How to Stop Videos Auto Playing in Your Browser

Recently I’ve been noticing many popular websites running auto play content when I open them up. This is especially annoying when I open up several tabs simultaneously, because I have to run through each window to identify the culprit and stop it from auto playing. Despite the fact that Chrome’s browser tab notifies pages that have playing media, the problem does not get solved. Thankfully, a simple browser tweak solved this problem for me and should do for you too. Here’s what you need to do to stop videos from auto playing in your browser.

How to Stop Videos Auto Playing in Chrome

If you are using Chrome for all your browsing requirements, here’s what you need to do:

1. Click the Customize and control Google Chrome button and choose Settings.

2.  Scroll down the Settings page and select Show advanced settings.

3. In the Privacy section, click Content Settings.

4. In the Content settings pop up window, scroll down to the Plug-ins section and select the Click to play option.

If you wish to auto play videos from specific sites such as YouTube, you can click Manage exceptions and add the domains that you don’t want this setting applied to.

5. Click Done and head over to the web page that auto played content before. You’ll notice that the videos no longer auto play.

How to Stop Videos Auto Playing in Firefox

If Firefox is your browser of choice, here’s what you need to do.

1. Open Firefox and type about:config in the Address bar. Press Enter.

2. In the pop-up window that says “This might void your warranty!, click “Ill be careful, I promise!.

3. In the Search box type click_ to_ play.

4. The Search result will throw up an item. Double click it to set its value to False and then close the window.

Unlike Chrome, you don’t have the option to manage exceptions so you may have to manually set the option for any future visits( when you browse a particular site).

How to Stop Videos Auto Playing in Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer users, here’s what you need to do.

1. Open Internet Explorer and click the Cog wheel button at the top right of the screen and then choose Manage add-ons.

2.  In the Manage add-ons window, in the Add-on Types section, click the Show: drop-down list and select All add-ons.

3. Scroll down to the Shockwave Flash Object section, right click it and select More Information.

4. In the More Information window, click Remove all sites.

The next time you visit a a website that has auto-play content, the browser will ask if you want to enable it for that site. If you do so, it will stay enabled every time you visit that site, and not for just one browsing session.

That’s it! Now that you learned how to stop videos auto playing content on your web browser, you can enjoy uninterrupted, distraction free browsing everyday!