Netflix has drawn the ire of its customers ever since the streaming platform cracked down on password sharing in May 2023. The streaming giant has been unabashedly criticized online for canceling cult favorite shows and funneling money into projects not deemed worthy. The password sharing ban was just the icing on the cake of what folks had already been dubbing “Netflix’s flop era.”
Netflix and password sharing
Several users found fault with the shared household password policy—and it wasn’t because they couldn’t freeload from friends anymore. College students who left their parents’ house to study now find themselves without access to their family’s Netflix. Other family members constantly traveling found it inconvenient to have to update their profiles just to catch up on a new season of their favorite show.
But one TikToker may have found a way to circumvent the policy and gain access to Netflix’s robust catalog.
In a viral video, a user who goes by @user45367891356 (perhaps to maintain anonymity for her digital prowess) showed a trick to bypass the error message. In the clip, she shows her MacBook displaying a pop-up on Netflix’s site that reads: “Your device isn’t part of the Netflix Household for this account.”
Then she shows how to fix it.
The creator right-clicks on the page and clicks “Inspect.” A sidebar to the right of the screen pops up displaying the back-end coding of the page. She clicks the line of HTML that reads “nf-modal-interstitial-full-screen” and deletes it. She does the same for the one right below it. Then she exits out of the Inspect sidebar and instead of clicking he spacebar, she clicks the Play (F8) key on her keyboard. Her show then resumes playing.
‘Women in STEM’
TikTokers must have found the creator’s trick extremely helpful since it earned 3.3 million views in just a few days. Even developers found the quick-fix amusing, accusing Netflix of being “lazy” for not making the content more restrictive.
“I guess the developers did that on purpose because they just don‘t want to pay for an account themselves,” one user said. Another wrote, “As a developer, this is hilarious.” They added in another reply, “Content access restrictions implimented only as a visual feature is hilarious.”
Several others shared their own tricks for bypassing the password ban.
“I just turn off WiFi, and data, so phone is offline. Then I open Netflix, and then turn the services back and refresh. Voila, you can now watch. (iPhone),” one recommended.
@user45367891356 How to fix the Netflix household on a MacBook ?? (Ignore my dirty laptop) #netflixhousehold #outerbanks #collegestudent ♬ original sound – SPAM LIKE = BLOCK
The creator also suggested another method in the comments section: “If this is too hard you can also use guest mode on google chrome and sign in. But you’ll have to enter your account each time!”
Despite Netflix getting more strict about sharing passwords (despite tweeting “Love is sharing a password” in 2017), it appears it worked in its favor. According to the BBC, the company’s profits soared after enacting the password ban.
The Mary Sue reached out to the creator via TikTok direct message and Netflix via X message.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
