Have you ever found yourself caught off guard by an unexpected burst of sound or a video that starts playing automatically while you’re browsing the web? The autoplay feature, while convenient in some instances, can prove to be annoying and disruptive in others. Luckily, you can easily disable autoplay for both audio and video content in Microsoft Edge with just a few simple steps.
Unwanted autoplay of content not just impacts your browsing experience but also results in higher-than-normal memory usage. This guide will lead you through various methods to halt autoplay for audio and video in Microsoft Edge. Let’s get started.
How to Disable or Limit Media Autoplay in Microsoft Edge
Blocking autoplay is an experimental feature in Microsoft Edge. To disable autoplay for audio and video, you must first activate the feature from the flags menu. Here’s how to proceed:
- Launch Microsoft Edge on your computer.
- Enter
edge://flagsin the URL bar at the top and hit Enter. This will take you to the flags menu.
- Enter “autoplay” in the search box located at the top.
- In the Available tab, locate the “Show block option in autoplay settings” flag. Click on the drop-down menu beside it and choose “Enabled.”
- To apply the changes, you need to restart the browser. Click the “Restart” button located in the bottom right corner to proceed with the restart.
After enabling the ‘Show block option in autoplay settings’ flag, you can disable autoplay for audio and video in Microsoft Edge from the Settings menu. Here are the steps:
- Launch Microsoft Edge. Then, click on the ellipsis icon (three dots) positioned in the top right corner, and choose “Settings” from the menu.
- Navigate to the ‘Cookies and site permissions’ tab using the left pane on the Settings page.
- Scroll down until you locate the “Media autoplay” option, then click on it.
- Select “Block” from the drop-down menu next to ‘Control if audio and video play automatically on sites’.
That’s it. Refresh all your tabs to apply the change, and autoplay for audio and video will be blocked in Microsoft Edge.
Alternatively, if you prefer not to disable the autoplay feature completely, Microsoft Edge also offers the option to limit autoplay for audio and video. Media will play based on your past interactions on a particular page.
How to set exceptions to allow media autoplay for specific sites in Microsoft Edge
If desired, you can also create exceptions to allow autoplay for some of your favorite websites, like YouTube, Netflix, and others, in Edge. Here’s how:
- Launch Microsoft Edge. Click on the three-dot menu icon located in the top right corner and choose “Settings.”
- Switch to the ‘Cookies and site permissions’ tab, then click on ‘Media autoplay’.
- Click the “Add” button next to “Allow”.
- Enter the website’s URL in the provided text field, then click on “Add”.
Feel free to repeat this step to include additional websites. If you decide to remove an exception later, click on the three-dot menu adjacent to the website URL and choose the option “Remove.”
How to Turn off Autoplay in Microsoft Edge with a Third-Party Extension
Although Microsoft Edge comes with a built-in feature to prevent automatic audio and video playback on many websites, it might not always function perfectly. You may encounter situations where media still autoplays even after activating the autoplay blocking feature.
If this occurs, you have the option to utilize a third-party extension such as AutoplayStopper. This extension assists in preventing media autoplay on all websites you browse using Microsoft Edge. Follow the link below to download and install the extension in your Edge browser.
After installation, enter edge://extensions in the address bar and press Enter to access the Extensions page. Then, toggle the AutoplayStopper extension to enable it. Following this, restart Microsoft Edge, and audio or video autoplay on websites should be disabled.
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Silent by Default
In most cases, auto-playing audio and videos on websites is more of an interruption than an enhancement to your browsing experience. The good news is that reclaiming control over your online experience and disabling autoplay for audio and video in Microsoft Edge is a straightforward process.
