One of the most annoying things about life online these days is autoplay. From ads that play audio on websites to previews on Netflix, videos that begin unprompted are, more often than not, a scourge.

YouTube isn't immune from this issue. The Google-owned platform has determined that, after we watch a video that we have actively chosen, we want to see something else we had no hand in picking. YouTube chooses the follow-up videos that play automatically based on your viewing history, so there's a decent chance that you'll be interested in watching what the feature bubbles up. 

And if you're using YouTube videos as background noise, you might be totally cool with autoplay. That's great if it works for you! However, it's okay just to stop playing videos after we've seen the ones we actually want to watch, YouTube. Really, it's fine.

It's not exactly a secret as to why autoplay is enabled on YouTube by default (at least for adult users). The more videos that the service shows you, the more ads it can run and the more it can pad parent company Alphabet's bottom line.

However, you can simply say no to autoplay in just a few steps. I did it years ago and have never regretted that decision. If you prefer to let videos autoplay, we'll show you how to keep that setting on too.

There are a few things worth noting about autoplay, which we'll get to momentarily, but the key factor for our purposes is that you can have it enabled on some devices and off on others. So, we'll break down how to toggle YouTube autoplay across several platforms.

Let's start with phones and tablets. One thing to bear in mind here is that if you have autoplay enabled, the next video YouTube has lined up for you won't automatically play if you type something, such as a comment or search, or if you scroll past the video player (the same is true if you use YouTube on a computer). Additionally, you can tap the "cancel" prompt before the next video begins.

The easiest way to disable (or enable) autoplay in the YouTube mobile and tablet app is to tap the toggle at the top of the video player while you're watching something. If you see a pause icon, autoplay is disabled. The opposite is true if a play icon is displayed.

You can toggle autoplay outside of the video player too. On the iOS or Android app, you can tap your profile picture, then the Settings/gear icon, then Playback. In that menu, there's an "Autoplay next video" toggle.

Things are straightforward on a PC or laptop as well. You can switch autoplay on or off using the toggle at the bottom of the video player. 

Next up, let's take a look at how to change the setting on the YouTube app for TVs and game consoles. Simply go to your profile, access Settings and select the "Autoplay next video" option. Changing the autoplay setting here will apply to TVs and similar connected devices on which you've signed in with your account. If you're casting YouTube from your phone or tablet, you can toggle autoplay from the video queue as well.

As I noted in the introduction, autoplay is disabled on YouTube by default for users aged 13-17. If a teen has turned it on for themselves, parents and guardians can disable autoplay entirely on supervised accounts.

One other thing worth knowing is that if you're watching YouTube on a mobile network, autoplay will stop after 30 minutes. On Wi-Fi, it will cease after four hours.