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youtube will autostart videos with internet explorer, but not with firefox; the videos won't start until i press the play button when using firefox.

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  • 21 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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When using Internet Explorer, and I go to a Youtube video, the video starts playing as soon as IE opens that page. But with Firefox, when I go to a Youtube video, the video does not start; instead, I get the blank box with the right-pointing triangle prompting me to click it to start the video. When I do, the video goes ahead and start. Again, with IE, the video starts automatically but not with Firefox. Thank you.

When using Internet Explorer, and I go to a Youtube video, the video starts playing as soon as IE opens that page. But with Firefox, when I go to a Youtube video, the video does not start; instead, I get the blank box with the right-pointing triangle prompting me to click it to start the video. When I do, the video goes ahead and start. Again, with IE, the video starts automatically but not with Firefox. Thank you.

All Replies (2)

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I had my cousin, in another state, another computer of course, if he had that problem with Firefox, and he said no, that the videos autostart. So, that implies it is some setting with Firefox.

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Do you have other tabs open that have Flash content?

Try to clear the Flash cookies and settings.

Flash Website Storage Settings panel: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

See also Flash Local storage settings http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/help02.html


Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of your add-ons is causing your problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).

See Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems and Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems


Your above posted system details show outdated plugin(s) with known security and stability risks.

  1. Next Generation Java Plug-in 1.6.0_15 for Mozilla browsers
  2. Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape 8.2.4

Update the Java plugin to the latest version.

Update the Adobe Reader plugin to the latest version.