• All major browsers allow you to turn off tabs, so you won’t hear any website sound in that tab.
• To disable a tab, right click on the tab and select the “Mute” option.
• By default, Google Chrome only allows you to deactivate entire sites. To deactivate a single tab, you will need an extension.
• Visit Insider’s Technical Reference Library for more stories.

If you’ve been online long enough, you’ve probably been faced with the scourge of the internet: auto-playing video ads. There are few things worse than opening a website to throw unwanted music at you.

That’s why almost all web browsers allow you to turn off tabs. The mute tab feature silences everything in a specific tab, which means even the loudest video ad won’t bother you.

Here’s how to turn off tabs on your Mac or PC using

Google chrome
, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Safari.

How to turn off tabs in Google Chrome

Despite being the most popular internet browser, Google Chrome does not have a built-in way to disable tabs like other browsers.

Instead, Google Chrome lets you opt out of entire websites. This means that if you mute one tab, any other tab that is on the same website will be muted as well.

To make dumb websites:

1. Right-click on a website tab that you want to disable.

2. To select Silent site.

3. When you want to turn the sound back on, right click on a tab that is again on this website and select Restore sound from the site.

If you specifically want to disable individual tabs instead of entire websites, you will need to install an extension. We recommend the simple name Tab Mute extension.

To use it:

1. Open the Tab Muter page and click Add to Chrome top right, then Add extension.

2. An icon that looks like a black speaker will appear in your list of extensions. You might see it right away in the top right corner of Chrome. Otherwise, click puzzle piece icon and find it there. You can also click the pushpin icon next to the Tab Muter icon to make sure it’s always visible.

3. When you want to deactivate a tab, open the tab and click this black speaker icon. This will immediately silence the tab.

When you want to re-enable the tab, click the black speaker icon again.

How to turn off tabs in Microsoft Edge or Firefox

Microsoft Edge and Firefox let you turn off tabs in exactly the same way, and it’s a lot easier than in Google Chrome.

1. Right click on the tab you want to disable.

2. To select Mute tab.

3. To reactivate the tab, right-click again and select Restore sound tab.

Otherwise, open the tab and press Control + M on your keyboard.

How to turn off tabs in Safari

Safari allows you to turn off tabs, but it has one restriction: you can only turn off tabs that are actively sounding. If you try to deactivate a tab when no sound is coming out, the option will disappear or be grayed out. This means that you cannot prevent tabs from being disabled.

The instructions also differ a bit depending on how many tabs you have open.

• If the tab you want to disable is the only one you have open, click Window at the top of the screen then Disable this tab. When you want to turn the sound back on, open the Window menu again and select Restore the sound of this tab.

• If more than one tab is open, right-click the tab you want to disable and select Mute tab. To re-enable sound, right-click again and select the Enable Sound tab.

If you want to mute each tab except for the one you are currently in, click Window at the top of the screen then Disable other tabs. Keep in mind that this will only mute the tabs that are actively sounding at that time.