There are times when you may want to prevent videos and GIFs from automatically playing in your social media feeds. This could be because you are trying to conserve cellular data, limit the addictiveness of these apps, or maintain better control over your viewing experience, such as when a viral video is circulating that you do not wish to see. Whatever your reason, here are the steps to turn off autoplaying videos and GIFs on popular social media platforms.
To turn off autoplay on Facebook, navigate to your profile picture icon in the top right corner of the desktop version or in the bottom navigation bar of the mobile app. Then, scroll down to Settings and Privacy and select Preferences, where you will find a menu option for Media. Within that menu, there is an option to toggle video playback in your Feed and in Stories. Select the Never option. The quick path is Settings, then Preferences, then Media, then Video Playback, then Never.
On the Instagram app, tap your profile picture in the bottom right corner. Once you are on your profile page, tap the menu icon in the upper right corner of your screen, which is the icon with three horizontal lines. Then, scroll to Settings and activity and navigate to Your app and media, where you will find Media quality. From there, you can toggle on the option to Use less cellular data. This is not as direct as a do not autoplay content setting, but it will at least slow things down if you are off Wi-Fi. Instagram also will not autoplay sounds unless you click on a post with sound first. The quick path is Profile, then Settings and activity, then Your app and media, then Media quality, then Use less cellular data.
On X, navigate to your profile picture in the top left to access the sidebar. On desktop, the sidebar is already visible. Then, select Settings and privacy. This will be in smaller font at the bottom of the menu on the app. On mobile, you have to tap the three dots at the end of the list to bring up more options, which includes Settings and privacy. Next, scroll down to Accessibility, display, and languages, which will open another menu with a Data usage option where you can turn off Video autoplay. You can be extra thorough by navigating back to Settings and privacy and selecting Display and sound. There, you can toggle off Media previews. The quick path is Settings and privacy, then Accessibility, display, and languages, then Data usage, then Video autoplay, and also Settings and privacy, then Display and sound, then Media previews.
Access Bluesky’s menu by tapping the three-line icon in the upper left corner of the mobile app, then choose Settings at the bottom of the list. On desktop, this menu is accessible via the sidebar. Select Content and media, which will display options that include Autoplay videos and GIFs. Toggle this option off. The quick path is Settings, then Content and media, then Autoplay videos and GIFs.
Unfortunately, Meta’s two-year-old microblogging platform Threads does not yet offer a way to turn off autoplay. Hopefully, that is on the product roadmap.