How does Netflix work?

Try us free for 1 month! You'll be able to instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows from your smart TV, game console, streaming player, phone or tablet. You can also watch instantly on your computer!

If you enjoy your Netflix trial, do nothing and your membership will automatically continue for as long as you choose to remain a member. Netflix membership is a month-to-month subscription that begins at sign up. You can easily cancel anytime, online, 24 hours a day. There are no long-term contracts or cancellation fees. Just sign up to get started!

If you choose to remain a member of Netflix, you'll be billed once per month on the date that you originally signed up. More information about billing can be found in our article about how Netflix charges your account.

You can watch instantly from any Internet-connected device that offers the Netflix app, such as a smart TV, game console, streaming player, phone or tablet. These devices are manufactured and sold by device manufacturers. You can also watch on your computer! For a more detailed list of devices, see our Netflix-ready Devices page.

We have thousands of movies and TV shows available to watch instantly on any device that streams Netflix. There are never any commercials no matter how much you watch, and you can pause, rewind, fast forward or re-watch as often as you like. It's really that easy!

Yes! Many Netflix titles are available in HD. The picture quality while streaming movies and TV shows may vary from computer to computer and device to device. Picture quality may be affected by a variety of other factors, such as your location, the bandwidth available through and/or speed of your Internet connection.

Streaming in HD uses more bandwidth than streaming in standard definition. Please check with your Internet provider for information on possible Internet data overage charges, as you are responsible for all Internet access charges. You can Manage Bandwidth Usage -- the amount of data you use while streaming -- by adjusting the video quality of your instant watching experience. Simply visit the Your Account link on the website to change your video quality settings.

The number of devices that may be allowed to instantly watch simultaneously will depend on your membership plan. To see the details of your membership plan, visit the Change Plan section of the Your Account page.

Netflix streaming software enables you to instantly watch content from Netflix through any Internet-connected device that offers the Netflix app. The software may vary by device and medium, and functionality may also differ between devices. For example, this software may be embedded in a Netflix ready device or we may offer this software as an app to be downloaded onto a device such as the Apple iPad. The use, warranties and limitations of this software is governed by our Terms of Use.

Members with a streaming-only plan will be able to watch instantly through the Netflix service from the regions listed below. The movies and TV shows that are available to stream may vary by location, and will change from time to time.

REGIONS WHERE NETFLIX IS AVAILABLE
Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Australian Antarctica Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin (Dahomey) Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Guyana British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) Burundi Cambodia (Kampuchea) Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands (Cabo Verde) Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia	Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of Congo Denmark Djibouti Republic Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor (Timor-Leste) Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fijian Islands Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary	Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle Of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat	Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of the Congo Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts And Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent And The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten	Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea (Republic of Korea) South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tokelau Islands Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks And Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas) Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom (Great Britain) United States United States Minor Outlying Islands (Baker Island, Midway Atoll, Wake Island) Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu (New Hebrides) Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

To begin watching movies and TV shows from your Windows or Mac computer:

1. Open an Internet browser and go to netflix.com.
2. Sign in to your Netflix account.
3. Select a title to play.

If you do not already have the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in installed, you may be prompted to download and install the free plug-in for your web browser. Just follow the instructions to get started.

For detailed installation instructions and system requirements, see the Netflix system requirements for HTML5 Player and Silverlight page.

The minimum required connection speed is 0.5 megabits per second, but you may want a faster connection for improved video quality (as described in our Internet Connection Speed Recommendations).

While Watch Instantly works with many different levels of broadband, the speed and bandwidth of your broadband Internet connection may impact your viewing experience. Netflix streams a small amount of data as a buffer each time you start a movie or TV show. Frequently starting and stopping movies or TV shows will result in a minor increase in the amount of data Netflix streams to you per hour. In most cases, this will be less than a few minutes' worth.

Netflix is a streaming service -- movies and TV shows are streaming over the Internet, not being downloaded, so you must be connected to the Internet throughout your Watch Instantly experience.