How to stop autoplaying video on Android
Autoplay video can be annoying, so here's how to stop it in Android apps
By Martyn Casserly, Contributor| 06 May 2020
Having videos blare into life when youre scrolling through your feed on a social media site or when you click on a web page can be annoying and, in some cases, reveal that youre not actually paying attention at a meeting or family gathering.
Theres no master control that can disable them on all apps you may have on your Android device, but it is possible to stop these intrusive episodes on certain apps, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. We show you the settings you need to use if you want to silence the autoplay videos.
How to turn off autoplay videos in Facebook
The autoplay setting isnt exactly kept in an obvious place [surprise, surprise], but this ishow to find it and turn it off.
Open the app then tap on the three lines in the top right corner. From the drop-down menu, select Settings then scroll down to the bottom of the next page until you find Media and Contacts then tap it.
Again, youll need to scroll down until you find the Auto-play option. Tap this and youll be presented with three options, but you only want the last one -Never Auto-play videos -so select it and you shouldnt see videos popping up in your feed anymore.
How to turn off autoplay videos on the Android Instagram app
At the time of writing theres no way to stop autoplay videos on Instagram, but one thing you can do is turn off the sound. To do this, just tap any of the videos playing in your feed and it should be immediately muted. Thankfully, this setting applies to all videos, so theres no need to repeat it. Should you want the sound to return, simply tap any video once more.
How to turn off autoplay videos in the YouTube app
YouTube isnt too bad for auto-playing content, and it's actually a benefit if you like to listen to music.
Top Black Friday Deals
Only the best deals on the best products handpicked by our expert editors
Ring Video Doorbell Wired
From: Amazon
Was: £49
Now: £34 [£15 off]
View Deal
Apple AirPods with Charging Case [Wired]
From: Amazon
Was: £119
Now: £99 [£20 off]
View Deal
Adobe Creative Cloud Black Friday Deal - 1 Year
From: Adobe
Was: £596.33 upfront or £49.94 p/m
Now: £362.21 upfront or £30.34 p/m [Up to £234.12 off]
View Deal
Fitbit Versa 2
From: Currys
Was: £149.99
Now: £99 [£51 off]
View Deal
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE [128GB] with Galaxy Buds 2
From: Very
Was: £738
Now: £550 [£188 off]
View Deal
Ring Alarm 5 Piece Kit
From: Amazon
Was: £219
Now: £129 [£90 off]
View Deal
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ [128GB]
From: Currys
Was: £799
Now: £679 [£120 off]
View Deal
Oppo A54 5G with free Nintendo Switch OLED
From: Virgin Media
Now: From £21 per month
View Deal
Revlon One Step Hair Dryer & Volumiser
From: Tesco
Was: £50
Now: £37 Clubcard Price [£13 off]
View Deal
Acer Swift 3
From: Currys
Was: £799
Now: £649 [£150 off]
View Deal
Top Black Friday Deals
Only the best deals on the best products handpicked by our expert editors
Fitbit Luxe
From: Amazon
Was: $149.95
Now: $99.95 [$50 off]
View Deal
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
From: Amazon
Was: $49.99
Now: $24.99 [$25 off]
View Deal
Fitbit Inspire 2
From: Amazon US
Was: $99.95
Now: $59.95 [$40 off]
View Deal
Samsung Galaxy Buds+
From: Amazon US
Was: $149.99
Now: $99.99 [$50 off]
View Deal
Lenovo 11in Chromebook Flex Laptop
From: Amazon
Was: $319.99
Now: $149.99 [$170 off]
View Deal
23andme Health + Ancestry
From: 23andMe
Was: $199
Now: $99 [$100 off]
View Deal
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 [8GB RAM, 128GB storage, Core i5]
From: Best Buy
Was: $899.99
Now: $699.99 [$200 off]
View Deal
Apple iPhone 12 Pro [512GB] - Refurbished "Very Good"
From: Decluttr
Was: $1099.99
Now: $784.99 [$315 off]
View Deal
OnePlus 8T [12GB RAM, 256GB]
From: Amazon US
Was: $549.99
Now: $499.99 [$50 off]
View Deal
Ancestry DNA Kit US
From: Ancestry
Was: $99
Now: $59 [$40 off]
View Deal
But if you dont want videos to start up immediately after the previous one has finished, then theres a setting that can prevent it from happening.
Open the YouTube app and tap on your account profile image in the top right corner. Select Settings > Auto-play > Auto-play next video and ensure that the last option is switched off.
How to turn off autoplayfor Twitter videos
To stop autoplaying videos in the Android Twitter app, launch it and tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner. From the menu that appears select Settings & privacy > Data usage > Video autoplay
Finally, choose the Never option.
How to turn off autoplay videos in Chrome
Up until recently is was possible to open the Chrome app then select Settings > Site settings > Media > Autoplay and switch it off.
Google has removed this option in the latest version of Chrome, so the only alternative if auto-playing videos really bother you is to switch to another browser that allows you more control over how you use the internet. You can take a look at our pick of thebest Android browsersfor some alternatives to try.