How to Disable Autoplay in Windows 10

When you insert a removable disk like a CD/DVD/BRD disk or even a USB flash disk, Windows checks for the existence of the “autorun.inf” file and the type of the disk. It then starts the autoplay wizard accordingly. For DVD movie disks it will launch a media player capable of playing DVD movies (or helps you find a DVD player app on App Store), for software disks it asks if you want to run the installation program and so on. Basically, Windows searches the removable disk for its contents and suggests an appropriate action based on the types of the contents.

But sometimes we negligently allow unwanted programs to run when Auto Play asks you through the force of habit. Auto playing of DVD movies may also be undesired if you want to play the movies in a media player other than the default one.

Windows 10 Disable Autoplay

If for these or any other reasons, you wish to disable the Auto Play feature in Windows 10, then you can proceed as follows:

  1. Click on the Start Menu icon in the taskbar and select Settings from the menu when it opens up.
  2. In the Settings app, select Devices section. This section offers you options related to various devices and peripherals like keyboards, mice and printers.
  3. When the Devices screen shows up, select Autoplay from the left side pane.Windows 10 Disable Autoplay
  4. You can toggle Autoplay on or off using the simple toggle switch labeled Use Autoplay for all media and devices. The setting is universal for all types of media and devices.

Now when you attach a removable disk to your Windows 10 PC, it will recognize it but will not take any other action. You will have to manually check the disk from File Explorer and decide what you want to do with it. But even with Autoplay disabled, you can right-click on a disk and select Open Autoplay… to launch it through the Autoplay actions.

One comment

  1. Any idea how we can stop auto play, when opening a new window?

    EG. Google search, video, open youtube video in new window, it starts by it’s self….
    Help.

    Thank you. 🙂

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