How to Block Auto Playing Videos in Safari on Mac in macOS High Sierra

Videos which are auto-played are there on the websites like CNN, CNET, etc for a reason. Maybe the sponsor wants to gain the attention of the person surfing the web page. It gets very annoying when videos start playing on their own without any prompt. Other reasons behind the playing videos automatically are the promotion of certain goods or products through these videos or social messages and advertisements. If this becomes irritating for you, you can stop auto-playing videos in Safari on Mac in macOS High Sierra.

You can simply block websites from Auto-playing videos in safari if your Mac is running on macOS High Sierra. Follow the steps mentioned below to turn off videos from auto-playing in Safari browser on macOS High Sierra.

How to Block Auto Playing Videos in Safari on Mac

How to Stop Auto-Playing Videos in Safari on Mac in High Sierra

Step #1: Open the Safari browser.

Step #2: Click on Safari menu from the top left corner of the window.

Click on Safari from Menu

Step #3: Click “Settings for This Website…”

Click on Settings for this Website

Step #4: You will see a pop-up window below the space for writing URL.

Step #5: Go through the options in the window and you will find an option named “Auto-Play”. Click on that option.

Click on Auto Play

Step #6: Select “Never Auto-Play” from there.

If you go with Stop Media with Sound then it would only be able to stop those videos from auto-playing which contain audio.

From now onwards, if you happen to see any media content on the website, it will be shown with a play button over the video. A video will only play once you click on the play button. If you want to block auto-playing videos for all website, there’s also a solution for that too. Do as mentioned below:

How to Turn Off Videos from Playing Automatically in Safari on Mac in macOS High Sierra

Step #1: Launch Safari browser.

Step #2: Click “Safari” from the top left corner of the screen.

Click on Safari from Menu

Step #3: Click on “Preferences”.

Click on Preferences

Step #4: Select the “Websites” icon from the top panel.

Step #5: From the left column, select “Auto-Play”.

Go to Auto-Play Option

Step #6: On the bottom right side you will see the option When visiting other websites.

Here you will see When visiting other websites

Step #7: You will be displayed three options in a little pop-up window: Allow All Auto Play, Stop Media with Sound and Never AutoPlay.

By default Stop, Media with Sound is enabled which means that it will block only those videos from auto-playing which has audio, whereas the Never Auto Play Option will stop playing all the videos no matter they have audio or not.

Choose Never Auto Play Option

This website will now be displayed under “Configured Websites” sections. Every other website that you configure will be displayed in this section.

How to Unblock Auto-Playing Videos in Safari on Mac running macOS High Sierra

Step #1: Open Safari browser on your Mac.

Step #2: Click on Safari menu.

Click on Safari from Menu

Step #3: Now, Click on Websites icon.

Step #4: Next, Click on Auto-Play Options.

Go to Auto-Play Option

Step #5: Here you will get all the websites you have configured. Click on any website you like to remove.

Click on any website you like to remove

Step #6: Finally, click on delete button.

You can always revert the setting when needed by recounting the following steps.

How to Disable Autoplay Videos in Safari on Mac in macOS Sierra

Step #1. First of all, Close Safari browser if you have opened on your Mac.

Step #2. Click on Finder from the menu.

Step #3: Next, Go to Applications/Utilities → Terminal.

Step #4: Here you need to enter the following command.

defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu 1

Step #5. Press enter key after entering a command.

Step #6. Open Safari browser and click on Debug menu.

Step #7. Click on Media Flags and choose Disallow in-line video.

How to Re-Enable Autoplay Videos in Safari on Mac in macOS Sierra

Later, if you decide to re-enable inline videos, you can follow the same method given above and click on Disallow inline videos.

Open Safari on your Mac → Click on Debug menu → Next, click on Media Flags and finally click on Disallow inline video.

That’s all!

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Now that you know how to block Autoplaying videos in Safari on High Sierra, those unnecessary videos from websites CNN, CNET, etc won’t distract you further. Enjoy uninterrupted and distraction-free surfing sessions. Hope this article has helped in improving your surfing experience. Share your feedback with us on FacebookTwitter and Google Plus.

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