Most web browsers load Flash and other plug-in content as soon as you open a web page. Click-to-play allows you to , 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. Google Chrome Google Chrome has a built-in click-to-play feature that works for all plug-ins, including Flash. Click Show advanced settings, click Content settings under Privacy, scroll down to Plug-ins, and select Click to play. Make sure you check the Manage Exceptions button in the screenshot above, because that will override the setting. Of course you should probably just click the Disable button to make sure Flash is dead. Mozilla Firefox uses click-to-play for most plug-in content by default, but it will still load Flash content. Instead of using an option built into Mozilla Firefox, you can install the. Internet Explorer RELATED: Internet Explorer can ask you before it loads plugin content, but this option is well-hidden on. 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. Repeat this process for other plug-ins if you want to prevent them from loading automatically. 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. 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. 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. Think of increased security as a potential bonus feature and follow.
