If you’re a web developer, then you know that it’s important to enable click-to-play plugins in every web browser. This way, your users can play your games without having to install any additional software. There are a few different ways to enable click-to-play plugins in your web browsers. You can use the Firefox browser, Chrome browser, and Opera browser. However, I recommend using the Chrome browser because it’s more user friendly. To enable click-to-play plugins in Chrome, open chrome://flags/ and set the “enable_clicktoplay” flag to true. Once you’ve set this flag, you’ll need to restart Chrome for it to take effect. To enable click-to-play plugins in Firefox, open about:config and set the “browser.clicktoplay” value to true. Once you’ve set this value, you’ll need to restart Firefox for it to take effect. Finally, if you’re using a Windows computer, you can use the Add/Remove Programs tool on your computer to uninstall any add-ons that may be enabled by these three methods. Once these add-ons have been removed, your users will need to enable click-to-play plugins in their web browsers in order for them to play your games successfully!
Most web browsers begin autoplaying content as soon as you open a web page. Enabling click-to-play plugins used to be an easy way to stop that, but what can you do today?
Click-to-play allows you to conserve download bandwidth, improve page load times, reduce CPU usage, and extend laptop battery life. This feature gained popularity with Flashblock for Firefox and is now built into modern browsers.
Can You Enable Click-To-Play on Modern Browsers?
Modern browsers don’t support plug-ins at all — so can you still enable click-to-play functionality?
The answer is a resounding “sort of.” Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Brave all have settings that should allow you to disable autoplay for sound and video. Chrome doesn’t have such a setting at all. The trouble is that they don’t really work. We spent some time with the browsers and found that almost everything online was unaffected by the setting and autoplayed like normal. As of April 2022, this type of browser setting is so ineffective it isn’t even worth trying out.
That leaves you with basically one option: Third-party browser extensions. There are a large number of browser extensions that promise to give you click-to-play functionality. For the most part, they seem to work, though none are perfect. While they may be more effective, it is worth remembering that browser extensions are a privacy nightmare, and they present a real security risk.
If you decide to install one, try to pick an extension with good reviews from lots of users — it doesn’t guarantee that the extension is safe, but it does increase the odds of someone spotting suspicious behavior and will give you a good idea of the extension’s effectiveness.
RELATED: Adobe Flash is Dead: Here’s What That Means
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer can ask you before it loads plugin content, but this option is well-hidden on the add-ons screen. To access it, click the gear icon on Internet Explorer’s toolbar and select Manage Add-ons.
Select Toolbars and Extensions here, click the Show box, and select All add-ons. Locate the Shockwave Flash Object plug-in under Adobe Systems Incorporated, right-click it, and select More information.
Click the Remove all sites button and Flash won’t load automatically on any website you visit.
When you visit a site with Flash content, you’ll be asked whether you want to run the content. Repeat this process for other plug-ins if you want to prevent them from loading automatically.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome has a built-in click-to-play feature that works for all plug-ins, including Flash. To enable it, click Chrome’s menu button and select Settings to open the Settings page. Click Show advanced settings, click Content settings under Privacy, scroll down to Plug-ins, and select Click to play.
If you are using a newer version of Google Chrome, the setting will actually be called “Let me choose when to run plugin content” instead.
For Chrome, you’ll also need to head to about:plugins (type that into the address bar and hit Enter) and make sure that “Always allowed to run” isn’t enabled, which appears to override the click-to-play setting.
Of course, you should probably just click the Disable button to make sure Flash is dead.
Mozilla Firefox
You can make Firefox require click to play by heading into Tools -> Addons -> Plugins and changing the drop-down to Ask to Activate. This should generally work, but there’s a chance an update will flip the setting back.
RELATED: How to Change Hidden Advanced Settings in Any Browser
Alternatively you can use Flashblock, which will completely whack Flash and more, and you don’t have to worry.
Mozilla Firefox uses click-to-play for most plug-in content by default, but it will still load Flash content. There’s a plugins.click_to_play setting in Firefox’s hidden about:config page, but it’s enabled by default. We can’t find a way to enable click-to-play for Flash in Firefox — Mozilla made a decision to make all Flash content bypass their click-to-play feature. There may be a way to override this, but we can’t find it.
Instead of using an option built into Mozilla Firefox, you can install the Flashblock extension. (Update: This extension is no longer available.)
Opera
This setting is also available in Opera, which is no surprise considering Opera is now based on Chrome. To enable it, click the Opera menu button, select Settings, and select Websites on the Settings page. Enable the Click to play option under Plug-ins.
Safari
Safari on Mac OS X also has a way to enable click-to-play for plug-ins. This setting can be adjusted individually for each plug-in you have installed. To change these settings, open Safari, click the Safari menu, and select Preferences. Click the Security icon and click Manage Website Settings to the right of Internet plug-ins.
Select a plug-in, click the When visiting other websites box, and select Ask.
If a Website Doesn’t Work…
Be careful when using click-to-play plugins. Some websites load Flash content in the background. Such websites may need Flash content to work properly, but you may not see the placeholder image. For example, if you visit a website that plays music and click a play button, the music may not play because the website can’t load Flash in the background.
In these cases, you’ll generally need to click the icon that appears in your browser’s address bar, informing you plug-in content has been blocked. You can enable plugin content on the current page from here.
Browsers also have options to enable plug-in content automatically for certain websites. For example, you may want to allow a video-streaming website like YouTube or Netflix to always load plug-ins without asking you.
Enabling click-to-play plug-ins can even help protect you, as so many attacks exploit flaws in insecure plug-ins. However, you shouldn’t rely on click-to-play for security. Think of increased security as a potential bonus feature and follow the usual online security precautions.
