If you’re one of the many smartphone users who worry about data usage, autoplaying Instagram videos is a nightmare. This guide will cover everything you need to know about autoplay videos on Instagram and how to stop or limit them from playing on their own.
When the company added ads to our Instagram feed, it also removed the setting that allowed users to turn off autoplay for videos. Now we can’t turn them off completely, but there is a way to limit them.
Instead of automatically playing videos as you scroll down your account, the app preloads all videos so they’re ready as you scroll. It’s a nice feature, but one that can quickly drain a 2GB data plan for consumers. That’s why we recommend changing the settings to limit video as much as possible.
How to disable autoplay of Instagram videos
These instructions work for Android and iOS users who want to turn off the video.
To get started, open the Instagram app and tap the Portrait button in the bottom right. This will take you to “Your Profile”. From here, we’ll go into settings and change how the app manages and plays videos.
On Android, go to your Instagram profile and tap the 3 dots on the top right, this is the menu button. When in settings or options, scroll down to .
Instagram doesn’t offer users a lot of settings or options. In the Cellular Data Usage tab, choose instead to set it to “Default”. This will make Instagram only upload videos while you’re on WiFi. When you’re on a cellular connection, you’ll need to tap first before videos will play. This saves your data a bit, but it doesn’t completely turn off the autoplaying of videos. Not to mention, images can also load slower because they don’t preload in the background either.
Select “Use less data”
This is the only option and the only way to limit the autoplay of Instagram videos. This will not completely disable autoplay, but will limit it to WiFi only. Unfortunately, there are no other options for iOS users either. Similar steps will change the same settings, and that’s it. Follow the steps above on iOS and set the app to . In addition, Instagram offers a guide with similar details for those interested.
While looking at the settings menu, you can also go to camera options and manage photos. Under “Upload Quality” and make sure you are using High Image Processing Quality or “Normal” for better uploads.
Ultimately, it won’t completely eliminate Instagram videos, but it’s close. This will prevent them from pre-loading to save data and ensure you only watch videos automatically when you’re on WiFi. Changing it also gives you more privacy while using the app.