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Youtube autoplay videos when switching tabs (I don't want that)

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 912 views
  • Last reply by Maitreya

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Okay, so before, when I loaded up 100+ Youtube videos, they stayed when switching tabs - no autoplay. Suddenly they decide to autoplay when switching tabs - note, I've not done anything to my settings or plugins. Fair enough, maybe you changed something (which you often do, without informing). So I check the options. It was on "Block audio", which obviously didn't work, so I tried "Block Audio and Video" - which WORKS, but now both the video is paused (which I want) AND the audio is set to mute (which I DON'T want) - so... what does it take to have Youtube wait for a click to start playing a video loaded in a background tab, but KEEP AUDIO ACTIVE, so I don't also have to unmute the damn video?

Okay, so before, when I loaded up 100+ Youtube videos, they stayed when switching tabs - no autoplay. Suddenly they decide to autoplay when switching tabs - note, I've not done anything to my settings or plugins. Fair enough, maybe you changed something (which you often do, without informing). So I check the options. It was on "Block audio", which obviously didn't work, so I tried "Block Audio and Video" - which WORKS, but now both the video is paused (which I want) AND the audio is set to mute (which I DON'T want) - so... what does it take to have Youtube wait for a click to start playing a video loaded in a background tab, but KEEP AUDIO ACTIVE, so I don't also have to unmute the damn video?

Chosen solution

Maybe check this pref on the about:config page.

  • media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

Read this answer in context 👍 2

All Replies (6)

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Hi Langbakk!

Non-free non-trivial javascript code (malware) running on peoples computers can of course cause problems. Easy to understand. Mozilla (open and free code) does its best to keep you happy and safe.

If you still want to run the non-free malware your own way, then try to go to the menu, click preferences or settings, click on the lock, scroll down to "program", try changing "flash-video"-setting into "always ask"!

Now you should always be asked before a flash video javascript code (malware) is allowed to run on your computer. I hope this helped you.

Modified by Maitreya

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Hi again Langbakk! Did this advice solve your problem?

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What are you on about? There are no Flash videos on YouTube... Why do you change stuff that works, into stuff that doesn't work? Why not just have a "don't autoplay videos" without doing anything to audio? If I want to mute audio, I can do so myself.

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Chosen Solution

Maybe check this pref on the about:config page.

  • media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

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Not in front of the computer for a few days, but I'll check that out. Thanks for the tip

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Hi again Langbakk! Did cor-el's advice solve your problem?

Otherwise check this page out and come back here and tell us if you solved the problem or not!

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/block-autoplay