How to Skip DVD Previews and Get Straight to the Movie

Written by

Taryn Williford
Taryn Williford
Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
published Apr 19, 2010
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Imagine getting ready to curl up inside your humble and comfy little abode. You’ve popped in a DVD and made your way to the kitchen to gather up some delicious treats and crack open a frosty brew. But when you sit down with your grub, you find yourself sitting through what seems like endless and unskippable movie previews and piracy warnings—what a buzzkill. If only you knew the remote-control trick that works on nearly every DVD Player (Hint: It’s not the menu button. We’ll tell it to you after the jump).

Sometimes, a quick hit to the menu button will get you going. But even for those seemingly unskippable previews, it turns out you don’t have to sit through them at all and you can actually get the movie going before you finish your beer if you know this simple trick: Stop, stop, play.

“Stop, stop, play” should get you to the movie on most DVD players. But if you’re still having trouble, try two other remote button combinations from Digital Inspiration: Stop, stop, stop, play (three times!) or do a few rounds of “Stop, play” to skip through the previews and the landing pages one-by-one:

When the first splash screen appeared, I clicked the player’s Stop button. Then I clicked Play, and the disc skipped ahead to the previews. I repeated the process — Stop, then Play — and it advanced to the FBI warning. I did it a third time and presto: I landed right on the movie’s menu screen.

(Image: flickr user Jenny Lee Silver under license from Creative Commons.)