Microsoft has quietly added an interesting new trick to its Edge browser: the ability to play videos in the background. This means that you can now keep a YouTube video running while switching to another tab or minimizing the browser, something that normally requires a YouTube Premium subscription.
The clever part? Edge also has built-in ad blocking. When combined with background playback, this allows users to watch YouTube videos without interruptions from ads—all for free. Android Authority spotted the feature in Edge Canary, the experimental version of Edge that houses the latest features but can be unstable. You can download Edge Canary via the Google Play Store if you want to test it out.
To enable these features, first activate Edge’s built-in ad blocker: go to Settings > Site settings > Block ads, then turn on Adblock Plus. For background playback, type edge://flags into the address bar, search for Video Background Play, toggle it on, and restart the browser. And just like that, you can enjoy YouTube videos without ads in the background.
It’s not a full replacement for YouTube Premium, which also offers offline downloads and YouTube Music, but it’s a handy workaround. Microsoft isn’t the first to enable background playback—Brave and Samsung Internet browsers offer similar functionality—but this move could make Edge an appealing alternative for users who want background video without paying for a subscription.
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