How to Download a Netflix Movie to Watch Offline

Netflix's download feature lets you save movies and TV episodes directly to your device so you can watch them without an internet connection. It's one of the more genuinely useful features the platform offers — but it works differently depending on your subscription plan, your device, and how much storage you're working with. Here's how it actually works.

What You Need Before You Download

Not every Netflix plan supports downloads. As of recent plan changes, the ad-supported (Standard with Ads) tier does not include the download feature. You'll need at least the Standard plan or higher to access offline viewing. If you try to download and the option is greyed out or missing, your plan is the first thing to check.

You also need the Netflix app — not a browser. Downloads are not available through Netflix.com on desktop browsers. The app is available on:

• iOS (iPhone and iPad)
• Android phones and tablets
• Amazon Fire tablets
• Windows 10/11 (via the Microsoft Store app)

Mac users and Chromebook users are generally out of luck for downloads unless their device runs Android apps.

How to Download a Netflix Movie: Step by Step

1. Open the Netflix app on your device and make sure you're signed in.
2. Find the movie you want to download. Not everything on Netflix is available for download — licensing restrictions mean some titles are streaming-only.
3. Look for the download icon — it looks like an arrow pointing downward into a horizontal line. On a movie page, it usually appears below the title alongside the Play and Add to List buttons.
4. Tap the download icon. The file will begin saving to your device.
5. Access your downloads by going to the Downloads section in the app menu (usually the downward arrow icon in the bottom navigation bar).

That's the core process. Once downloaded, you can watch the title from the Downloads tab without any internet connection.

Download Quality Settings 📱

Netflix lets you choose between two quality levels before you download:

You can set your preferred quality in App Settings → Download Video Quality. Higher quality takes longer to download and uses significantly more storage. On a device with 32GB of total storage — with the OS and apps already eating into that — the difference matters quickly.

How Long Do Downloaded Movies Last?

This is where a lot of people get caught off guard. Downloaded Netflix content doesn't stay on your device indefinitely. There are two time limits to know:

• Expiration after download: Most titles expire 7 days after you download them, though some titles have shorter windows (as little as 48 hours). The expiration date is shown next to the title in your Downloads folder.
• Expiration after you start watching: Once you press play on a downloaded title, many licenses give you only 48 hours to finish it before it expires.

These limits are set by content licensors, not Netflix itself — so they vary by title and can change.

Device Limits and Download Restrictions

Netflix enforces a few rules around how many downloads you can have active at once:

• Download device limit: You can only have downloads active on a limited number of devices simultaneously — typically 1–4 devices depending on your plan tier. If you've hit the limit, you'll need to remove downloads from another device before adding a new one.
• Title download limit: Some titles can only be downloaded a set number of times in a given time period due to licensing agreements.
• Profile downloads: Downloads are tied to a specific profile within your Netflix account, not just the account itself.

Why Some Titles Can't Be Downloaded 🔍

You'll notice the download arrow is missing on certain movies or shows. This comes down to content licensing — Netflix doesn't own most of what it streams, and some distribution agreements explicitly prohibit offline downloads. Netflix Originals are generally more consistently available for download since Netflix controls those rights directly. Licensed third-party content is more unpredictable.

There's no reliable way to know in advance which titles will be downloadable. The fastest check is to open the title page in the app and look for the icon.

Storage: The Variable Most People Underestimate

How many movies you can store at once depends almost entirely on your device's available local storage. A 1-hour movie at Higher quality might use close to 1GB. A 2-hour film could push 2GB or more. On devices with limited storage — older phones, entry-level tablets — you may only be able to hold a handful of downloads before running into space issues.

Android users have one advantage here: some Android devices support microSD cards, and Netflix allows downloads to be saved to external storage on compatible Android devices. iOS and Windows do not offer this option.

The Variables That Determine Your Experience

The download process itself is straightforward — but how well it works for you depends on a mix of factors that are entirely specific to your setup:

• Your subscription plan (ads tier can't download at all)
• Which device you're using and whether its OS is supported
• Available local storage and whether you can expand it
• Which titles you want to watch and whether they're licensed for offline viewing
• How often you'll actually watch within the expiration window

Someone downloading a few Netflix Originals to a tablet with 128GB of storage before a flight has a very different experience than someone trying to stockpile a movie library on a phone that's already nearly full. The feature works the same way — but what's practical varies considerably.