How to turn off autoplay on X (video and GIFs)

#Quick answer

To turn off autoplay on X (formerly Twitter), open Settings and privacy, go to Accessibility, display, and languages, tap Data usage, tap Video autoplay, and choose Never. On x.com the same entry is labelled Autoplay and sits in the same place. Video then loads only when you tap or click it.

One thing to set expectations before you start: this is not a single account-wide switch, and it is not the control that stops the feed sliding to the next video. Both details are why people turn autoplay off and swear nothing happened.

Last updated: September 2026

#Turn autoplay off on each platform

These paths come from X's own help page on watching videos, which documents the setting per surface.

On x.com (desktop or laptop):

1. From the main menu, click More, then Settings and privacy.
2. Under Accessibility, display, and languages, click Data usage.
3. Click Autoplay, then choose Never.

On iOS:

1. Open Settings and privacy.
2. Under Accessibility, display, and languages, tap Data usage.
3. Tap Video autoplay and pick from On cellular or Wi-Fi, Only on Wi-Fi, or Never.

On Android:

1. Open Settings and privacy.
2. Under Accessibility, display, and languages, tap Data usage.
3. Tap Video autoplay and pick from Mobile data & Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi only, or Never.

The option lists are not identical, which matters if you are trying to match settings across your devices:

Only the two apps give you the middle ground of "autoplay on Wi-Fi, stay quiet on cellular". The web version is on or off.

#The setting is per device, not per account

Here is the line most guides on this query skip, and it is in X's help page verbatim: your settings for video autoplay "can be adjusted independently on X.com and your X app". X even gives the example of videos autoplaying on your iOS device but not on the web.

So the sequence that feels broken is actually working as documented. You kill autoplay on your phone during a commute, open your laptop that evening, and every video in the timeline starts moving again. Nothing reverted. You simply never set the browser. If you scroll on a phone, a tablet and a desktop, that is three trips through the same menu.

Browser profiles count as separate surfaces too, so a second browser or a fresh profile starts back at the default. If x.com in a browser is where you spend most of your time, the rest of what the web version does differently is worth a read in how to use X in a web browser.

#Autoplay off, and the videos still keep coming

This is the real complaint behind most "turn off autoplay on X" searches, and the Data usage setting does not fix it.

Autoplay governs whether video starts moving on its own in your timeline. Once you deliberately tap a video open on mobile, you are in the full-screen player, and a second control takes over: Auto-advance. When it is enabled, the end of one video pulls in the next one, and you are three clips deep into content you never chose. Turning autoplay off has no effect on it.

To switch it off, play any video in the app, tap the gear icon on the player, and tap Auto-advance (Enabled) so it reads Disabled. Some Android builds put it behind the three-dot menu in the top right of the player instead. The finished video then loops rather than moving on (iDownloadBlog, published 31 October 2024, updated 12 February 2026).

X.com in a desktop browser does not auto-scroll to the next video, so the option is not there and does not need to be. This one is a mobile problem with a mobile fix, and X does not document it on the same help page as autoplay, which is exactly why it is so easy to miss.

#What the setting does not cover

GIFs. X's help page states that native videos and GIFs both autoplay across timelines, Explore and the rest of the app. The only documented control is labelled Video autoplay, and X does not publish a separate GIF toggle or say in writing whether GIFs are included. Set autoplay to Never, then scroll a GIF-heavy timeline and judge for yourself. If animated images are the problem rather than sound and data, muted keywords are the blunter tool.

Ads. A promoted video obeys the same autoplay setting as any other video, but the flow of ads themselves is a separate question with separate controls, covered in how to turn off ads on X.

Embedded posts on other sites. A post embedded in a news article is rendered by that website, not by your X client, so your account setting has no reach there. Your browser's own autoplay or media permissions are the place to handle it.

Your own uploads. Nothing here changes how your video behaves for other people. Their settings decide that, which is a practical argument for captions and a strong opening frame, since autoplay starts muted. The limits that shape what you can upload are in X video length.

#The other controls on the same screen

Data usage is worth two more minutes while you are in there, and X's accessibility features list is the map of what exists where.

Data saver reduces what loads before you ask for it, which pairs naturally with autoplay set to Never on a metered connection. Media preview appears on iOS and Android in X's list but not on web, and turning it off replaces image and video previews in the timeline with a tap-to-load placeholder. High-quality media toggles control the resolution you download once something does play.

Reduce motion is the one with an asymmetry worth knowing. X lists it for web and Android but not for iOS, where the system-level Reduce Motion in your iPhone accessibility settings is the lever instead. Font size customisation and Dark or Dim modes sit on all three.

If the underlying goal is a calmer X rather than lower data use, the notification side usually delivers more relief than the media side, and the granular controls are mapped in how to turn off notifications on X. And if you post video yourself, the accessibility habit that most changes who can use your content is described in how to add alt text on X.

#Bottom line

Settings and privacy, Accessibility, display, and languages, Data usage, Video autoplay, Never. Repeat it on every device and browser you scroll on, because X documents the setting as per surface. Then open one video in the mobile app and switch Auto-advance off, which is the control that actually stops the feed from serving you the next clip and the reason so many people believe the autoplay setting does nothing.

If you are here because X has turned into a place you work rather than a place you watch, the wins are on the posting side, not the playback side. X-Autopilot drafts and posts from your own logged-in browser on your Mac, so the session cookie never leaves your machine. That is a smaller detection surface than a cloud tool posting from a shared IP pool, though no browser-based automation is sanctioned by X's rules.