If you’re anything like me, you believe Facebook should not turn into a messy social network.
Unlike MySpace, Facebook has yet to release a horrible feature like custom profile designs, but they took a step in the wrong direction recently when they launched the ability to add animated GIFs to any Facebook post. GIFs arrived only a few months after Facebook added auto-playing videos. Both additions share a common problem: Neither are great to see in your News Feed!
If you’re looking to turn off auto-playing videos or GIFs on Facebook so they no longer bother you, luckily there’s an official, easy solution to turn off both with one setting.
Here’s how to do it: Head to Facebook and go to the Settings page. Next, click “Videos” on the left. You can quickly access the Video settings page by clicking here!
Next, switch the “Auto-Play Videos” settings to “off.” Then head back over to your Facebook News Feed and find a GIF or a video. You’ll now notice that neither videos or GIFs auto-play!
Here’s what the setting looks like on Facebook:
And here’s what videos and GIFs look like with auto-play turned off. As you can see, the video and GIF can still be activated once you click the button:
Facebook first introduced this auto-play setting when they began forcing videos to automatically play in the News Feed. Thankfully when they launched GIFs in May 2015, they secretly extended the auto-play setting to GIFs.
Those who turn off auto-play will enjoy a much nicer user experience on Facebook. It can be frustrating to scroll through your News Feed and continue to bump into content that automatically starts playing. Now when you’re reading the latest news from your friends you’ll have a much cleaner experience!
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