🔷How to Stop Autoplaying Videos in Chrome

Updated September 4, 2022 by Steve Larner

While it doesn't sound too problematic, autoplaying videos on web pages can get extremely boring over time. They slow down your browsing experience, annoy you, and distract you when you repeatedly try to close or stop them. A loud advertisement may appear suddenly and surprise you for no reason. Worse still, you may not want people around you to know that you are browsing the web, especially at 3 a.m. or when someone is studying. Additionally, a website can use autoplay for inappropriate content that may or may not be under its control. If that's not enough, there are plenty of autoplay videos that follow you (in small format) as you scroll down the page. Finally, videos eat up your data bandwidth over time, and slow connections make the situation worse.

This article discusses the ability to stop videos from autoplaying in Chrome.

Is it possible to disable autoplay videos in Chrome?

To get straight to the point, you can't currently disable autoplay on websites while using Chrome, at least not through the built-in settings. Ever since Google removed the autoplay option, Chrome users have been left with no solution. On the other hand, Chrome is one of the few browsers that does not support disabling autoplay videos.

Anyway, there are several options available for each device.

First, you can find a current extension that will disable autoplaying videos, although they are constantly being abandoned by developers due to Chrome's ever-changing design and updates that prevent them from working properly. .

Second, you can mute the sound on chosen websites so that auto-playing videos are less distracting and boring.

The only thing Chrome users can do is reduce the impact of those annoying autoplay videos when surfing the web, and the above two options help you.

Here's a breakdown of the two options for controlling autoplay videos in Chrome on various devices.

How to Disable Chrome Autoplay Videos on Websites in Windows 10

You can't prevent videos from autoplaying in Chrome with built-in settings, but you can use third-party extensions. That's assuming you find one. They are often abandoned or removed by the creator/developer due to Chrome updates and changes that consistently prevent the app from working properly. The disappearance of Flash and the move to HTML5 also play a role in anti-autoplay extensions.

Why does this happen? It might be because autoplay videos are a big money maker for Google as they get their share of the cut. This statement is only speculation, but what else could it be? Google Chrome used to have this feature and then removed it, driving thousands of people to different browsers that offer to stop autoplay on websites.

Here are some current extensions that stop autoplaying videos in Chrome on Windows 10.

#1. Stop Auto Play

AutoplayStopper is a Chrome extension that automatically pauses all autoplay videos in a webpage. The app was updated on July 27, 2022, making it the latest extension to choose from. This application blocks old Flash video and new HTML5 video tags. Customization options include allowing certain web pages to autoplay while blocking the rest, disabling autoplay everywhere, and blocking Flash detection when pages load. You can also change a page's setting on a session-by-session basis, which means it will revert the next time the page is opened.

2. Disable Autoplay HTML5 (Reloaded)

The Disable HTML5 Autoplay (Reloaded) extension for Chrome is an application that not only blocks HTML5 autoplay, but also connects to the JavaScript API to control simulated behaviors and allow media control restrictions. The app was last updated on January 28, 2022, so it may or may not work for your needs.

3. HTML5 Autoplay Blocker

HTML5 Autoplay Blocker is a Chrome extension focused on blocking autoplay videos using HTML5, which replaces the old Flash options. Note that this app is no longer supported and the last update was on December 24, 2022. Regardless of the current status, you can try this one, but it only blocks HTML5 video tags. Therefore, older and outdated web pages may still play some videos automatically if they used Flash and are currently installed on your PC.

How to Mute Audio on Autoplay Videos Using Chrome on Android

Since you cannot disable autoplay videos with pre-built settings in Chrome on Android, muting the sound on them is a valid alternative. To do this, follow the steps below.

Open the Chrome browser on your Android phone or tablet.
Tap the Options icon in the upper right corner (three vertical dots).
In the menu that appears, tap Settings near the bottom.
This will open a new Settings page tab, tap Site Settings.
Tap Sound.
On the toggle switch next to “Allow sites to play audio,” tap the "slide" to disable the option "off" to disable all sites or "on" to add site exceptions that will be disabled. Press on “ADD A SITE EXCEPTION” if you have activated the function.
If you enabled or left the option above, add the URL and press " To add. »

Now whenever a video starts autoplaying on the specified website, you will not be disturbed by the sound.

If you find a handful of annoying sites, you can easily disable them by repeating the above process.

How to Mute Audio on Autoplay Videos Using Chrome on iOS/iPhone

Like Android, you can't mute autoplay videos with presets, but you can mute audio. Here's how.

Start the Google Chrome app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap the three vertical dots to open the Options menu.
Now tap on Settings.
This opens the Settings page. Tap the Privacy & Security option from the left menu.
Tap Site Settings on the main screen.
Now tap on Additional content settings.
Tap Sound.
Next to the "Allow sites to play audio" option is a toggle switch. Turn it off to disable autoplay video sound on all websites or turn it on to add exceptions that don't play sound.

There is also a Mute section in the Sound menu which allows you to mute only specific websites. For example, you might not be against autoplaying videos, just one or two websites that are pretty aggressive with these videos. In this case, you can disable only these websites while leaving the others alone.

How to Mute Audio on Autoplay Videos Using Chrome on Windows 10

Disabling autoplay videos in Chrome for Windows 10 is also not possible unless you try one of the available Chrome extensions, but you can disable audio by following similar steps as in the mobile version.

Open Google Chrome on your computer.
Click the three vertical dots icon in the upper right corner of Chrome.
In the menu that appears, click on the Settings option.
The Settings page will now load as a new tab in Chrome. In the left menu, click on Privacy and security.
From the main menu, click on the Site Settings option.
Now click on Additional Content Settings. It should be at the bottom of the page.
Click Sound.
Leave the “Allow sites to play…” option enabled. Mute sites that play sound by clicking the "Add" button next to the "Mute" option.

Of course, you can choose to add exceptions to the Mute list, which would allow you to mute a selection of websites. All other sites will play videos automatically as before. Just click Add in the Mute section and enter the site address.

How to Mute Audio on Autoplay Videos Using Chrome on Mac

Again, you can't disable autoplay videos on Chrome webpages with built-in options, but you can mute all websites in Chrome on your Mac computer by following the steps below.

Open Chrome on your Mac.
Click the three dots icon in the upper right corner of the Chrome window.
This will open the Chrome context menu. Find Settings at the bottom of the menu and click on it.
Chrome will now open the Settings page in a new tab.
Click Privacy & Security in the left menu.
Click on the Site Settings option on the main screen.
Further down the page you will find additional content settings. Click on it.
Click Sound.
Finally, enable the Mute function of sites that broadcast sound by clicking on the adjacent toggle.

Enabling the mute option for some websites turns off all audio to help solve the annoyance of forced videos, but the media still plays. For those who need audio, add them to the allow list in the Sound menu.

If you only come across a few websites that have autoplay videos, disabling all websites might not be the right solution for you. If so, you can mute only certain websites by adding them to the Mute list in the Sound menu.

How to Mute Audio on Autoplay Videos Using Chrome on a Chromebook

Compared to other platforms, muting websites is almost identical in Chromebooks. Since you can't disable autoplay in Chrome with the built-in settings, muting audio is your only direct option unless you get a video autoplay disable extension. Here's how to turn off Chrome sound in autoplay videos on a Chromebook.

Open Chrome on your Chromebook.
Click the three-dot menu in the upper right corner, then click Settings.
In the left menu, click on Privacy and security.
Now click on Site Settings on the main screen.
Tap Additional content settings.
Look for the Sound option and click on it.
The last step is to enable Mute sites playing sound options by clicking the toggle button.

Depending on your browsing preferences, you will probably need certain websites to play audio. To allow them to do so, add them to the green list. This assumes you have the sound option turned off. You can find it just below Mute sites that play sound options.

If you have no problem with most websites in this regard, you can eliminate those that you find objectionable. Rather than messing with Muted sites that broadcast sound, you would add these objectionable sites to the Mute list in the Sound menu. Like every time you come across a boring site.

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Hopefully, you now know how to alleviate the annoyance of autoplaying videos, either by using third-party extensions or disabling audio, because you can't actually eliminate them. Chrome lets you mute audio on any website. Sure, it would be much better if you could mute autoplay videos directly in Chrome, but mute is all you have other than old extensions. If you don't like the way Google chooses to crack down on autoplaying videos on websites, you can always switch to Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or another browser that supports this feature.

Did you manage to disable websites in Chrome? Is this a decent enough solution for you in the fight against autoplaying videos? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.