20 Hacks Every Netflix User Should Know
Let's face it, Netflix is no longer cheap. And if you're dedicating your valuable time and resources towards watching Netflix, you might want to see more than the same 10 shows everyone else is watching.
If your evening routine is still just opening Netflix, scrolling aimlessly for 20 minutes, and settling for the same three shows, it's time for an upgrade. Hidden beneath the surface of that simple interface are dozens of powerful settings, secret search codes, and third-party tools that can completely overhaul your viewing experience.
Download your shows and movies offline
Like every other popular streaming service, Netflix lets you download movies and TV shows for offline viewing. Ad-free plans can download up to 100 items per device, while ad-supported plans can download 15 items. And as long as you go online once every 30 days, you can keep that media on your device as long as you want.
And if you're running low on space or your downloads are slow, you can adjust download quality to fix that. To adjust quality, open the Netflix app, go to your Profile, tap the Menu button at the top (the three horizontal lines), then go to App Settings > Downloads > Video Quality. Here, choose between Standard or Higher based on your storage space or network.
Now, just tap the Download button next to an episode, season, or movie to download it. You’ll find downloaded media in the Downloads section in your Profile tab, where you can watch and delete shows.
Sign out of one, or every other device
Netflix has an option that lets you log out of any connected devices from its website. That includes every device that all members of your account are using. So if you want to take away TV access from a friend, or someone who's somehow snuck into your account, this is the place to go.
Click the Profile icon and go to Account. Here, switch to the Devices tab and choose Access and devices. Then, find a device you want to log out from and click Sign Out. You can also click the Sign Out of All Devices button to log out all devices together.
Stop Netflix from sharing your private data to third parties
Netflix has an obscure setting that's so weirdly worded that you'd never think it's about data collection. By default, Netflix shares your privacy-protected contact information with third parties to display ads on third-party services. That is something you should disable, and it's done on a per-profile basis.
Click the Profile icon, go to Account, switch to the Profiles tab, choose your profile, and go to the Privacy and data settings option. Finally, disable Allow matched identifier communications. Repeat this for all the profiles on your account.
Transfer your profile to a new account
Netflix's password sharing crack down is in full swing. If you cannot get around it, it might be time to create your own account. But that doesn't mean you need to start fresh with the algorithm. Netflix has a feature called Transfer Profiles that can help you take all your data from an old account to a new one.
Open the Netflix website and choose your profile. Then, click the Profile icon at the top and go to Transfer Profile. This will open up a wizard that'll walk you through the next steps. Click Start Profile Transfer and choose if you want to transfer to a brand-new account or to an existing one. Netflix will help you set up a new account with all your data already on it. If you're transferring to an existing account, you'll need to know the email and the password for the account. Follow the instructions to transfer your profile to a new account.
Remove unwanted content from your watch history
Want to remove an embarrassing title from your Continue Watching list? Or perhaps a title that you’re never going to finish? Turns out you can help clear your Continue Watching List by removing a title from your Viewing Activity. As a bonus, this method also gets rid of any recommendations based on that content, as if you never watched it.
To do this, go to Netflix’s Viewing Activity page (you can also get there from Account > Profiles > Your Profile > Viewing Activity).
Click the little Hide button next to the title that you want to remove. Confirm in the next step, and the title will disappear from your watch list.
Clean up your Continue Watching list
If you're fine with Netflix tuning your recommendations around something you've watched, but still want to remove it from your Continue Watching list, you can do that, too. Depending on the platform, the steps are slightly different.
If you're watching in the mobile app, tap on the three-dotted menu icon below the show or movie's poster, and choose Remove from row. From the popup, tap the Remove button to confirm. On the website, simply hover over the thumbnail and click the "X" button to remove it from the list. If you're using the TV app, press and hold your remote's main button to go to the details page. Then, tap the Remove from Continue Watching button.
Use a VPN to get past content restrictions
It's no secret that Netflix has a different media catalog for each country. Depending on which one you choose, you can use a VPN to bypass this. You can access all the K-dramas streaming in Korea, while sitting in your home in the U.S. You can use a free VPN, sure, but for fast streaming, a paid and secure VPN might be the best option (NordVPN is a secure and budget-friendly option). As a bonus, it will also encrypt your traffic and protect your data when you're connected to public networks.
Enable smart downloads for your mobile devices
If you watch Netflix on the way to work, or if you have a spotty internet connection, the Smart Downloads feature can be a game changer. Once enabled, this will automatically delete completed episodes and replace them with subsequent episodes when you’re back on Wi-Fi. You can also turn on "Downloads for you," which automatically downloads content Netflix thinks you'll like. You can enable these features on the iOS and Android apps from Profile > Menu > App Settings > Smart Downloads.
Stop Netflix from using too much mobile data
If you like watching Netflix while you’re out and about, it can eat into your mobile data plan pretty easily. Netflix’s data saver mode can help with that. In the Netflix app, go to Profile > Menu > App Settings > Cellular Data Usage. Here, disable the Automatic feature and switch to the Save Data option. This will adjust video quality while you're off wifi to allow for about six hours of playback per GB of data.
Make sure you’re watching in HD or 4K
It would be a shame to pay for the 4K Netflix plan but only watch in 720p because you didn’t adjust your settings. Go to Netflix’s playback settings page, and from the Data Usage Per Screen option, switch to the High option. Now, you’ll get the best quality for the device or screen that you’re on.
Stop Netflix from automatically playing next episodes and previews
Netflix loves autoplaying. Whether the app’s playing the next episode or a new movie right after you’re done watching something, or playing previews on the home screen, it can get pretty annoying.
You can disable both features on a profile-by-profile basis. After opening the Netflix website, go to the Profiles screen. Here, click the Manage Profiles button and choose the profile where you want to disable these features.
Now, uncheck Autoplay next episode and Autoplay previews. Click the Save button to save your preferences.
Make your subtitles easier to read
Are Netflix's default subtitles too hard to read? You can change the subtitle font, color, and size. From the Netflix website, click the Profile icon and choose Account. Here, switch to the Profiles tab and select your profile. Now, choose the Subtitle Appearance option.
From here, you can change the subtitle font, text size, shadow, background color, and window color. Once you’re done, tap the Save button to save your settings.
Choose original dubs in your shows and movies
When you’re watching a foreign language film, Netflix has a habit of defaulting to English language dubbing. Sadly, there’s no setting to stop Netflix from doing that, but there’s always a way to switch to the original audio in the Netflix player. When you’re watching something, go to the Subtitles menu, and from the Audio section, switch to the Original audio.
Lock your profile to keep it private from other users
If you share your Netflix account with your friends or family, your profile isn’t exactly private. Others can see what you’ve been watching, and they can also use your profile and mess up your recommendations.
If you want to protect your profile (especially if you share your account with your kids), click the Profiles icon and choose the Account option. Switch to the Profiles tab, choose your profile, and go to the Profile Lock section. Then, click Create a Profile lock.
Enter your account password, and from the next page, enter the four-digit pin and click the Save button. The next time you open Netflix, you’ll need to enter this pin to access your profile.
Block adult content, if you want
If you’re sharing your Netflix account with your kids or teenagers, you might want to block adult content. To do this, go to the Profiles tab in your Account and choose your profile. Here, go to the Adjust Parental Controls section and enter your account password.
From the top, you can change the profile's maturity rating (7+ to 18+). If you want, you can also turn the current profile into a children’s profile, which only shows content suitable for children. From the bottom, you can even choose to block a particular TV show or movie. Once you’re done, click the Save button.
Switch to dialogue-only subtitles
Netflix has finally added an option for dialogue-only subtitles, and while they're not on every show, the company plans to support them on at least every new Netflix Original going forward.
This new subtitle option removes commentary and stage directions from subtitles. So you won't see details about the background music or heavy breathing. You'll just see character dialogue.
To switch to this option, start streaming a compatible show or movie on Netflix and head to the Subtitles section. Here, choose English (or the language of your choice) in the Audio section, and English (or, again, whatever language you want) in the Subtitles section. If you want to revert to the classic subtitles style, switch to an option with "(CC)" in the name.
Browse better using Netflix's secret codes
Netflix's search feature is pretty great, but the way its app organizes content kind of sucks. On the home screen, you might keep seeing the same popular content repeated in different sections. If you want to discover new content in a particular genre, style, or language, there is a better way. And that's to use Netflix's secret codes.
Netflix has codes for every kind of movie category and subcategory that you can imagine. There are 20 broad categories to start with, but there are 267 categories in total, each with their own unique code. You can find a list of all the secret codes at Netflix-Codes.com. Just enter the code in the Netflix search bar (or click the linked URL) to browse content tagged with it.
You can also enter these codes into a Netflix URL yourself. So, to view "Asian action movies", you'd navigate to https://netflix.com/browse/genre/77232.
Enable screen lock when watching on your mobile device
There's nothing quite as annoying as accidentally brushing your phone or tablet screen while watching Netflix and pausing a movie, skipping ahead, or turning on subtitles. To me, this happens mostly when I'm traveling or watching in bed. Netflix has a solution for this, though, in the form of a screen lock. When you're watching something, tap the screen to bring up player controls, and then tap the Lock button. Now, no matter how much you swipe, you won't end up changing the volume randomly. How to unlock it, you ask? Tap on the screen again, tap the Screen Locked button, and tap once again to unlock the screen.
Add reviews to show pages using the Trim extension
Trim is a neat little Chrome extension that provides you contextual information about movies and TV shows, so you don't have to open different websites to find them. You'll see ratings and reviews from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes for any given show right on its Netflix page, saving you a click before you choose what you want to watch.
Add more features to Netflix using the Netflix Enhanced extension
Lastly, you can try the Netflix Enhanced Chrome extension to add some small quality-of-life improvements to Netflix. It automatically skips intros, and plays the next episode immediately after the current one ends, saving you some clicks and valuable time. You can also use nifty keyboard shortcuts, like pressing "N" to go to the next episode, using the arrow key to change the volume, and more.