How to turn off automatic audio playback on Chrome

In version 64 of Chrome, the ability to mute audio from websites has been added. Here's how to do it, both on your computer and smartphone

With the release of version number 64 of Google Chrome, new features have been added to the Mountain View company's browser. In addition to the classic updates to improve the security of the browser, the ability to disable the automatic playback of audio from certain websites has been added.

More and more websites are running videos and advertisements automatically without our consent. And if we're working in a room with colleagues, this could be disturbing and create discontent. Thanks to this new feature, users have the possibility to disable automatic audio playback only for certain portals or for all the sites they visit. In the second case, you can create a white list with the websites where audio playback is allowed. Here's how to disable audio autoplay on your computer and smartphone.

How to disable audio autoplay on your computer

The new feature was first tested on Chrome Canary, the beta version of Mountain View's browser, and then officially released on Chrome 64. To disable automatic audio playback, just press the "I" icon before the address bar and then click on Site Settings. This will open a new tab with various settings, including the one for Audio. In the pop-up menu next to Audio, choose Block. This will disable autoplay on all web pages associated with that domain.

The procedure to block autoplay on all websites is slightly more complicated. You need to open Chrome, click on the icon with three vertical dots in the top left corner and then on Settings. A new tab will open and you'll have to click on "Content settings" in the "Privacy and security" section. You'll access a new page with many options, including Audio. Clicking on it will open a window and you'll have to uncheck "Allow sites to play audio". In the same window there is also an option to make a white list with sites where audio autoplay works.

How to disable audio playback on smartphone

Chrome version 64 is also available for Android smartphones. And here, too, you can disable automatic audio playback. To do this you need to launch the Chrome app, go into Settings and press Site Settings. Among the various options there will be Audio and from there we can disable autoplay.