Muting sound by default on all sites?

Hi Robert Earl,

Thank you for reaching out.

On Edge for Android, the global “Mute sites that play sound” permission helps control whether websites are allowed to produce audible output, however, when media playback is manually started (for example, tapping Play on a video), the webpage can still initiate a media session at the Android system level.

At that point:

• The browser session requests Android Audio Focus
• Android pauses any currently playing background audio (Spotify, podcasts, etc.)
• The site’s sound permission is then applied

This can result in your background audio being stopped even when you do not intend to hear any sound from the webpage.

To help prevent background audio interruptions, I would recommend blocking sound before interacting with media on websites where playback may occur. This ensures the sound permission is denied prior to any playback attempt, which can help avoid interruptions to your background audio.

• Open the webpage containing the video/audio (e.g., Wikimedia Commons).
• Tap the padlock icon in the address bar.
• Select Permissions > Sound.
• Change the setting to Block.
• Return to the page and then tap Play.

An additional check if supported by your Android device - you may use Separate App Sound to route Edge’s audio independently.

• Android Settings > Sounds and vibration > Separate app sound > Add Edge
• Assign to phone speaker or alternate output

I understand how important uninterrupted background playback can be, especially for accessibility or productivity needs. You can also submit feedback through Edge > Settings > Help and feedback > Send feedback to improve future playback handling scenarios across platforms.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Greetings,

There is no such flag in edge://flags that has anything to do with media playback or automatic play or audio.

There is also no such option upon long press of address bar. The only options in this menu are “Move To Bottom”, or C“opy Link”.

We did a force stop and a clear cache, and also cleared all website data including cookies and site storage, and things like that. So I had to sign back in. But as soon as we navigate to Wikimedia Commons and watch a video, (the video must be manually played colon it is not an auto play situation.) But the video does indeed issue unwanted audio output.

I think edge/andr drops the global‑mute the moment a media‑sess grabs audio‑focus… long‑press addr‑bar → Site perms → Sound=Block; if it still leaks, kill media‑autoplay in flags — and if even that fails, only disabling site‑media in OS app‑info holds.

Hi Robert Earl

Based on my experience, this behavior is usually related to how Edge on Android handles media autoplay compared to Chrome. Even if sound or audio playback is set to be blocked by default, some sites may still start playing audio when the tab becomes active again, especially after the app was minimized or resumed.

I have also seen cases where the setting appears correct, but the actual behavior does not fully follow it on mobile browsers. Since you mentioned that it works properly in Chrome on the same device, this seems more like an Edge-specific behavior or limitation on Android rather than a problem with your device settings.

What helped in similar cases was checking:

• site permissions in Edge again
• autoplay or media-related settings
• whether the site was previously allowed
• updating Edge to the latest version
• clearing cache and site data
• testing in InPrivate mode

If it still happens after that, it may be best reported as an Edge on Android issue, since it does not seem consistent with the expected setting behavior.

I hope you find this helpful

♠ ♠ Ace ♠ ♠