorDash50%offnextpurchaseswithDoorDashpromocodeGrouponExtra30%offyouronlineorderwithGrouponpromocodeExpediaExtra8%offyourhotelreservationwithExpediapromocode