Tired of Autoplay? Control Your Social Feeds

Annoyed by videos that automatically start playing as you scroll through your social media feeds? You’re not alone! Autoplay can be disruptive, consume data, and generally detract from your browsing experience. Fortunately, most platforms offer options to disable or customize this feature. Let’s explore how to take control of your feeds.

Turning Off Autoplay on Facebook

Facebook’s autoplay settings are relatively easy to find and adjust. Here’s how:

• On Desktop: Navigate to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Videos.
• On Mobile: Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines), then scroll down to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Media.

Once you’re in the video settings, you can choose from the following options:

• Auto-Play: Select ‘Off’ to completely disable autoplay.
• On Mobile Data: Choose to only allow autoplay when you’re connected to Wi-Fi. This can help save your mobile data.

Disabling Autoplay on Twitter/X

Twitter, now known as X, also allows you to manage video autoplay. Here’s how to change it:

• On Desktop: Click ‘More’ in the left-hand menu, then Settings and privacy > Accessibility, display, and languages > Data usage > Autoplay.
• On Mobile: Tap your profile icon, then Settings and support > Settings and privacy > Data usage > Autoplay.

You can then select ‘Never’ to disable autoplay completely or choose ‘Wi-Fi only’.

Managing Autoplay on Instagram

Instagram’s autoplay settings are linked to your data usage. Adjust these settings to control autoplay:

• On Mobile: Go to your profile, tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines), then Settings > Account > Cellular Data Use.

Enable ‘Use Less Data’. This might prevent videos from autoplaying when you’re on cellular data. Keep in mind that Instagram doesn’t offer a direct ‘turn off autoplay’ option, but reducing data usage can help mitigate it.

YouTube Autoplay Controls

YouTube has a slightly different approach. It lets you control the autoplay of the *next* video, rather than the video in your feed. Here’s how:

• On Desktop & Mobile: On the watch page, you’ll see an autoplay toggle switch. Simply turn it off to prevent the next video from automatically playing.

This setting is account-specific, so you’ll need to adjust it on each device where you use YouTube.