Netflix heard your anguished cries: Autoplay previews are now optional

Took'em long enough.
 By 
Jack Morse
 on 
Netflix heard your anguished cries: Autoplay previews are now optional
A gift for your ears. Credit: Thomas Trutschel / getty

Netflix knows you hate those autoplaying previews.

The streaming giant finally copped to that fact Thursday morning, acknowledging that the oft-reviled "feature" where a preview — with sound blasting — would start playing the moment you scroll your mouse over a show is not always welcomed. But Netflix did more than just admit reality— it also officially offered up a way to disable the feature.

"Some people find [autoplay while browsing] helpful," wrote Netflix in response to a presumed customer's complaint. "Others not so much."


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"We’ve heard the feedback loud and clear — members can now control whether or not they see autoplay previews on Netflix," continued the company.

To turn off autoplay previews, first log into your Netflix account via browser. Next, choose "Manage Profiles," select your profile, and deselect "Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices."

Unfortunately, Netflix warns that even after doing this, you may not be done with autoplay previews just yet.

SEE ALSO: Netflix is paying to advertise on your Roku remote and you don't even know it

"There may be a delay before the setting takes affect," explains a Netflix help page. "You can force an update by switching to another profile, then switching back in order to reload your profile with the updated setting."

Or, if you want to wait it out and have a few minutes to kill, you can take a moment to disable Netflix's autoplay next episode feature. Your sanity will thank you.

Topics Netflix

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Jack Morse

Professionally paranoid. Covering privacy, security, and all things cryptocurrency and blockchain from San Francisco.

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