You Can Finally Turn OFF Netflix’s Worst Feature – Autoplaying Previews

After years of user complaints, Netflix will now finally let you disable one of the worst features about its platform: autoplaying previews.

If you use Netflix, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the feature. Pretty much across every platform that it’s available, Netflix will autoplay a preview or trailer for any content that you hover over — regardless of whether you want to watch it or not.

That feature is so hated that there’s an entire Twitter account dedicated to getting Netflix to stop it.

Knives Out and Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson even tweet that his “current favorite console game: navigating Netflix without triggering autoplay promos.”

Netflix said in a tweet on Thursday that “some people find this feature helpful. Others not so much.” Which brings up the question of who those “some people” are, and just how “helpful” annoying autoplays can be.

In any case, the streaming giant said it “heard the feedback loud and clear” and is now letting users control whether or not previews will autoplay on their own accounts.

How to Turn off Netflix Autoplay

You can disable the feature yourself with the following steps.

1. Head to Netflix in a browser window.
2. Tap Manage Profiles.
3. Select the specific user profile you’d like to update the settings for.
4. Under the Autoplay controls heading, deselect the box next to Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices.
5. When you’re done, hit Save.

It’s worth noting that this setting will disable autoplay across all of your devices, including your computers, smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes and streaming sticks.

The company says there may be a slight lag before it takes effect, however. You’ll also need to repeat those steps for every user profile that you’d like to disable autoplay for.

You’ve probably noticed that there’s another autoplay feature here, too. By default, Netflix will play the next episode in a series across your devices. Though the option to turn that feature off has been present since 2014, you might as well disable both when you’re in that menu.

As far as how else Netflix can improve its platform, several users also commented on the company’s autoplay announcement say they’d like a way to actually opt-in to watch the credits of a TV or movie. Whether Netflix will add that option remains to be seen.