Are videos autoplaying in your Facebook timeline annoying you?
Personally, I don’t like having videos autoplay on anything. I’ve even disabled them on YouTube.
This morning, when I shared my post about how to disable videos on Twitter, my friend Sarah Bourne commented she wished Facebook had something similar.
And she discovered Facebook does have an option to disable videos for automatically playing. You can control having videos autoplay or not for the desktop browser and apps, except for one case.
Facebook Video Autoplay
Like Twitter, Facebook has enabled autoplay for videos by default. Which may be exactly what you want; you love being able to view videos automatically streaming in your News Feed.
Not so great when you check your phone bill, notice your data plan maxed out, and you’ve been charged extra for going over your monthly data allowance.
Ouch.
How to Stop Videos from Autoplaying in Facebook
If you’re annoyed by videos playing automatically in your News Feed, you can turn the option off.
However, just like Twitter, turning off autoplay videos in Facebook is not a one-step process.
You’ll need to disable video autoplay for each device you have Facebook installed. Here’s how to do it.
Disable Facebook Autoplay on Desktop Browsers
- Log in to Facebook
- In the top menu of Facebook, on the right, select the triangle icon, and choose Settings from the options (it’s near the bottom of the list of options)
- In the left sidebar menu, select Videos
- In Auto-play Videos, select Off
Disable Facebook Autoplay on Android
- Open the Facebook application
- Select the hamburger icon (three vertical lines in the top menu)
- In the Help & Settings section, choose App Settings
- Select General
- Look for the Video plays automatically option and select it
- Select Off
Disable Facebook Autoplay on iOS
- Open the Facebook application
- Select the hamburger icon (three vertical lines in the top menu)
- In the Settings section, choose Videos > Autoplay
- Select Off
What About That One Exception?
Remember when I mentioned earlier in this post that you can control Facebook video autoplay, except in one case?
When Sarah and I were chatting about Facebook video autoplay options, she discovered the Opera browser , version 33.0.1990.115, doesn’t offer the option to disable autoplay.
Photo: courtesy of Sarah Bourne
I searched online, but couldn’t find any info on why the option wasn’t available.
If you have any insight on why Opera doesn’t offer Facebook video autoplay options, share your info in the comments. Both Sarah and I would love to know!
