The Problem with YouTube Autoplay
By default, YouTube is designed to keep you watching. As soon as you finish one video, a countdown timer appears, and a brand new video begins playing immediately. While this can be convenient for listening to music playlists, it is often incredibly frustrating when you are trying to find specific information, browsing at night, or using a mobile device with a limited data plan.
Worse, YouTube recently introduced "Autoplay on Home," a feature that silently plays videos as you scroll through your feed. Both of these features drain your battery, consume unnecessary data, and distract you from the content you actually want to watch. Fortunately, you can disable both types of autoplay in just a few clicks.
How to Stop the Next Video from Autoplaying (Desktop)
Stopping the automatic "Up Next" queue on a desktop computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) is the easiest setting to change.
- Open your web browser and go to YouTube.com.
- Click on any video to start playing it.
- Hover your mouse over the video player to reveal the control bar at the bottom.
- Look for a small toggle switch icon near the bottom-right corner of the video player (next to the Closed Captions and Settings gear icons).
- Click the Autoplay toggle switch. When it displays a pause symbol (❚❚) instead of a play symbol, the feature is turned off.
Because this setting is tied to your Google account, disabling it here should sync across all your desktop browsers where you are logged in.
How to Stop the Next Video from Autoplaying (Mobile)
The process for disabling the "Up Next" feature is very similar on both the iOS and Android YouTube apps.
- Open the YouTube app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Tap on any video to start playing it.
- Tap the video screen once to reveal the player controls.
- At the very top of the video player, you will see a toggle switch that looks like a play button.
- Tap the Autoplay toggle switch. It will slide to the left, indicating that the feature is disabled.
When the current video finishes, the screen will now simply display a grid of recommended videos rather than automatically playing one.
How to Disable "Autoplay on Home" (Muted Feed Playback)
The second, and arguably more annoying, autoplay feature is when videos start playing silently as you scroll down your Home feed or Subscription feed on your mobile device. This consumes a massive amount of cellular data. Here is how to stop it.
- Open the YouTube app on your mobile device.
- Tap your Profile Picture in the bottom-right corner (or top-right corner on older versions).
- Tap the Settings icon (the gear in the top-right corner).
- Tap on General.
- Scroll down and select Playback in feeds.
- A menu will appear with three options: Always on, Wi-Fi only, and Off.
- Select Off to completely disable the feature, or Wi-Fi only if you want to save mobile data but still enjoy the previews while at home.
Managing YouTube on Smart TVs and Consoles
If you watch YouTube on a Smart TV, Roku, Apple TV, or gaming console, you will need to disable autoplay directly within that specific app.
- Open the YouTube app on your TV.
- Navigate to the left sidebar menu and scroll down to Settings.
- Scroll down to the Autoplay section.
- Select it and change the setting to Off.
By taking a few minutes to disable these features, you regain control over your viewing experience, save valuable data, and prevent the YouTube algorithm from dictating what you watch next.
