Autoplay video: The bane of the web. You either hate them, or are completely disgusted by them. Fortunately, with Safari 11 in macOS High Sierra (Safari 11 is also available for macOS Sierra), you can easily disable autoplay video and surf the web in relative peace.
Here’s how to stop autoplay videos in Safari 11.
Stop autoplay videos: The quick way
1. When you’re on a website with autoplay videos, you can change how those video behave. Click on Safari > Settings for This Website or right-click the URL box and select Settings for This Website.
IDG2. A pop-up will appear underneath the URL box. There is a listing that says Auto-Play. If you move your cursor over the phrase next to Auto-Play, you will see that it turns into a pop-up menu with three choices:
- Allow All Auto-Play
- Stop Media with Sound
- Never Auto-Play
Make your selection.
IDG3. Now click anywhere on the screen to make the pop-up disappear.
Videos will show a Play button. To play a video, click on it.
You can always go back to this Safari preference if you want to change a setting for a website.
Another way to set a site to not autoplay videos
1. In Safari, go to the website you where you want to disable autoplay videos. For example, I’ll use macworld.com.
2. Click on Safari > Preferences.
3. Click on the Websites icon at the top of the main window.
4. Click on Auto-Play in the left column.
5. To the right is a section called “Allow websites below to automatically play media.” (That title is misleading, as you’ll see.) You should see the website you are at listed in the window.
Click the pop-up menu to the right of the listed website. You will have three choices to select:
- Allow All Auto-Play
- Stop Media with Sound
- Never Auto-Play
IDGMake your selection. Once you do, the website will be added to a section called Configured Websites. If you want to adjust the settings for another website, you will see that section, along with a section called Currently Open Websites.
7. At the bottom of the window is a setting called “When visiting other websites.” This will tell Safari what to do when you visit a website not on your list of configured websites. You have the same three options as shown above.
IDG9. When you are done, close the window.
If you decide to Never Auto-Play, videos on a website will be shown with a Play icon, indicating that you need to click the video to play it.
IDGYou can always go back to this Safari preference if you want to change a setting for a website.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor
Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.