Netflix has an autoplay "feature" for previews that can be a little annoying. It is possible to turn the feature off though so you can browse the service without a trailer starting up every time you stop on a movie.

Here's what Netflix autoplay is and how to turn it off.

What is Netflix autoplay?

When you open Netflix, you're presented with a home screen of rows and can immediately start browsing movies and shows available. However, as you're looking, trailers or previews of whatever you're considering to watch start to play as soon as you pause - even for a moment.

While that can be handy, it's can also be annoying when you're simply trying to find something to watch. It's been a default feature across Netflix since at least 2014, but there is the option to turn it off if you find it irritating.

In other words, you can stop clips from playing while you're navigating around the Netflix home screen and other parts of the service.

How to turn off Netflix autoplay

Follow these steps to disable Netflix's autoplay feature:

  1. Log out and then sign in to your Netflix account via a web browser.
  2. Select your profile photo in the corner.
  3. Go to Manage Profiles.
  4. Select a profile.
  5. Under the profile name, language, and parental controls, there are autoplay options.
  6. Untick "Autoplay next episode in a series on all devices".
  7. Untick "Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices".
  8. Apply your changes, then log out, and sign back into Netflix.

This change should take effect across all the devices you use to watch Netflix.

Note: If you do step six, you will be stopping Netflix from automatically starting up the next episode when you're streaming, which you might not want to do.