9 Netflix Tricks to Enhance Your Experience

When it comes to digital media consumption, no other company has had a greater impact on the industry than Netflix. Launched in 1999, the service has evolved a lot over the time and now covers more than 190 countries around the world. It will be near impossible for you to find a service which is as ubiquitous as Netflix. One of the biggest reasons behind the success of Netflix apart from its huge catalog of shows and movies is its easy to use interface. Even a child can learn to use Netflix in mere hours if not minutes. That being said, if you are ready to learn some advanced tips and tricks, it will certainly enhance your experience. In this article we are going to focus on the same as we bring you 9 Netflix tricks which can help you stream better:

Netflix Tricks to Enhance Your Experience

1. Browse Genre and Categories like a Pro

While Netflix gives a fairly respectable genre and categories browser, the company maintains a far more powerful genre browser in the background which users don’t have access to. Netflix associates all these genres with codes that you will need to add at the end of the URL (given below) to get access to that specific genre.

https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/

For example, the genre code for Asian Action Movies is 77232. So, if we want to access this category we will be using the following link:

https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/77232

Since it’s impossible to remember these codes, I suggest that you keep the list handy where it is easily accessible and bookmark the ones that you visit most. This simple trick will change the way you browse Netflix and find interesting content.

List of Netflix Categories and Netflix Codes

CategoryCategory Code
Action & Adventure1365
Asian Action Movies77232
Classic Action & Adventure46576
Action Comedies43040
Action Thrillers43048
Adventures7442
Comic Book and Superhero Movies10118
Westerns7700
Spy Action & Adventure10702
Crime Action & Adventure9584
Foreign Action & Adventure11828
Martial Arts Movies8985
Military Action & Adventure2125
Anime7424
Adult Animation11881
Anime Action2653
Anime Comedies9302
Anime Dramas452
Anime Features3063
Anime Horror10695
Anime Fantasy11146
Anime Series6721
Children & Family Movies783
Movies for ages 0 to 26796
Movies for ages 2 to 46218
Movies for ages 5 to 75455
Movies for ages 8 to 10561
Movies for ages 11 to 126962
Education for Kids10659
Disney67673
Movies based on children's books10056
Family Features51056
TV Cartoons11177
Kids' TV27346
Kids Music52843
Animal Tales5507
Classic Movies31574
Classic Comedies31694
Classic Sci-Fi & Fantasy47147
Classic Thrillers46588
Film Noir7687
Classic War Movies48744
Epics52858
Classic Foreign Movies32473
Silent Movies53310
Classic Westerns47465
Comedies6548
Dark Comedies869
Foreign Comedies4426
Late Night Comedies1402
Mockumentaries26
Political Comedies2700
Screwball Comedies9702
Sports Comedies5286
Stand-up Comedy11559
Teen Comedies3519
Satires4922
Romantic Comedies5475
Slapstick Comedies10256
Cult Movies7627
B-Horror Movies8195
Campy Movies1252
Cult Horror Movies10944
Cult Sci-Fi & Fantasy4734
Cult Comedies9434
Documentaries6839
Biographical Documentaries3652
Crime Documentaries9875
Foreign Documentaries5161
Historical Documentaries5349
Military Documentaries4006
Sports Documentaries180
Music & Concert Documentaries90361
Travel & Adventure Documentaries1159
Political Documentaries7018
Religious Documentaries10005
Science & Nature Documentaries2595
Social & Cultural Documentaries3675
Dramas5763
Biographical Dramas3179
Classic Dramas29809
Courtroom Dramas 528582748
Crime Dramas6889
Dramas based on Books4961
Dramas based on real life3653
Tearjerkers6384
Foreign Dramas2150
Sports Dramas7243
Gay & Lesbian Dramas500
Independent Dramas384
Teen Dramas9299
Military Dramas11
Period Pieces12123
Political Dramas6616
Romantic Dramas1255
Showbiz Dramas5012
Social Issue Dramas3947
Faith & Spirituality26835
Faith & Spirituality Movies52804
Spiritual Documentaries2760
Kids Faith & Spirituality751423
Foreign Movies7462
Art House Movies29764
Foreign Action & Adventure11828
Classic Foreign Movies32473
Foreign Comedies4426
Foreign Documentaries5161
Foreign Dramas2150
Foreign Gay & Lesbian Movies8243
Foreign Horror Movies8654
Foreign Sci-Fi & Fantasy6485
Foreign Thrillers10306
Romantic Foreign Movies7153
African Movies3761
Australian Movies5230
Belgian Movies262
Korean Movies5685
Latin American Movies1613
Middle Eastern Movies5875
New Zealand Movies 63782
Russian11567
Scandinavian Movies9292
Southeast Asian Movies 9196
Spanish Movies58741
Greek Movies61115
German Movies58886
French Movies58807
Eastern European Movies5254
Dutch Movies10606
Irish Movies58750
Japanese Movies10398
Italian Movies8221
Indian Movies10463
Chinese Movies3960
British Movies10757
Gay & Lesbian Movies5977
Gay & Lesbian Comedies7120
Gay & Lesbian Dramas500
Romantic Gay & Lesbian Movies3329
Foreign Gay & Lesbian Movies8243
Gay & Lesbian Documentaries4720
Gay & Lesbian TV Shows65263
Horror Movies8711
B-Horror Movies8195
Creature Features6895
Cult Horror Movies10944
Deep Sea Horror Movies45028
Foreign Horror Movies8654
Horror Comedy89585
Monster Movies947
Slasher and Serial Killer Movies8646
Supernatural Horror Movies42023
Teen Screams52147
Vampire Horror Movies75804
Werewolf Horror Movies75930
Zombie Horror Movies75405
Satanic Stories6998
Independent Movies7077
Experimental Movies11079
Independent Action & Adventure11804
Independent Thrillers3269
Romantic Independent Movies9916
Independent Comedies4195
Independent Dramas384
Music1701
Kids Music52843
Country & Western/Folk1105
Jazz & Easy Listening10271
Latin Music10741
Urban & Dance Concerts9472
World Music Concerts2856
Rock & Pop Concerts3278
Musicals13335
Classic Musicals32392
Disney Musicals59433
Showbiz Musicals13573
Stage Musicals55774
Romantic Movies8883
Romantic Favorites502675
Quirky Romance36103
Romantic Independent Movies9916
Romantic Foreign Movies7153
Romantic Dramas1255
Steamy Romantic Movies35800
Classic Romantic Movies31273
Romantic Comedies 5475
Sci-Fi & Fantasy1492
Action Sci-Fi & Fantasy1568
Alien Sci-Fi3327
Classic Sci-Fi & Fantasy47147
Cult Sci-Fi & Fantasy4734
Fantasy Movies9744
Sci-Fi Adventure6926
Sci-Fi Dramas3916
Sci-Fi Horror Movies1694
Sci-Fi Thrillers11014
Foreign Sci-Fi & Fantasy6485
Sports Movies4370
Sports Comedies5286
Sports Documentaries180
Sports Dramas7243
Baseball Movies12339
Football Movies12803
Boxing Movies12443
Soccer Movies12549
Martial Arts, Boxing & Wrestling6695
Basketball Movies12762
Sports & Fitness9327
Thrillers8933
Action Thrillers43048
Classic Thrillers46588
Crime Thrillers10499
Foreign Thrillers 10306
Independent Thrillers3269
Gangster Movies31851
Psychological Thrillers5505
Political Thrillers10504
Mysteries9994
Sci-Fi Thrillers11014
Spy Thrillers9147
Steamy Thrillers 972
Supernatural Thrillers11140
TV Shows83
British TV Shows52117
Classic TV Shows46553
Crime TV Shows26146
Cult TV Shows74652
Food & Travel TV72436
Kids' TV27346
Korean TV Shows67879
Miniseries4814
Military TV Shows25804
Science & Nature TV 52780
TV Action & Adventure10673
TV Comedies10375
TV Documentaries10105
TV Dramas11714
TV Horror83059
TV Mysteries4366
TV Sci-Fi & Fantasy1372
Reality TV9833
Teen TV Shows60951
Romantic Christmas Films1394527
Christmas Children & Family Films1474017
Family-friendly Christmas Films1394522
Christmas Children & Family Films for Ages 11 to 121477206
Christmas Children & Family Films for Ages 8 to 101477204
Christmas Children & Family Films for Ages 5 to 71477201
Feel-good Christmas Children & Family Films1475066
Goofy Christmas Children & Family Films1475071
Christmas Children & Family Films from the 1990s1476024
British Christmas Children & Family Films1527064
European Christmas Children & Family Films1527063
Canadian Christmas Children & Family Films1721544
Christmas Children & Family Films from the 1990s1476024
Classic SF & fantasy4714
Classic TV shows46553
Classic action & adventure 46576
Classic comedies31694
Classic dramas 29809
Classic musical comedy 32392
Classic romantic movies31273
Classic thrillers46588
Classic war movies48744
Classic westerns47465
Taiwanese movies434295
Thai Movies & TV107570
Turkish movies 1133133
All movies34399
Only on Netflix839338
90-Minute Movies81466194
30-Minute Laughs81602050
90-Minute Comedies81466224
90-Minute Family Movies81466229
90-Minute Horror81466239
90-Minute Rom-Coms81466228
90-Minute Thrillers81466222
Binge-Worthy British Crime TV Shows1192582
Chosen Family81231348
Cyberpunk1964512
Dystopian Futures2299461
Don’t Watch Hungry3272152
Family Movie Night2013975
Gal-Pal TV Shows1143288
High Brow Horror3261672
Irreverent TV Comedies75480
K-Dramas for Beginners2953105
Movies Directed by Women2974953
Pop Culture Icons81278963
Reluctant Adults3053870
Relentless Crime Thrillers81226732
Schemers & Scammers81493295
Small Town Charm81615585
Supernatural Soaps81238162
Swipe Right81582488
Take a Trip Around the World81282911
Team Players2752022
Totally Awesome ’80s2314106
Nostalgic ’90s2691941
Watch in One Weekend3182735
Watch in One Night3178549
Gentle British Reality TV81240711
Witchcraft & the Dark Arts81552046
Action with a Side of Romance81647318
Small Town Scares81496215
Twisted Christmas2300975
Human Connections81271205
Short-Ass Movies81603903
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon81614959
Spicy Romance81572628
Lavish Reality Lifestyles81418611
Animation4698

2. Stop Videos from Autoplaying

While I love everything about Netflix, the one thing that I hate about the service is its auto-playing videos. I don’t want the featured title to start auto-playing whenever I launch the service on my browser. If you also hate this feature, this trick can save you a lot of headaches. We will accomplish this with the help of an extension called Netflix Tweaked. The only thing that this extension does is to stop videos from auto-playing when you are browsing. So, just click on the link below to install it and thank me later. Do note that sometime just the audio plays back in the background so you will need to mute it by clicking on the button marked in the picture below. The good thing is that you only have to do it once and not every time you open Netflix.

3. Stop Videos from Autoplaying

Install: (Free, Chrome/Firefox)

3. Remove Continue Watching Items on Netflix

I hate the fact that Netflix keeps on showing me shows and movies in my “Continue Watching List” even when I have completed it just because I didn’t take the time to scrub it to the end. For this reason, I remove items from my ‘watchlist’ weekly so that they don’t plague my homepage. If you also want to remove content from the Continue Watching List, first, login to your account on a browser (it doesn’t work through the app), click on your profile icon and then go to Account -> Viewing Activity and then click on the “⊘” button next to the item that you want to remove. We have already covered this in a previous article so you can find the full tutorial by clicking here.

4. Remove Continue Watching Items on Netflix

4. Manage and Customize Subtitles

Most of you might know that Netflix brings a built-in subtitle player which ads subtitles to almost all the content on its platform. However, not many people know that you can customize the look and feel of the subtitle tracks if you want to. To customize subtitles, first, click on the profile icon and then go to Account -> Subtitle Appearance. The Subtitle Appearance settings will be under the “My Profile” section. Once you are there, you will be able to change the look, the font, the color of the text, text size, and more. Once you have set your preferences, it will be synced across all your devices.

5. Manage and Customize Subtitles

5. Use Unlocator to Unlock Country Specific Content

While Netflix is present in more than 190 countries, all of its content is not universal. Due to media rights complications, the content catalog of one country will be different from the other in most cases. It used to pretty easy to bypass this ban using a VPN, however, Netflix has taken quite strict steps against VPNs and you won’t be able to use them to unlock geo-locked content now. But all hope is not lost as there are services out there which allow you to unblock geo-locked content of Netflix.

unlocator

One of the best such service is Unlocator which allows you to change the DNS network of your system to get you access to geo-restricted content. The best part about using Unlocator is that not only it works on maOS and Windows PC but it also works on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, PlayStation, and more. You can see the full list of supported devices here. There’s a free trial available for the service after which it will cost $4.95/month.

Visit: Unlocator (Free trial, $4.95/month)

6. Manage Devices

If you tend to use Netflix on any device that you get your hands on, chances are that you have left your account logged into multiple devices. This is not only bad for privacy reasons but it will also mean that the devices are counting against the number of your allowed devices. That’s why it’s good to check the devices that you are logged in on from time to time, and disallow the ones that you are not using any longer or are unfamiliar with. To do so, click on your profile icon and then go to Account -> Sign out of all devices, and then log back in on the devices that you want to use Netflix on. You can also click on “Recent device streaming activity” to see which devices are using your account.

7. Manage Devices

7. Add IMDb Rating to Shows and Movies

If you find yourself moving back and forth between Netflix and IMDb to see if a title is worth viewing or not, this trick is going to save you a lot of trouble. By default, Netflix doesn’t allow you to see IMDb ratings of shows, that’s why we will be using an extension to enable this feature. The extension is called “IMDb Ratings for Netflix” and once you have installed it on your browser, you will be able to see IMDb ratings of all the shows and movies when you hover over their title, just as shown in the picture below. While this extension is only available for Chrome, there’s a similar extension for Firefox too which I have linked below.

8. Add IMDb Rating to Shows and Movies

Install: (Free, Chrome/Firefox)

8. Change CDN and Bitrate for Smoother Playback

If your network cannot support smooth playback on Netflix, you can use this trick to ensure that you never have to deal with buffering again. Basically, we will be using this trick to select the bitrate and CDN so that you can select the optimal streaming speed that your network can handle. The trick works only on Chrome so you will need to use the Chrome browser. To select CDN and bitrate, just play something on Netflix and then hit the Ctrl+Shift+Opt+S keyboard combo on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S on Windows. Once you do that, a hidden window will open allowing you to select CDN and bitrate. Then all you need to do is start from the top and then go down to find the setting on which Netflix doesn’t buffer on your Network.

9. Change CDN and Bitrate for Smoother Playback

9. Download Videos for Offline Playback

While Netflix is mainly a streaming app, its mobile apps including iOS and Android allow users to download content for offline playback. This is great for keeping content to watch when you don’t have access to the internet. I mainly use it download shows when I am on my home or office WiFi so that I don’t have to waste my mobile data on Netflix. Downloading a show is as easy as tapping on the download button shown in the picture below. There’s also a separate “Downloads” section which will host all your downloads shows.

netflix offline

Do note that not all shows and movies are supported and there are other rules too that may affect your downloading capabilities. Check out our article on Netflix download rules to get a better understating of this.

SEE ALSO: Amazon Prime Video vs Netflix India: Which is Better?

Enjoy Netflix with These Tricks and Tips

That ends our article on the best Netflix tricks that you can use to enhance your content streaming experience. These tricks will help you both navigate the UI and enhance video playback. My favorite is the IMDb rating trick as it helps me decide if I want to spend time on specific shows or movies or not without searching for them separately. What is your favorite trick? Let us know in the comments section below.

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