It can feel like everyone in the world is connected to the internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but there are many situations where connecting to the network is simply not possible – consider your last Flight of an airplane, for an obvious example. Even if you can’t get decent Wi-Fi or mobile signalyou can still watch your favorites Netflix shows and movies.
Netflix introduced downloads in November 2016 and since then the service has improved its download features. Now you can adjust your Netflix settings to get automatic downloads and deletions after you’re done watching a movie or episode, and an endless amount of new downloads to make sure you always have something to watch offline.
Learn how to adjust your download settings to have Netflix manage them automatically for you with its Smart Downloads features and how to manage downloads for countries with restricted licenses. For more, learn about Netflix’s hidden menu or see CNET’s reviews of all streaming services
How can I download Netflix shows?
If you’re familiar with using Netflix on your mobile device, you’ve probably noticed the dark Download button just below Play. Clicking this button starts a download of a local version of the movie or TV show you want.
You can download Netflix movies and TV shows on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Amazon Fire devices, as well as Windows 10 or 11 PCs and some Chromebooks and Chromeboxes. Netflix downloads are set to use Wi-Fi only by default, although you can change this in your app settings.
There’s still no Mac app for Netflix, so unfortunately that means no downloads for Mac laptops (unless they’re running Windows also).
On Android, Netflix lets you download entire seasons of TV shows.
TV shows can be downloaded individually by clicking the download icon next to each episode. On Android devices, you can download an entire season of a show by tapping separately Download season next to the My List, Rate, and Share links at the top of the movie or show list.
Netflix lets you save max 100 downloads on as many devices as are included in your subscription plan. Each of the downloads has a different expiry date based on the content license – some expire as early as 48 hours after you first start watching. Withdrawals can be renewed, but some have a limit on how many times per year. If a movie or show leaves the Netflix service, all downloads for it expire immediately.
You can delete individual movies and shows by unchecking the box next to each title. You can remove all your downloads by logging into your Application settings and click “Delete All Downloads” under Downloads.
The Downloads tab (called My Downloads in Windows), located at the bottom of the Netflix app, shows you which downloads are in your library and lets you play them. It also allows you to customize your download settings, such as Smart downloads.
How do Smart Downloads work on Netflix?
on Netflix Smart downloads option gives you an easy way to manage the movies and TV shows you’ve downloaded. It mainly contains two download options — Download the next episode and Downloads for you.
Download the next episode keeps you updated on TV shows. Downloads For You automatically downloads recommendations up to a specified file storage limit.
When turned on, Download the next episode will automatically delete episodes of TV shows after you watch them and then download the next episode of the season. This is seamless for anyone who downloads TV shows, which is probably why the feature is turned on by default in Netflix apps.
In the Windows Netflix app, switch to Smart downloads allows downloading the next episode, although it is not called as a separate function.
What are Netflix downloads for you?
Downloads for you extends the automatic download and deletion options for Netflix that are used in Download Next Episode. The feature is available on the iPhone, iPad, and Android versions of the Netflix app, as well as some Chromebooks and Chromeboxes.
Once Downloads for You is turned on, Netflix uses your viewing habits and preferences to download movies and TV shows that the service thinks you’ll enjoy. After viewing them, they are automatically deleted.
Once Downloads For You is enabled, automatic downloads will appear below your manually downloaded shows.
If you don’t want to watch a downloaded title, you can delete it the same way you would delete downloads you’ve manually initiated. You can also click the square icon surrounded by a dashed circle to cancel current downloads. Downloads for You only works over Wi-Fi.
To turn on Downloads for you, click the Smart Downloads settings (via the Downloads tab or App Settings), then turn on Downloads for you.
Turning this feature on will then open options to limit how much data Netflix will automatically download for each user profile, from 0.5GB to 9.5GB. (Netflix notes that one hour of normal-quality video is about 0.25GB.)
Which movies and TV shows can’t be downloaded from Netflix?
Whether a movie or TV show can be downloaded from Netflix depends on its content license, and licenses vary from title to title. Netflix says it tries to make as many titles available for download as possible, and when a movie or show can’t be downloaded, it’s usually for three reasons:
- Another company has exclusive rights to the content
- Content rights are not available for purchase
- Popularity, price or seasonal factors
A quick scan of Netflix’s most popular titles shows that all of the Top 10 movies and Top 10 TV shows in the US are available for download as of October 3rd.
In my informal research, the titles most likely to be excluded from download are popular TV shows from cable or broadcast networks. Grey’s Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, and The Walking Dead are three shows you can stream on Netflix, but not download.
Can I watch Netflix downloads in any country?
It depends on whether Netflix has a content license in the country you’re visiting for the movie or show you want to watch.
Geo-restrictions that restrict streaming titles to certain countries also apply to downloaded movies and TV shows. If you are travel in a country when Netflix doesn’t show the title you’ve downloaded, you won’t be able to watch it even though you’ve already downloaded it in your country.
Trying to watch a downloaded movie in a country where Netflix doesn’t show it will result in Error message in the Netflix app: “Download not available in this country — Not all downloads are available for viewing in every country.”
VPN software that create virtual private networks can be used to bypass geo-restrictions, but Netflix makes a serious effort to block VPNs from working with its service. Using a VPN to bypass geoblocking can also be considered a violation of Netflix Terms of Use.
For more on Netflix, check out our best-of lists science fiction and Fantastic films on the streaming service.
