This Is How To Disable Autoplay Videos On Facebook That Use A Lot Of Data

Facebook video autoplay can be disabled to save data. (photo: doc. tech)

JAKARTA – Like many social media platforms, Facebook provides autoplay videos on the homepage. However, they also offer the option to disable auto-video playback on Android, iOS, and the web.

Not only do some users find those autoplay videos annoying, but they can also be a huge data load, so it makes sense to disable the option on all platforms. Facebook has drawn controversy for years, but the autoplay mode is one aspect that users can control.

On Facebook, turning off the autoplay option on Android, iOS, or the web only applies to certain platforms, which means turning it off on the website will only stop the video from autoplaying on the website.

Likewise, stopping videos from autoplaying on the phone will only disable the autoplay option when using Android and iOS apps. Once the autoplay option is disabled, all videos on Facebook will be tap-to-play and will display the traditional triangular 'Play' button which then needs to be clicked for the video to play.

To stop Facebook videos from playing automatically on Android, open the app and tap the hamburger menu (three parallel lines) in the top right corner.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap Settings and Privacy followed by Settings. Next, select Media under Preferences and then tap Autoplay. Finally, set the autoplay option to Never Autoplay Videos. Changes will be saved immediately and will be reflected on the autoplay settings page.

On iOS, open the app and tap the menu button in the lower right corner. Then select Settings and Privacy. On the next page, select Settings, scroll down, tap on Preferences followed by Media. Finally, tap on the Autoplay option and select Never Autoplay Videos. That will immediately stop the video from autoplaying in the iOS app.

Deactivating Via Web Version

For people who use Facebook on the web, go to the website and click on the profile picture. In some cases, the user may have to press the down arrow next to the profile picture. In both cases, there will be a drop-down menu where the user can select Settings and Privacy.

Then click on Settings and on the next page, scroll down to the bottom and select Videos. From here, find Video Autoplay and use the appropriate drop-down menu to select Off to disable the autoplay option.

Autoplaying videos on websites or apps can be a huge annoyance, as it consumes valuable data, and slows down internet connections. However, Facebook, which was surpassed by TikTok as the most downloaded social app last year, offers the option to prevent videos from playing automatically in the app or on the website.

This means users no longer have to tolerate disruptive behavior regardless of whether they are browsing Facebook on their desktop or mobile.