Imagine when you finally get some free time and sit on your comfortable chair, all you want is to watch a popular Netflix TV series you like. So you open your Mac, go to Netflix's official website, and search for your desired TV series. Everything goes smoothly and you are on the playing page within seconds. Suddenly, a notification pops up: Whoops, something went wrong...and then you find that you cannot stream the Netflix videos on your Mac, or Netflix freezes/gets stuck on loading videos, or Netflix shows nothing but a black screen with no sound, or... How annoying it would be!
Since the Netflix app is not compatible with Mac, you have to watch movies and TV series through its website. Usually, Netflix's website runs smoothly on your Mac, but sometimes errors just occur. How to deal with problems once they occur? No worries! This article will give you solutions for fixing the issues when Netflix is not working on your Mac. Just follow our instructions, and enjoy the Netflix movies/TV shows on your Mac.
If Netflix fails to stream a video on your Mac, an error prompt will usually show on your screen, with different Error Codes. For example, Netflix Error S7361-1253 means you need to check whether your macOS version is updated to the required version. You need to update the system to El Capitan 10.11 or later to make sure Netflix is compatible with the macOS version on your computer.
Sometimes, you need to restart your browser(the default Safari), or your Mac, to get the problem solved. Or you will need to install another browser, like Chrome, to enable Netflix to play videos on your Mac.
You can go to the Netflix Help Center to search for the corresponding error codes in order to find the solutions. Of course, don't forget to check your Netflix subscription status to ensure your subscription plan allows you to watch the current video content.
Then, go to the Safari tab again and choose Settings for This Website. Another popup menu will show up and you need to untick the Enable Content Blockers to disable this feature.
Sometimes your Security Software may stop Netflix from playing video content on your Mac. You can try to check and install all updates for the security software to see if the problem is solved. If not, temporarily disable your security software and try to stream the videos again. If Netflix plays videos successfully afterward, you may need to call the security software support team to have a check.
When Netflix fails to play videos on Mac, chances are your internet connection is poor or even not working at the moment. First, check if you are using a Public Network. Some public networks, including networks in hotels, schools, shopping centers, parks, etc., will prevent streaming services. If your Mac is connected to a public network like this, unfortunately, you may not able to stream Netflix videos on your computer. Find the network administrator for a solution.
If you have connected to an available and proper network already, open another webpage with Safari to confirm whether the connection is working. If not, try to reset your modem and router. If you still fail to enable the network connection, contact the network support team for help.
Also, if you are downloading other files, or opening a lot of other web pages at the same time, the network may be too slow to stream Netflix. Stop downloading/browsing other pages first, or watch videos after you have other things done.
Most of the problems regarding Netflix being not able to stream videos on Mac can be solved through the methods introduced above, but sometimes you may find Netflix loading a video slowly, with the video buffering. Even when it finally begins to play, the video may flicker or flash suddenly. Or, you will encounter a blank/black screen on the playing page. The following solutions may help you to play Netflix videos smoothly.
If you have already confirmed that your internet connection is working properly, test your connection speed Here to see if it meets the required internet download speeds for watching Netflix movies/TV series.
Noted that the above speed recommendations are ONLY for playing Netflix videos. If you are viewing other websites simultaneously, or you have more than one device connected to the same network, you will need more speeds to cover them. Otherwise, you will still suffer from video buffering.
If your network connection cannot meet the recommended download speed, you can change the video quality settings. Switch the video quality to Low or Medium, which uses less data.
Remember at the beginning of the article, we remind you to check whether the macOS version on your Mac is compatible with Netflix. If your Mac is made after 2011, your browser supports HTML5, which enables Netflix to stream videos without problems. But if you have a Mac produced before 2011, you will need to install a Microsoft Silverlight Plugin to play Netflix.
Check if you have properly installed the latest version of Silverlight for Mac. If not, download it, and just stream a random Netflix video. A popup notification will tell you to install it.
If you already have the latest version of Silverlight installed on your Mac but still experience problems related to it, try to clear both the cache and browser cookies in your browser and reopen it. Log out of your Netflix account manually, and log back in again, to make sure your browser is no longer accessing the outdated cookie file.
If you are using Safari 11 or earlier, check if Safari is blocking Silverlight. In the top left menu bar, pull down the Safari tab, and choose Preferences. Then click on to the Security tab, and open the Manage Website Settings... page. Silverlight will be listed in the left sidebar. Select Silverlight. In the lower-right corner there will be a When visiting other websites option, change it to Allow or Always Allow. Of course, before allowing the plugin to work, make sure you have installed the latest version of Silverlight.
Note. If you fail to find the Automatic Graphics Switching settings on the Adaptor screen, turn off Optimise Video Streaming while on Battery option listed on the Battery screen.
If a Netflix video is streaming but without any sound, you may need to check your sound settings immediately. Sometimes a slight change in the Sound Settings leads to a sound problem when streaming videos on Mac.
If you open several web pages at the same time, check if one of them is already playing sounds. If you enable the Auto-Play function, other web pages may have videos or advertisements to play and have prevented your Netflix web player from sound playing. Turn off other web tabs and programs to make sure Netflix can dominate the sound.
Sometimes the sound and picture of a Netflix video are not synchronized. Restart your Safari as well as your Mac to refresh all connections, and then go to Netflix and try again. This may help to reload the sound and picture of the videos. If it still does not fix the problem, try to disable Safari Plugins.
Because you can only watch Netflix movies/TV series on its website, it is important that all Safari plugins and apps are compatible with the Netflix website. So, if you find your video sound and picture are out of sync, try to disable the Safari plugins.
As mentioned above, there isn't a Netflix app applicable on Mac, so you have to rely on the Netflix official website for video streaming. It is not convenient, especially when you are under a poor internet connection. And you can not download any videos from the official website, which means you cannot watch them without an internet connection.
To better enjoy the popular Netflix movies and TV series, you can use a reliable MovPilot Netflix Video Downloader. It is compatible with your Mac, and it helps you to download Netflix videos conveniently for offline playback. The downloader enables you to keep the videos on your own device, so you can watch your favorite Netflix movies and TV series at any time, anywhere.
Step 1. Launch MovPilot Netflix Video Downloader, log in to your Netflix account
Download and install the downloader, launch it and a Sign In page will pop up. Sign in with your Netflix account.
Step 2. Search for your desired Netflix movies/TV series
The downloader provides a built-in browser for Netflix so it can get access to all video content from Netflix. Search for videos you want to download through the Search Bar in the main interface by name.
Step 3. Download Netflix videos in a one-click operation
The download icon(a downward arrow) is next to each movie, click it and all process is done. If you want to download a TV series, you can choose to download the full series or select the episodes you want to download.
You can easily change the output format to MP4/MKV, and choose the subtitle languages, audio track, etc., on the Settings page. Just click the gear icon in the upper right corner and go to settings.
In this article, we offer solutions when you fail to watch Netflix movies/TV series on Mac. Most of them are simple but useful instructions to help you better enjoy watching Netflix videos on Mac without problems.However, if you want to watch Netflix videos on your own devices without the restriction of network connection and software version, we recommend you use a reliable MovPilot Netflix Video Downloader. It removes the DRM protections from Netflix, and downloads the videos to high-quality 1080P MP4/MKV formats for offline playback. Downloaded videos can be saved on your devices, and you can enjoy them without restrictions. Just download the MovPilot Netflix Video Downloader and enjoy your favorite Netflix movies/TV series now!
90f70e40cf