Buzz
GIFs are image files, not videos, so even plugins like click-to-play or video-blocking extensions such as FlashBlock cannot prevent GIFs from autoplaying.
The simplest method is to press the Esc key to temporarily pause GIFs on the current page. However, Chrome has never supported this shortcut, and Mozilla has removed it from modern versions of Firefox. This Esc shortcut still works on Internet Explorer but not on Microsoft Edge.
Chrome's handy extension highlighted here is called Animation Policy. This Chrome extension provides users with a control button to enable or disable GIF animations automatically on the browser toolbar. You can either completely deactivate or force GIFs to play only once before pausing. Remember to refresh the page after altering the settings.
You can grab the Animation Policy extension here: Download Animation Policy
However, some users have reported that Google's extension doesn't work on certain websites. In case Animation Policy fails to function, consider using the Gif Jam (Animation Stopper) extension as an alternative.
Gif Jam (Animation Stopper) provides a toggle button to enable or disable GIF animations automatically. You'll need to refresh the current page to apply any changes. This extension blocks GIFs differently, so it might work even when Google's extension fails.
Mozilla Firefox browser
Firefox comes with built-in settings to prevent GIFs from autoplaying or to make them play only once. To adjust these settings, type about:config into the Firefox browser address bar and press Enter. You'll see a warning message; click on “I’ll be careful, I promise!” to proceed with the next steps.
Next, on the about:config page, type image.animation into the Search box. Here, you'll find a setting named image.animation_mode set to Normal by default. This setting is set to Normal to allow animated images to autoplay and loop.
All you need to do is double-click on the setting and set it to None to disable GIF autoplay in the browser. Alternatively, you can set it to allow GIFs to play only once if you prefer.
Note that after applying this change, you don't need to restart Firefox.
To revert the changes, if you wish to set GIFs to autoplay again, simply reopen the about:config window and set the image.animation_mode option to Normal.
While this option works across all websites, it doesn't offer users much control. If you want quicker toggling of GIFs, consider using a browser extension.
Sometimes you may want GIFs to play in the browser, but other times you may not. In such cases, you might consider installing the Toggle Animated GIFs add-on. This add-on allows you to toggle GIFs using shortcuts or disable GIFs by default, giving you the choice of whether GIFs should play or not.
After installing the Toggle Animated GIFs add-on, navigate to Menu => Add-ons => Extensions, then click on the Options button next to the Toggle Animated GIFs option. Configure the add-on using the options you prefer. For example, you can set GIFs to be disabled by default and only play when you mouse over them.
Internet Explorer browser
In the Internet Explorer browser, you can use the Esc key to stop GIFs from autoplaying. After the page has loaded, press the Esc key, and the GIF will pause.
Additionally, Internet Explorer also offers an option to control whether GIFs autoplay or not. To completely disable GIFs, open Internet Explorer, then click on the menu icon (the cogwheel icon) and select Internet Options.
Click on the Advanced tab, then scroll down to the Multimedia section and uncheck the Play Animations in Webpages option. You'll need to restart your computer to apply this change.
From now on, GIFs won't autoplay in the Internet Explorer browser unless you re-enable this option. One thing to note is that there's no quick way to disable GIFs in Internet Explorer.
Edge browser
Previously, the Microsoft Edge browser didn't support browser extensions. However, since the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the new browser began supporting extensions, but currently, Microsoft Edge still doesn't support disabling GIF autoplay.
Here's Mytour's guide on how to disable automatic GIF playback across all browsers. Now you know how to stop GIFs from auto-playing in your browser, eliminating the annoyance of constant motion and saving on mobile data usage.
