There is little more frustrating than opening a news article or blog post in Safari, only to have a loud video advertisement instantly begin playing somewhere on the page. By default, many modern websites are designed to auto-play video content as soon as the page loads to increase viewer engagement. Apple has built robust tools directly into the macOS Safari browser to combat this, allowing you to silence these videos permanently and reclaim control over your browsing experience.
How to Stop Videos from Autoplaying Globally
You can configure Safari to block auto-playing videos on every website you visit by default.
- Open the Safari browser on your Mac.
- Look at the very top left corner of your screen (the main menu bar) and click on Safari.
- From the drop-down menu, select Settings (or “Preferences” if you are on an older version of macOS).
- A new window will appear. Click on the Websites tab at the top.
- In the left-hand sidebar menu, click on Auto-Play.
- Look at the bottom right corner of the window for a setting labelled When visiting other websites:.
- Click the drop-down menu next to it and select Never Auto-Play.
With this setting applied, Safari will block all videos from starting automatically. You will now have to manually click the ‘Play’ button on any video you genuinely wish to watch.
Managing Exceptions
If you have specific websites (like YouTube) where you want videos to play automatically when you open a link, you can easily create exceptions.
While the website is open in a tab, navigate to the same Auto-Play settings menu described above. The currently open website will appear in a list titled “Currently Open Websites.” Simply change the drop-down menu next to that specific website from “Never Auto-Play” to Allow All Auto-Play. This ensures your favourite video sites work seamlessly while keeping the rest of the web silent.