Stop Facebook videos chowing your data

When Facebook started auto-playing videos, everybody thought “how cool”… But then data bundles start to disappear faster than you can say “stop that damn video of the funny cat”.

Now your ISP will not mind, as it is a goldmine for them. More data equals more caching for them!

So how do you stop auto-play or at least limit it to when you are in a Wi-Fi zone?

For computers:
Go to your options drop-down menu (top right).
Click ‘Settings’
Select the ‘Videos’ link on the left.
Turn the ‘Auto-Play Videos’ from ‘ON’ to ‘OFF’.

For phones and tablet apps:
You can adjust your auto-play settings to ‘On’, WiFi only, or ‘Off’. If auto-play is ‘On’, the data used depends on the amount of time you spend watching a video. If you scroll past an auto-play video in News Feed, your phone will use less data than if you stop to watch it for a longer period of time. If auto-play is set to ‘Wi-Fi Only’, no data will be used.

To adjust your auto-play settings:

Android:

Open the Facebook app
Tap your phone’s menu button
Tap Settings
Scroll down and tap Video Auto-Play
Choose an option

iPhone and iPad:

Go to your phone’s or tablet’s settings
Scroll down and tap Facebook
Tap Settings
Below Video, tap Auto-Play
Choose an option