Microsoft Edge offers an option to block videos that autoplay. Videos like this are a major source of irritation for many internet users, so it’s good to see Microsoft doing something about it. But how do you activate that function?
Microsoft Edge initially offers two options regarding auto-playing videos: Limited and allowed †Limited and Allowed† If you choose the first option within the settings, videos will not play automatically when you visit a website for the first time. If you visit a certain website more often, the videos will be turned on automatically. The Allowed option is self-explanatory. But we can go one step further.
Microsoft Edge: Disable autoplay
Fortunately, you can choose not to automatically start videos at all. How exactly do you do that? Open the Microsoft Edge browser and type in the url bla edge://flags in. If all is well, the browser will automatically complete the search option. Fill in the bar now Search flags the following line of text: Show block option in autoplay settings (you can search for ‘autoplay’). On the right you will see a dropdown menu, where now Default state. Click on it and choose the option Enabled†
Quit Microsoft Edge and restart it. Now go to the Settings by first clicking on the three dots on the right and selecting the option at the bottom. Choose the option in the menu on the left Cookies and Site Permissions and search Auto play media on. You can also copy and paste the following line into the bar at the top, which will take you directly to the correct page: edge://settings/content/mediaAutoplay†
Inside this window you will see at the top Set whether audio and video play automatically on websites stand. In the menu on the right, select the option To block† Now you can refresh every page or just restart the browser. You should now be able to block autoplay videos in Microsoft Edge.
Keep in mind that there can always be websites that can bypass such settings and that you can still run into the irritation.
Experimental
In addition, it is good to know that we are dealing with an experimental functionality here. It is therefore possible that the function does not always work properly or that a specific update throws a spanner in the works. But it can also happen that the browser suddenly behaves differently than you are used to. In that case, it is good to disable the function by performing the steps above again. Instead of To block select the option To limit†
Find many more tips for the Edge browser here.
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