How to Automatically Mute Autoplay Videos in Google Chrome

Opening a new webpage only to be suddenly blasted by the audio of a hidden, auto-playing video advertisement is one of the most jarring experiences on the internet. While Google Chrome does attempt to block audio on some auto-playing media by default, its internal algorithm often allows certain websites to bypass this restriction. Fortunately, you can manually configure Chrome to automatically mute the entire browser by default, ensuring you only hear audio when you explicitly choose to.

How to Mute All Websites by Default

By diving into the Chrome Site Settings menu, we can change the default global audio behaviour from “Allow” to “Mute.”

1. Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer.
2. Click the three-dot menu icon located in the top right corner of the window.
3. Select Settings from the dropdown menu.
4. In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
5. In the main window, click on Site Settings.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click to expand the Additional content settings section.
7. Click on Sound.
8. Under the Default behavior section, select the radio button next to Don’t allow sites to play sound.

Once this is selected, every website you visit will be instantly and automatically muted. Autoplay videos will still play visually, but their audio will be completely silenced.

How to Whitelist Your Favorite Sites

While global muting stops annoying advertisements, it also breaks legitimate media sites like YouTube or Netflix. You will need to explicitly whitelist the websites where you actually want to hear audio.

1. Return to the Sound settings menu you just modified (Settings > Privacy and security > Site Settings > Sound).
2. Scroll down to the Customized behaviors section.
3. Next to the Allowed to play sound header, click the Add button.
4. Type the URL of the website you want to whitelist (for example, [*.]youtube.com) and click Add.

You can also whitelist a site on the fly. If you are on a webpage that is muted and you want to hear it, right-click the browser tab itself at the top of the screen and select Unmute site. This instantly adds the website to your permanent whitelist.