How many times have you loaded a web page only to have a video start to autoplay? If youre like me, plenty of times.
If youre lucky enough to be unfamiliar with the concept, autoplay video is audiovisual content that starts automatically when a user goes to the host web page. The videos usually contain advertisements or promoted content, which can be very annoying because they interrupt you when youre trying to access a websites content especially if sound starts blaring the minute the video starts.
If youre in bed, such an instance may wake and aggravate your wife. If youre in a business meeting, it can be VERY embarrassing. Thankfully, macOSs Safari web browser lets you stop auto-play for video with sound, so you can browse the web without annoying audio pop-ups.
Block Auto-Play in Safari
To block video autoplay for a currently displayed website, with Safari open, at the upper left side of your display choose Safari > Settings for This Website and this window will pop up:
Hold the pointer to the right of Auto-Play, then click the pop-up menu and choose an option:
- Stop Media with Sound: Blocks autoplay for videos that contain audio, but allows other videos to play.
- Never Auto-Play: Blocks autoplay for all videos on this website.
You can always go back and change the option to Allow All Auto-Play, which allows videos on the website to play automatically.
Block All Video Auto-Play in Safari
To block video autoplay content for all websites, with Safari open, at the upper left side of your display, choose Safari > Preferences and select the Websites tab.
Click Auto-Play in the list on the left and do one of the following:
- Choose settings for a website in the list: Select the website on the right, then choose the option you want for it.
- Choose settings for all websites that arent currently customized: Click the When visiting other websites pop-up menu, then choose an option.
- You can see websites youve customized under Configured Websites, which are shown along with the list of Currently Open Websites. If you dont see Configured Websites, either you havent customized a website yet, or youve cleared the list.
- Choose settings for all websites: Make sure no websites are listed under Configured Websites [to clear the list quickly, select the websites, then click Remove]. Click the When visiting other websites pop-up menu, then choose an option.
You can customize your settings for specific websites so articles always open in Reader, pages are zoomed in, and more. Control-click the URL in the location bar, then choose Settings for This Website
These instructions apply, for the most part, to other versions of macOS besides Catalina. However, Im using Catalina on a 16-inch MacBook Pro for this tutorial.