There are occasions when you might need to forestall movies and GIFs from mechanically taking part in in your social media feeds. This may very well be since you’re attempting to preserve mobile information, restrict the addictiveness of those apps, or keep higher management over your viewing expertise, as when a video goes viral that you simply don’t want to see. Regardless of the motive is perhaps, listed below are the steps to show off autoplaying movies and GIFs on standard social media platforms.
Fb
To show off autoplay on Fb, navigate to your profile image icon, which seems within the high proper nook of the desktop model or within the backside navigation bar of the cell app. Then, scroll right down to “Settings & Privateness,” then choose “Preferences,” the place you’ll discover a menu possibility for “Media.” Inside that menu, there may be an choice to toggle video playback in your Feed and in Tales. Choose the “By no means” possibility.
The fast path: Settings > Preferences > Media > Video Playback > By no means.
On the Instagram app, faucet your profile image within the bottom-right nook. When you’re in your profile web page, faucet the menu icon within the higher proper nook of your display (it’s the icon with three horizontal strains). Then, scroll to “Settings and exercise,” then navigate to “Your app and media,” the place you’ll discover “Media high quality.” From there, you possibly can toggle on the choice to “Use much less mobile information.”
This isn’t as foolproof as a “don’t autoplay content material” setting, however it can at the least sluggish issues down for those who’re off Wi-Fi. Instagram additionally gained’t autoplay sounds until you click on on a publish with sound first.
The fast path: Profile > Settings and exercise > Your app and media > Media high quality > Use much less mobile information.
X (Twitter)
On X, navigate to your profile image within the high left to entry the sidebar (on desktop, the sidebar is already seen). Then, choose “Settings and privateness” — this will likely be in smaller font on the backside of the menu on the app, and on cell, it’s important to faucet the three dots on the finish of the listing to convey up extra choices, which incorporates “Settings and privateness.” Subsequent, scroll right down to “Accessibility, show, and languages,” which is able to open one other menu with a “Knowledge utilization” possibility, the place you possibly can flip off “Video autoplay.”
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You could be additional thorough by navigating again to “Settings and privateness” and choosing “Show and sound.” There, you possibly can toggle off “Media previews.”
The fast path: Settings and privateness > Accessibility, show, and languages > Knowledge utilization > Video autoplay, and Settings and privateness > Show and sound > Media previews.
Bluesky
Entry Bluesky’s menu by tapping the three-line icon within the higher left nook of the cell app, then select “Settings” on the backside of the listing. On desktop, this menu is accessible through the sidebar. Choose “Content material and media,” which is able to show choices that embrace “Autoplay movies and GIFs.” Toggle this selection off.
The fast path: Settings > Content material and media > Autoplay movies and GIFs.
Threads
Sadly, Meta’s two-year-old microblogging platform doesn’t but provide a solution to flip off autoplay. Hopefully, that’s on the product roadmap.
