How to stop videos from playing automatically in Safari

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When you are browsing the web through Safari on your Mac or iOS device and a pop-up video or any other audio-visual content starts playing automatically, it can be quite annoying.

Not only can it be jarring and make a web page difficult to read, but the content can also be played at the wrong time, during a business meeting, for example. Fortunately for all Mac and iOS device users, you can disable this feature and forget about dealing with this problem.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of turning off the video autoplay feature in Safari and answer several common questions related to the action.

How to stop videos from playing automatically in Safari on Mac

If you’re a Mac user and have Safari as your primary browser, you’ll be pleased to know that Apple has made it possible to manage the video autoplay feature and configure it to your preferences.

However, there is a caveat. Only users of macOS Mojave 10.14 and newer operating systems have access to the settings that we will explain below. Here’s what you need to do to stop videos from autoplaying in Safari on Mac:

1. Open any website in the browser, then select “Safari” from the main toolbar at the top of the screen.
   
2. Select “Preferences” and then switch to the “Websites” tab in the new window.
   
3. In the left panel, select “Autoplay”.
   
4. Finally, select “Never play automatically” in the “Currently open websites” section.
   

Please note that these steps will stop autoplay only for the open website. To stop autoplay on all websites, here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Safari, then follow the path “Safari>Preferences>Websites”.
   
2. In the “Autoplay” section, look for the “When visiting other websites” option at the bottom of the pop-up window.
   
3. Select “Never autoplay.”
   

Now you know how to turn off autoplay for just one website or for all. However, you can also stop specific websites from autoplaying in Safari. To do this, open the websites in separate tabs in Safari and set video autoplay preferences for each.

The list of websites with autoplay disabled will appear in the “Configured websites” section in the “Autoplay” menu. However, if your preferences already prevent autoplay on all websites, you will need to turn it off first.

Another way to stop videos from autoplaying in Safari on Mac

There is a shortcut to stop the video autoplay feature in Safari on Mac that can come in handy from time to time. It’s especially useful when you know you’re entering a website that typically has audiovisual content that will launch immediately. Is that how it works:

1. Open the website in Safari and then right-click on the address bar.
   
2. From the drop-down menu, select “Settings for this website.”
   
3. Next to “Autoplay,” select “Never autoplay.”
   

You can also choose “Stop media with sound,” which means Safari will stop automatically playing videos that have sound. However, videos without sound will continue to play.

This option is useful when you visit a website you’ve never visited before and you haven’t turned off autoplay for all websites.

How to stop videos from playing automatically in Safari on iPhone

About half of all internet searches begin on a mobile device. And since Safari is the iPhone’s default browser, it makes sense that many users rely on it for their browsing activity while on the go.

This also means that if you’ve opened a web page in Safari on iPhone and the audio portion of a video starts playing immediately (on public transportation, for example), that could be quite embarrassing.

Because you never know what you’ll encounter when jumping from new website to new website in Safari, you can disable the feature completely.

Follow these steps to stop autoplay in Safari on iPhone:

1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.
   
2. Tap “Accessibility.”
   
3. Next, tap “Motions” and then “Autoplay Video Previews.”
   

That’s all about it. However, it is important to note that by disabling this feature, you will also not be able to see video previews for any native iPhone apps.

That means you won’t see video previews in your camera roll, for example. It also means that if you’re using a third-party app (like Chrome) to browse, these settings won’t apply.

Another way to turn off autoplay on iPhone is to go to iTunes and App Store, then “Settings” and turn off the “Video Autoplay” option. Unfortunately, this will not affect the autoplay feature in Safari in any way.

How to stop videos from playing automatically in Safari on iPad

For some users, browsing in Safari is much more comfortable on an iPad. But those videos that start playing automatically may annoy you anyway.

To stop autoplay in Safari on iPad, you’ll also need to go to the “Accessibility” settings, just like with the iPhone. So, let’s walk you through the steps once again:

1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPad.
2. Select “Accessibility” and then “Movements.”
3. There, make sure to turn off the “Autoplay video previews” option.

Additional FAQs

1. Will this stop video autoplay on ESPN, Facebook and the Daily Mail?

Turning off “Autoplay Video Previews” on your iPhone or iPad will stop all videos on any website from playing automatically, as long as you’re using Safari.

On mobile devices, however, you can’t choose which website you want to block using the autoplay feature. But if you’re using a Mac laptop or desktop, you can prevent specific websites from forcing videos to start playing automatically.

So, if you want to prevent ESPN, Facebook, and Daily Mail videos from playing automatically, you need to open each of the websites in separate tabs and follow these steps to prevent them from playing automatically:

• Go to “Safari>Preferences” and then switch to the “Websites” tab.

• Under “Currently open websites” for each website listed, select “Never autoplay.”

Alternatively, right-click on each of the website’s address bars and choose “Never AutoPlay” next to the “AutoPlay” option.

2. Does AutoPlay slow down your Apple device?

The speed at which a page loads depends on many things: your Internet connection, whether the site is optimized for mobile devices, the age of your device, etc.

However, embedded video that automatically plays on a web page can also affect page loading speed. It could be a negligible difference in some cases.

It is important to note that if you need to spend time muting the video or pausing it while trying to read the page, the autoplay option slows down the browsing experience.

See only the videos you want

The video autoplay feature is a somewhat pisive topic among users. It has its benefits as it can quickly guide you through the content and introduce something you might be interested in learning more about.

However, it can also seem quite intrusive at times, and many people prefer not to be scared by seeing a video that plays immediately when opening a website. News websites, in particular, use this tactic to keep page visitors interested. Fortunately, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users have a way to avoid this while browsing with Safari.