How to watch Netflix offline

Would you like to watch your favorite TV series on Netflix even when you don’t have an internet connection available? Would you like to watch Netflix content on the go, but avoid consuming all the Giga included in your data plan? If the answer to at least one of these questions is yes, don’t worry: you’ve come to the right place at the right time!

With today’s guide, in fact, I will explain how to watch Netflix offline, providing you with all the information you need to succeed in your intent. In addition to listing the devices on which you can download the content available in the catalog of the famous video streaming service, you will find the detailed procedure for downloading the titles of your interest and playing them even when an Internet connection is not available.

If that’s what you wanted to know, let’s not go any further and see how to proceed. Set aside five minutes of free time, dedicate to reading the next paragraphs and carefully follow the instructions I am about to give you. By doing so, I assure you that you will be able to download the content you prefer and play it offline without encountering any kind of problem. Happy reading and, above all, good viewing!

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to watch Netflix offline on smartphones and tablets
• How to watch Netflix offline on PC
• How to watch Netflix offline on Mac

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of this tutorial and explaining how to watch Netflix offline, let me give you some preliminary information in this regard.

First of all, you must know that Netflix allows playback in offline mode, that is without necessarily having an Internet connection, through the Download function which, in fact, allows you to download the contents of your interest and play them later even if your device is not able to connect to the Internet.

This feature is available to all Netflix subscribers but, depending on the type of active subscription, the number of devices on which it is allowed to download content at the same time varies: with the Basic plan, for example, it is possible to download movies and TV series on a single device at a time; with the Standard plan up to two devices, while the Premium plan allows you to download content on up to 4 devices at the same time.

Speaking of devices: it will be useful to know that not all devices are compatible for offline playback: at the time of writing this guide, the Netflix Download function is available on all devices with Android 4.4.2 and later. , on iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch with iOS / iPadOS 9 and later, on PCs and tablets with Windows 10 (version 1607 and later), on Amazon Fire tablets with FireOS 4.0 or later, and on some models of Chromebook and Chromebox.

Once the content of your interest has been downloaded, the related files are available locally on the single device (they are saved in a format of “unknown” origin and protected by DRM, ie digital padlocks): this means that the downloaded contents are only available on the device on which the download was made and can only be played with the Netflix application.

Regarding the limitations imposed by Netflix regarding the content available for offline playback, you should know that it is possible to have up to 100 downloads at a time and that, once you have downloaded a title on your device, you have a period of time limited to watch before it expires (time varies by licenses and titles). In any case, after you start playing a downloaded content, you will have 48 hours to finish watching it, after which it will be labeled as “expired” and will no longer be available for offline playback. However, it will be possible to renew the download, even if only for a certain number of times.

Finally, I would like to underline that for reasons related to the rights on individual contents, not all titles available in the Netflix catalog can be downloaded offline. Having clarified this, let’s see how to proceed.

How to watch Netflix offline on smartphones and tablets

The procedure to watch Netflix offline on smartphones and tablets is simple and fast: after downloading the content of your interest, all you have to do is access the Download section of the app of the famous streaming service and start playing the film or series TV you intend to watch.

To proceed, start the Netflix app for Android (also available on alternative stores, for devices without Google services) or iOS / iPadOS and, if you haven’t already done so, log in to your account: then press the button Login, enter your details in the Email or phone number and Password fields and tap the Login button to login and choose your viewing profile.

Now, tap on the option of your interest between TV Series and Movies, both located in the top menu, press on the All categories item and, in the new screen displayed, select the Available for download option, in order to view the complete list of all TV series and movies that can be downloaded and played offline. Similarly, you can also proceed by pressing on the Download item located in the bottom menu, by tapping on the See what you can download button and pressing on the title to download.

If, on the other hand, you want to search for a specific content (e.g. search for a movie on Netflix ), select the Search option in the menu below, enter the title of the content of your interest in the Search field and, in the search results displayed on the screen, tap on the poster of the movie or TV series you want to download. Once this is done, make sure that the Download option is available on the new screen that appears, indicating that the title in question can be downloaded and played offline.

At this point, if your intention is to watch movies on Netflix offline, press on the title of your interest and tap the Download button to start the download. Alternatively, you can also select the More info options (which allows you to access the complete description of the film in question) and Download.

If, on the other hand, you want to download a TV series, tap the Download button to download the first episode or the first episode following the ones you have already downloaded/watched. If you prefer to manually choose which episodes to download, press on Episodes and info, locate the Episodes section and press the icon of the arrow pointing down relative to the episode you want to download.

Please note that the Smart Downloads function is available for TV series which, when connected to a Wi-Fi network, automatically deletes the previously downloaded episode you have finished watching and downloads the next one. To activate this feature, press the Download item, tap the Smart Download option, at the top left and move the relative lever from OFF to ON.

Once the download of the chosen contents is complete, to watch a movie or a TV series in offline mode, access the Download section by pressing on the relevant item located in the menu at the bottom, tap on the title to watch and, in the new screen displayed, press the ▶ button, to start playback.

To manually delete a downloaded title, click on the Manage option, put the checkmark next to the contents to be deleted and click on the Delete item. Alternatively, click on the image associated with your viewing profile, at the top right, select the App settings option and then click on Delete all downloads.

From the App Settings section, in addition to being able to activate/deactivate the Smart Downloads option, you can press the Video Quality item to set the quality of the videos to download ( Standard or Superior ), while moving the lever relating to the Wi-Fi Only option From ON to OFF, you can allow content download even when under 3G / 4G / 5G coverage.

How to watch Netflix offline on PC

If you are wondering if it is possible to watch Netflix offline on a PC, you should know that by accessing the famous service through a browser it is not possible to download the contents to be played in offline mode.

However, if you have a PC with Windows 10 or later, you can download the Netflix application from the Microsoft Store which, unlike the Web version of the service, allows you to download content of interest to be played even when an Internet connection is not available.

After downloading and starting the application in question, click on the Login button, at the top right, enter the data associated with your account in the Email and Password fields and press the Login button again, to log in (only the first operation required time) and choose your viewing profile.

Once this is done, click on the ☰ button, at the top left, and select the Available for download option from the menu that opens, in order to view the complete list of Netflix contents that can be downloaded and played offline. If, on the other hand, you wish to download a specific content, click on the magnifying glass icon at the top right, enter the title of the content of your interest in the Search field and, automatically, the search results will be shown on the screen.

At this point, locate the title you want to download and watch in offline mode, click on its poster and, if it is a movie, press the Download button to start the download.

In the case of TV series, on the other hand, click on the icon of the arrow pointing downwards for the single episode to download. If you wish, you can also activate the Smart Downloads option which, when you finish watching a downloaded episode, automatically deletes the content in question and proceeds to download the next episode. To activate this feature, press the ☰ button, select the My downloads option from the menu that opens, click on the Smart Downloads item and, in the new screen displayed, move the relative lever from OFF to ON.

In the My downloads section you can also view the complete list of all the contents you have downloaded and start playing them in offline mode: to do this, press on the title you want to watch and press the ▶ ︎ button. Once the viewing is complete, you can manually delete a downloaded content by clicking on the pencil icon at the top right, placing the checkmark next to the content to be deleted and clicking on the trash can icon. Simple, right?

How to watch Netflix offline on Mac

How do you say? Would you watch Netflix offline on Mac? If so, I am sorry to tell you that this is not possible. In fact, as I mentioned in the previous lines of this guide, by accessing the famous video streaming service via browser, it is not possible to download a content and play it offline.

Also, as you probably already know, the Netflix application is not available on the Mac App Store, not even on Macs with Apple Silicon chips that allow you to run iPadOS apps (by choice of Netflix): consequently, the only method to enjoy Netflix content on Mac is to access the Web version of the service.