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Focus Mute

A lightweight Chrome extension that automatically mutes all tabs unless the page is currently focused, and pauses playable media when the page loses focus.

Features

• Automatically mutes all tabs except the currently focused page
• Mutes all tabs when Chrome is not in the foreground
• Pauses HTML5 audio/video when a page loses focus
• Resumes only media that was paused by the extension
• Works with common players such as YouTube

Behavior

• Active tab in focused window → unmuted
• Background tabs → muted
• Chrome unfocused (user switches to another app) → all tabs muted
• Page loses focus → audio/video paused
• Page regains focus → previously paused media resumes

Limitations

• Only standard HTML5 <audio> and <video> elements are paused
• Media using WebAudio (e.g. some games) may not be pausable and will only be muted
• Does not apply to restricted pages such as chrome:// or extension store pages

Privacy

This extension does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data. All logic runs locally within the browser. No external servers or network requests are involved.

Permissions

• tabs: required to control tab mute state
• <all_urls>: required to detect page focus and control media playback via content scripts

License

MIT