How to watch Netflix on TV without Internet
Category: Netflix
If you have limited internet data at your home Wi-Fi or, say, if you are visiting the countryside where there’s hardly a Wi-Fi connection, you can still watch Netflix on your TV without an active internet connection.
However, the only way to do this is by downloading content ahead of time on your Windows or Mac and watch it later on your TV by connecting it via an HDMI cable.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work on most smartphones and we’ll talk about it at the end of this article and video. But the good part is, you can watch shows that are not available in your Netflix’s country catalog. We will show you the detailed steps along with all the problems you might face and how to fix them. Let’s get started.
Before we begin, you will need one of the following:
· A Windows or Mac laptop running the latest OS
· Type C-to-HDMI converter (in case you have a newer MacBook)
· Access to the Internet ahead of time (a coffee shop, friends’ house, office, etc.)
· HDMI cable
· A Netflix account (obviously)
Once you have all these devices, you are ready to go. So, let’s see how to watch Netflix on TV without internet.
For this video, we’ll use a Mac for demonstration, because it’ll not only cover all the steps for Windows, but also for Mac.
Now, you watch Netflix on your browser, but the problem is there’s no download option in the browser, you can record the screen but that’s just too much work.
The trick here is to use the Netflix app on Windows 10, which has a native option to download Netflix TV shows and movies. But the problem is, there is no Netflix app for Mac just yet.
To fix this problem, we’ll use a software on Mac called Parallels Desktop. This software lets you run Windows on Mac and it works flawlessly, it’s free for 14 days without any restrictions and everything is seamless. Head over to the website and install the app, follow the on-screen instructions and if you have good internet, you will be done within 10 minutes. For details, you can check out our other video on how to watch Netflix offline on Mac.
Once you have Windows up and running on your Mac, the steps will be same for both Windows and Mac.
Open the Windows store and download the Netflix app to your laptop.
Next, search for titles that are available for downloading (watching the title offline) by going to the Menu and clicking, ‘Available For Downloads.’ Not all titles can be downloaded.
But let’s say, the show you want to see is not available in your Netflix country’s catalog then you can turn on SDP Smart VPN. Say, I want to watch The Office US offline and I know it’s in the Netflix UK, so I switch my VPN server to that of UK and then come back to Netflix app and start searching. Once you find a title you want, go its description page and click on the download icon, which looks like an arrow pointing down at a line.
Depending on your internet connection, the download should take less than 5 minutes. For example, I recently downloaded the 30-minute ‘Office’ episode in just two minutes using my home Wi-Fi of 50 mbps with the VPN ON.
Once the download is completed, you can access it from the ‘My Downloads’ section of the app you are using to watch Netflix. Click on the ‘Play’ and the title should start playing, now even if you turn off the internet, this will definitely work.
Next, you will need an HDMI cable to connect it to your TV. Make sure that you have an available electric socket nearby since your laptop will consume power.
Connect your TV and laptop via an HDMI cable.
Change your TV’s video input to HDMI.
When successfully connected, you should see your laptop’s display on your TV screen.
Launch Netflix on your laptop’s browser and start streaming.
Now, there are two problems that you might face, so I’ll give you solutions for that as well.
Number one - if the sound is coming from your laptop instead of the TV, you need to change the sound settings on your computer.
To do so on Windows, go to ‘Manage Audio Devices’ and under sound Playback tab, select HDMI output.
On Mac, you will find this setting under Sound Settings > Output tab > HDMI output.
Another problem that you might face is that if you close your laptop lid, it might also close the playback on your TV. To fix that, you have to choose to extend your display rather than mirroring your laptop display. We’ll show you what it means exactly, step by step.
When you extend your display, even if you close the lid, the external monitor will still work.
To do that on Windows, click the battery icon at the bottom > Power Options > choose what happens when the lid is closed > then choose Put computer to sleep – ‘Never’.
On Mac, there’s no native settings for this, but you can use an app called Amphetamine, this app will keep your MacBook display always ON even when the lid is closed. So, install the app > tap on the icon and choose keep display ON Indefinitely and then make sure you click on the icon again and uncheck the option that says: ‘Allow system sleep when display is closed’ (it’s very important) and that’s about it. Now, even if you close the display, it’ll still work.
Now, remember in the beginning of the video we said that you can’t, unfortunately, use this trick on a smartphone. Well it’s mostly true but there’s one expectation - if you have a Samsung flagship smartphone.
So, Samsung flagship smartphones have an exclusive feature called Samsung DeX which helps you cast your Samsung screen onto your TV. We’ve got a Samsung Note 9, and if we go to download section on Netflix, you can see we’ve downloaded a show. Now, all you need to do is to connect it with your TV using an HDMI-to-type C converter and as you can see the TV will automatically detect Samsung DeX and the whole setup will turn into a computer. Now find the Netflix app on your TV (you can use the touchscreen of your Samsung phone as a trackpad for your TV), open the Netflix app and under the ‘Downloads’ section, you can play the video offline. As you can see, even though my phone is offline and the screen is off, it works perfectly on a TV.
Now, there are two more problems that you might face - the audio is coming out of your Samsung phone and not TV. To change that click on the volume icon at the bottom and change audio source to TV. Another problem that you might face is the Netflix app window may not go full screen. To fix that, you need to force the app to run full-screen - click on the maximize button on the app, a new popup will open and from there - select ‘Allow app to run full screen’ and that’s it. After a restart, Netflix app will work on full screen mode.
Unfortunately for non-Samsung smartphones, this method or even MHL cables won’t work, since Netflix uses DRM protection.
We also tried creating a hotspot and then screen mirroring the Android smartphone over Chromecast, and it partly worked for Netflix - there was audio signal but no video feed due to DRM protection.
So, that’s about it. Even in 2021, not everyone has no-cap high-speed broadband internet. Fortunately, this trick will help you stream Netflix to your TV without the internet. It can be used while traveling and it hardly uses any data.
Let us know what you think, check out our other video on how to watch Netflix offline on Mac for details.
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See you in the next one.