IF YOU USE Netflix, you’ll know just how much time you can end up sinking into it. Watching one episode becomes watching an entire series, and you could easily spend hours flicking through the selection and not actually watch anything.
Yet if you’re someone who uses it regularly, there may be a few other features you might not be aware of.
Keyboard shortcuts
If you watch shows on your laptop regularly, then you might be aware of the shortcuts that are available. Some of them complete the same action, but it’s always handy to know when you need to quickly stop or rewind without moving the mouse.
Space/Enter – Play/Pause
PgUp/PgDn – Play/Pause
Left/Right arrow (+Shift) - Rewind/Fast Forward (10s segments)
Up/Down arrow - Volume Up/Down
F - Full-screen
Esc - Exit full-screen
M - Mute toggle
Change streaming quality
If you’re on a slower connection, you can make it easier on your browser (and your data bill) and reduce the streaming quality. If you go into Your Account > Playback Settings, you can change the quality to low, medium or high (auto is the default setting).
Make suggestions more accurate
You know how Netflix suggests shows based on what you watched and how you rated films or shows? You can take that a step further by filling out some questions about it by going into Your Account > Taste Preferences.
Similarly, you can go into Ratings (found under Taste Preferences) and adjust your ratings for movies and shows, or remove them entirely.
View and remove history
Similarly, you can look at (and remove) all the shows and movies you’ve watched since you started by going into ‘Viewing Activity’.
This is useful if you’ve finished watching a movie yet it continues to appear in your ‘Continue Watching’ row, or if you just want to remove a show you don’t want other people to see.
Change how subtitles look
Whether you like having subtitles or need them, you might not know you can customise how it looks.
In Your Account, go into ‘Subtitle appearance’ and you will be able to change the font, colour, size, outline and background of the subtitles.
Add new profiles
If more than one person uses Netflix, you can set up multiple accounts so your viewing suggestions are more accurate. Going into ‘Manage Profiles’ will allow you to set up new profiles for adults or kids so there is no overlap.
Allow streaming on WiFi only (mobile)
This is for anyone who uses the app on iOS or Android. If you don’t want to use your mobile data, going into settings will present you with a WiFi only option. Tick it and shows will only play once you have a WiFi connection.
Test out new features before anyone else
Sometimes Netflix will release some experimental features for users to try out. Some will become official features, others won’t but if you want to partake, go into ‘Test Participation’ and activate it.
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