How to Turn On or Off AutoPlay for Cameras and Phones in Windows 11

What is AutoPlay?

Windows 11 AutoPlay is a setting that decides what happens when you plug in devices like cameras or phones, letting you choose if photos or videos open automatically or if you want to pick each time.

• Automatically open photos, videos, or music from your device.
• Ask you what you want to do each time you connect a device.
• Show you a list of apps to choose from.
• Simply open the folder with your files.
• Do nothing if you’ve told it not to act before.

Note: AutoPlay shows notifications when you plug in cameras or phones. For storage devices like USB flash drives, however, you’ll need to find those files directly in File Explorer under ‘This PC’.

Quick tip: Press and hold the Shift key while plugging in your device. This will force the AutoPlay prompt to show up, no matter what your settings are.

How to Turn On or Off AutoPlay for Cameras, Phones, and Other Devices

⚠️ Admin privileges required: You need to be signed in as an administrator to change these settings.

Option 1Using Local Group Policy Editor (🪟 Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, Education only)

Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education users can turn AutoPlay on or off for devices like cameras and phones using the Local Group Policy Editor.

1. Press ⊞ Win+R on your keyboard to open the Run box.
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
3. In the left panel, go to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > AutoPlay Policies
4. In the right panel, find and double-click Disallow AutoPlay for non-volume devices.
5. To enable AutoPlay (default): Select Not Configured or Disabled, then click OK.
6. To disable AutoPlay: Select Enabled, then click OK.
7. Close the Local Group Policy Editor.

Here is what it looks like in the editor:

Option 2Using the Windows Registry (All 🪟 Windows 11 editions)

All Windows 11 users, even those with Home edition, can change AutoPlay settings for cameras and phones by editing the Windows Registry.

To Enable AutoPlay (default):

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v NoAutoplayfornonVolume /f

To turn AutoPlay back on for these devices, you’ll need to delete the ‘NoAutoplayfornonVolume’ value.

To Disable AutoPlay:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" /v NoAutoplayfornonVolume /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

This involves adding a value that turns off AutoPlay for cameras, phones, and other devices that aren’t storage drives.

How to apply these changes:

• You can open Registry Editor (regedit). Navigate to the keys and change or delete the values manually.
• 🔄 Restart your PC or sign out and back in for changes to take effect.

Summary

• AutoPlay helps you quickly open photos, videos, or music when you connect cameras, phones, or other devices.
• You can turn AutoPlay on or off for these devices using either the Group Policy Editor or the Registry Editor.
• You need to be an administrator to change these settings.
• AutoPlay settings only affect non-storage devices like cameras and phones. They do not affect USB drives or external hard drives.
• Press Shift when plugging in a device to force the AutoPlay prompt to appear.
• By setting AutoPlay the way you like, you can save time and avoid repeated prompts when connecting your devices.

Windows 11 AutoPlay settings let you choose what happens when you connect devices like cameras and phones, and you can turn this feature on or off using the Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor.