Instagram Video Controls

About

Instagram's desktop web player is missing a lot of what you get on mobile: a progress bar to seek, volume control, playback speed, fullscreen, picture in picture, and basic keyboard shortcuts. Instagram Video Controls adds all of that back.

It works on reels, stories, and feed videos (home, profiles, single posts). No sign-in, no account, no data collection.

FEATURES

• Full video player controls on reels, stories, and feed videos. Click to scrub, drag to seek, adjust volume, change playback speed, go fullscreen, or pop out with picture in picture.

• Two player skins, switchable from the popup:
  – Browser native controls (default): the standard HTML5 video UI from your browser.
  – Instagram-like thin scrubber: a 3 pixel progress bar at the bottom of the video that fades in on hover, thickens while dragging, and shows a floating time label. Keeps Instagram's own UI (like, comment, share, caption) fully visible.

• Audio memory, four modes:
  – Instagram default: the extension never touches audio.
  – Mute by default: every new video comes muted.
  – Unmute by default: every new video comes unmuted at full volume.
  – Remember last choice: unmute once and every new video carries your choice forward, across reloads and devices.

• Keyboard shortcuts: press the left or right arrow key to seek 5 seconds on reels and feed videos.

• Pause new videos by default (opt in): every newly loaded video stays paused until you press play, so you choose what to watch instead of getting autoplayed at.

• Disable loop: videos pause at the end instead of restarting on a loop.

• Stories support: native controls appear on story videos too. When the Instagram-like skin is on, Instagram's reply, like, direct, and reactions stay visible alongside the thin scrubber. When the browser native skin is on, the overlays are automatically hidden so the native controls are fully usable.

• Popup with every toggle, synced across your Chrome profile via chrome.storage.sync. Changes take effect on the already open Instagram tab in real time, without a reload.

PRIVACY

This extension does not collect, transmit, or sell any data. It does not make any network requests. It only reads and writes your preferences to chrome.storage.sync (settings) and chrome.storage.local (remembered audio state). The "storage" permission is used for that and nothing else. The "host_permissions" for instagram.com is used to inject the content script that does the work on Instagram pages, and nothing else.

HOW IT WORKS

A small content script runs on instagram.com, finds video elements in scope, and enables the browser's native video controls on them. It also raises the video above Instagram's invisible click catcher so clicks on the control strip reach the native player instead of opening the description. New videos are picked up as you scroll or navigate via a MutationObserver.

OPEN SOURCE

GPL v3. Source code, issue tracker, and changelog at https://github.com/kbrianps/instagram-video-controls

NOT AFFILIATED

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Instagram or Meta Platforms, Inc. All trademarks referenced are property of their respective owners.