Microsoft’s web browser includes an option to limit the automatic playback of content. An experimental function, disabled by default, also completely blocks the automatic playback of videos.
If you happen to be browsing web pages and hear sound in the background, there’s a good chance that the open page contains an autoplay video. While this can be handy for illustrating the purpose of an article, it can also be frustrating, especially when multimedia content is hidden at the bottom of a page. To avoid this, Microsoft Edge has, in its settings, an option to Limit the automatic reading of content.
This option does not block autoplay, but allows you to control it. To put it simply, if you’ve ever watched a video or listened to audio from a webpage, the content will play automatically every time you visit the site. Otherwise, the video and sound will be disabled.
Even better, Microsoft’s browser has an experimental function, disabled by default, which allows you to completely block the playback of multimedia content without voluntary action on your part. Here’s how to limit or completely block autoplaying of content in Microsoft Edge.
Also to discover in video:
1. Limit automatic content playback
To limit the automatic playback of audio and videos in the web pages you visit, open Edge, click on the main menu represented by three small dots and go to the settings of the browser.
Then click on Cookies and site permissions in the left column then scroll down to the bottom of the list of associated parameters and enter the Autoplay media menu.
Click on the drop-down menu displayed on the right and select Limit.
Now the videos will only play automatically if you have played media on the same website before.
2. Block automatic content playback
Microsoft Edge also includes an experimental option to configure full blocking of autoplay videos. This option, unavailable by default, requires the activation of a hidden parameter in the functions being tested in Edge.
To enable the option in Edge settings, type edge: // flags / # edge-autoplay-user-setting-block-option in the browser’s address bar. The Show block option in autoplay settings should be highlighted there.
Then click on the associated drop-down menu, and change the Default option to Enabled. Then click on the Restart button to relaunch Edge and save the changes.
Open Edge’s main menu, enter Settings, select Cookies and Site Permissions from the left column, scroll through all the options and enter the Media Autoplay menu.
Click the drop-down menu for Control whether audio and video play automatically on sites. The Block option should now be there. Select it to completely block autoplaying of content from Microsoft’s web browser.