{"id":63006,"date":"2019-09-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/2019\/09\/04\/stop-video-autoplay\/"},"modified":"2021-02-03T02:52:33","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T02:52:33","slug":"stop-video-autoplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/firefox\/stop-video-autoplay\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop video autoplay with Firefox"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know that thing where you go to a website and a video starts playing automatically? Sometimes it\u2019s a video created by the site, and sometimes it\u2019s an ad. That video is doing its level best to get your attention, which is very distracting when that\u2019s not what you\u2019re looking for. If you find autoplay videos annoying, Firefox can help return some peace to your life by blocking them. Here\u2019s how to stop video autoplay.<\/p>\n

Simmer down, videos, simmer down<\/h2>\n

You have three ways to experience videos your Firefox browser:<\/p>\n

1) Allow audio and video \u2192 Free for all. Videos play on.<\/p>\n

2) Block audio \u2192 Silent movie style. Videos play, but are muted.<\/p>\n

3) Block audio and video \u2192 Freeze frame. Videos are stopped until you press the play button.<\/p>\n

By default, Firefox goes with option 2, stopping videos from blaring unprompted, but you can choose whichever setting you prefer. Just make sure you\u2019re using the latest browser version<\/a> (Firefox 69, if you’re keeping track), then visit about:preferences#privacy<\/span> in your Firefox awesome bar to hop over to your Autoplay settings under Permissions:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Maybe you want to allow videos on some<\/i> sites, and stop video autoplay on others. That\u2019s also easy to set up on a site by site basis. Any time you visit a site that has video content, your Firefox Awesomebar shows a handy video-play icon beside the URL. Click on the icon to change the Autoplay permissions for the site you\u2019re on:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Not all motion is video<\/h2>\n

By now, most of us are familiar with GIFs (hard-G, go ahead and fight me), the modern way of conveying emotion or a snappy reaction through a motion graphic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GIFs and other motion graphics also create a visual ruckus on websites, especially in ads. While it\u2019s true that Firefox can halt videos, we don\u2019t stop GIFs from giffing. That\u2019s why you might still see some things that look like videos on sites, but they\u2019re actually a different kind of technology that video autoplay doesn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

Stop video autoplay, advanced skills<\/h2>\n

Distracting ads and loud videos aside, stopping videos from autoplaying isn\u2019t just a feature of convenience, it\u2019s also about avoiding the rabbit hole of video views. Video platforms want to keep your eyes on them, so they set up to feed you continuous videos by default. But is that a good thing? With video content being consumed at such a high volume, finding ways<\/a> to stay out of the autoplay loop<\/a> is good for the health of the internet<\/a> and your mental health<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n