How to permanently disable autoplay video in the Xiaomi browser: instructions for MIUI

Automatic video playback in Xiaomi’s browser is one of the most annoying features for users. Loud ads start playing themselves when scrolling through social media, news sites, or even search results, not only distracting, but also consuming traffic, draining battery, and in some cases causing pages to freeze due to the high load on the processor.

The problem is compounded by the fact that in MIUI (Xiaomi firmware), browser settings are often hidden or incorrect after updates. For example, in the standard Mi Browser browser, the option to block autoplay can suddenly be reset, and in Google Chrome, ignore user settings due to site policy. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to disable autoplay video on Xiaomi smartphones in 2026, including hidden MIUI functions and bypassing the restrictions of popular sites.

Why Videos Are Automatically Played and Why It's Dangerous

Autoplay video is not just an annoying interface element, but a monetization tool for websites. The longer a user watches a video (even against their will), the more ad impressions the platform accumulates.

🔋 Increased battery consumption by 15-30% with active surfing (according to GSMArena tests on the Redmi Note 12 Pro)+).
📶 Uncontrolled traffic: one autoplay video in the 1080p "eat up to 50MB.
🛑 Browser freeze, if several videos are running on the page at the same time (typical for sites with aggressive advertising).
🔊 Unexpected sound in public places (even if the phone is silent, some sites bypass this restriction).

Moreover, some malicious sites use autoplay to covertly mine cryptocurrency through a browser. In 2023, Kaspersky’s lab recorded a 40% increase in such attacks — they masquerade as regular videos but load the smartphone’s processor by 100%. On Xiaomi with Snapdragon 7/8 series processors, this leads to overheating and forced shutdown of the device.

⚠️ Note: If after visiting the site with autoplay, the phone began to warm up a lot, check the CPU load in Settings → The phone. → System status. If you're above 70% simple, close your browser immediately and clear the cache.

Method 1: Disable autoplay in the standard Mi Browser browser

The standard Mi Browser (set by default on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO) has an autorun lock option built in, but it's often hidden in deep settings. Instructions are relevant for MIUI 14/15 and Android 13/14:

Open the Mi Browser and tap the icon «⋮» (three points) in upper right corner.
Select Settings → Additionally.
Scroll down to the Privacy and Security block and click Site Settings.
Find Autoplay video (if not, update your browser through Play Market).
Choose the option of Do not allow or Wi-Fi only (if you want to save mobile traffic).

Important: After changing the settings, restart the browser (close all tabs through the menu) ⋮ → Some sites (e.g. TikTok in the web version) ignore these settings – they will require additional blocking (see Method 4).

Open browser settings

Selected item "Do not allow" autoplay

Browser rebooted

Checked on 2-3 sites with video-->

⚠️ Note: Some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi) 10C or POCO M4 Pro) Autoplay video may not be available. This is due to the stripped-down version MIUI In this case, use Method 2 or Method 3.

Method 2: Set up Google Chrome on Xiaomi

If you use Google Chrome (the most popular browser on Xiaomi after Mi Browser), the algorithm for disabling autoplay is different. There are two levels of settings: global (for all sites) and individual (for specific resources).

To completely shut down:

Open Chrome and enter chrome://settings/content.
Select Autoplay (if there is no item, upgrade your browser to the latest version).
Activate the switch Do not allow sites to automatically play audio and video.

For individual sites (for example, if you want to block autoplay only on YouTube or VK):

Open a problem site in Chrome.
Slap the icon «🔒» (lock) to the left of the address bar.
Select Site Settings → Autoplay.
Set the value "Blocked."

browser	The path to settings	Efficiency	Notes
Mi Browser	⋮ → Settings → Additionally. → Site settings	70%	It does not work on some sites (for example, TikTok)
Google Chrome	chrome://settings/content → Autoplay	85%	Requires manual setup for individual sites
Firefox	⋮ → Settings → Auto-reproduction	90%	Better blocking background videos, but consumes more RAM

It’s worth noting that Chrome on Xiaomi sometimes resets these settings after an update.To avoid a problem, turn off automatic browser updates in the Play Market:

Open Play Market → click on the profile avatar.
Select Settings → Auto-Update applications.
Set Do Not Update Automatically.

📊 What browser do you use on Xiaomi?

Mi Browser

Google Chrome

Firefox

Other

I don't know.

Method 3: Blocking through Android settings (for all browsers)

If your browser settings don’t work, you can block autoplay at the Android level, which works for all browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Mi Browser, but requires you to turn on developer mode.

Instructions:

Activate Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version (you will be notified you have become a developer!).

Settings

Additional → For Developers

Turn off autoplay video

Limit background media

Activate it and restart the phone.

This method is most effective, but has two disadvantages:

🔄 After resetting settings or updating MIUI The developer mode is turned off and the procedure must be repeated.
🛠️ On some models (Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Redmi) K60 Pro) option may not be available due to firmware customization.

What to do if there is no option to “disable autoplay” in developer mode?

On some versions MIUI (For example, global or European, this option is hidden. ADB-Adb shell settings put global video_autoplay_enabled 0 For that: 1. Install Platform Tools on PC. 2. Connect Xiaomi to the USB with debugging enabled (Settings) → For developers → Debugging by USB). 3. Enter the command in the terminal. After the reboot, the autoplay will be blocked at the system level.

Method 4: Using Extensions to Block Video

If the system settings don't work, installing specialized extensions will help.

🛡️ uBlock Origin - blocks not only autoplay, but also ads. Works in Firefox and Kiwi Browser (similar to Chrome with support for extensions).
🎵 Mute Tab – pauses the sound on tabs with autoplay (useful for YouTube and social networks).
🚫 Disable HTML5 Autoplay – Targeted extension for blocking video based HTML5 (90% of websites are used).

How to install uBlock Origin on Xiaomi:

Download Firefox or Kiwi Browser from Play Market.
Open the browser and follow the link https://addons.mozilla.org/ru/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ (for Firefox or https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin (Kiwi).
Click Set and confirm permissions.
After installation, open the extension settings and activate the filters: EasyList (ad blocking), Fanboy’s Annoyances (blocking annoying elements), HTML5 Video Autoplay Blocker (targeted video blocking).

The advantage of this method is flexibility: you can manually add sites to a whitelist/blacklist, for example, allow autoplay on YouTube, but block it on news portals. However, note that extensions increase the load on RAM (by 100-200 MB), which is critical for Xiaomi’s budget models with 4 GB of memory.

💡

If you still play videos after installing uBlock Origin, update the filters manually: open the extension panel → "Update" icon" (🔄) → wait until it's finished.

Method 5: Blocking through hosts file (for advanced users)

This method is suitable for those who are ready to edit system files, it blocks autoplay at the DNS level, preventing video from downloading from popular hosting sites (for example, YouTube, VK Video, ad networks).

Instructions:

Install a file manager with access to the root folder (such as FX Explorer or Solid Explorer).
Go to /system/etc/hosts (root rights or Magisk required).
Add the following lines at the end of the file: #Block Autoplay Hosts 127.0.0.1 video-ak.ispot.tv 127.0.0.1 player.vimeo.com 127.0.0.1 static.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 googleads.g.doubleclick.net
Save the file and restart the phone.

FAQ: Frequent questions about autoplay on Xiaomi

❓ Why After Updating MIUI Auto-reproduction is back on?

Major MIUI updates (e.g., version 14 to version 15) reset browser settings and system settings. To avoid a problem: Before updating, back up settings through Settings → Additional → Backup. After updating manually check browser settings (see Method 1 and Method 2). If the problem recurs, use extensions or edit hosts.

❓ Can Autoplay be disabled for mobile internet only?

Yes, Mi Browser and Chrome have Wi-Fi-only options, but they don't work on all sites: chrome://flags/#autoplay-policy → Select Document user activation required. In Mi Browser: Save data (⋮ → Settings → Save data mode. This will reduce the background loading of video on the 80%, but does not guarantee 100% lockdown.

❓ Why some sites (such as TikTok) still play videos?

Sites like TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter use advanced mechanisms to bypass blocking, including: Dynamic uploading of content via WebSocket; Masking videos as "gifs" or "animations"; ignoring browser settings through Service Workers. Use Firefox with the uBlock Origin extension + Fanboy's Annoyances filter: Open the site in read mode (in Chrome: ⋮ → Read Mode. Add the site to the blacklist through chrome://settings/content/siteDetails.

❓ How to Check Which Sites Ignore Autoplay Blocking?

To do this: Open Chrome and type in chrome://media-engagement. See the list of sites with a high Media Engagement Index value, these are the resources that most often run videos. Copy their addresses and blacklist them (see Method 2). There are no similar statistics in Mi Browser, but you can use Firefox with the Requestly extension to monitor downloaded media files.

❓ Is there a universal solution for all browsers?

No, there is no universal method because of differences in browser engines (Chromium, Gecko, WebKit) and site policies, but the combination of methods has the maximum effect: Turn off autoplay in the browser settings (Method 1, Method 2). Install uBlock Origin in Firefox or Kiwi Browser (Method 4). MIUI-Optimization through Developer Mode (Method 3) will reduce autoplay by 95-98%. The remaining 2-5% are sites with aggressive ads that are blocked only through hosts or root access.