A couple of days back, Microsoft rolled out a new Fast Ring Windows Insider build to the users. With the new build, Microsoft added video autoplay block feature to Microsoft Edge. However, Microsoft isn’t the first company to take this step as Google also added a feature that automatically mutes the videos.
This step was taken to ensure that users don’t get random videos playing in the background while visiting websites. Microsoft has added three different settings for the users to choose from according to their needs.
- “Allow” is the default and will continue to play videos when a tab is first viewed in the foreground, at the site’s discretion.
- “Limit“ will restrict autoplay to only work when videos are muted, so you‘re never surprised by sound. Once you click anywhere on the page, autoplay is re-enabled, and will continue to be allowed within that domain in that tab.
- “Block” will prevent autoplay on all sites until you interact with the media content. Note that this may break some sites due to the strict enforcement – you may need to click multiple times for some video or audio to play correctly. Some sites may not work at all – in those cases, you can enable or block autoplay on a case-by-case bases from the website permissions pane (click the icon next to the address in the Address Bar).
We decided to try the feature out and see if it works as promised. We set Microsoft Edge to “Block” all the videos and it worked perfectly for all the websites. You can manually play the video by interacting with it but if you have set Microsoft Edge to Block autoplay then video won’t play automatically.
We also tried “Limit” setting on Microsoft Edge. Here the browser will only allow video to play if it’s muted or if it doesn’t have sound. Again you can manually play the video by interacting on the webpage.
Both the cases worked pretty well for us. Microsoft, however, has asked users to use Feedback Hub in case they encounter any issue or a website isn’t compatible with the feature. If you’re running the latest build then follow the steps below to turn on this feature.
- Open Microsoft Edge and click on Settings (three dots on top-right corner).
- Then click on Advanced from the Settings menu.
- You will now get “Media Autoplay” option. Select the suitable option from the drop-down menu.
Do remember that the feature is still in testing phase so if you find any issues then use the Feedback Hub to report it to Microsoft. If you’re not on the latest build then you can head to Settings>Update and Security and Check for Updates to download the latest build. Do note that you need to be registered as a Windows Insider (Fast Ring) to get this build.