At long last, Netflix is letting users turn off those annoying show and movie previews that automatically start whenever you fire it up. Those autoplaying trailers have plagued the Netflix site and apps for around five years.
Some people find this feature helpful. Others not so much.
We’ve heard the feedback loud and clear — members can now control whether or not they see autoplay previews on Netflix. Here's how: https://t.co/6V2TjEW6HD https://t.co/zbz4E8fVab
— Netflix (@netflix) February 6, 2020
The important thing to know is that you can only change this setting by signing into Netflix with a web browser; as of now, there’s no way to do it from the Netflix app on your smartphone, tablet, or TV. But the process couldn’t be much easier.
Sign into your Netflix account on the web.
Click your profile photo in the upper right and choose “Manage Profiles.”
Choose the profile you want to disable autoplay for. Beneath the options for your profile name, language, and parental controls, you’ll see a section for autoplay controls.
You can uncheck “Autoplay next episode in a series on all devices” to prevent Netflix from automatically starting up the next episode when you’re streaming a TV series. This option has been around for several years, but it’s possible you’ve never noticed it.
You can also uncheck “Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices” to stop clips from playing when you’re navigating around the Netflix home screen and other sections of the service. This is the new setting, the one that will let you browse the service without a trailer starting up every time you stop on a given show or movie.
Any changes you make will apply across all the devices you’re using Netflix on. However, the company notes you might sometimes notice a delay before your chosen setting takes effect. To get around this, all you have to do is switch to another profile on your Netflix account and then switch right back to your own. After that, autoplay should immediately be disabled.
Once autoplay is off, you’ll be able to carry on with your indecisive scrolling through Netflix’s many rows of entertainment options.
