We’ve all been there: you sit down to relax, open Netflix, and spend the next 20 minutes scrolling endlessly instead of actually watching anything. “Netflix and chill” turns into “Netflix and scroll.” The problem usually isn’t that there’s nothing good on — it’s that Netflix doesn’t yet understand your taste, or you’re not using the tools built to help you find what to watch. Here’s how to train Netflix, cut the scrolling, and get straight to something you’ll love.
How Netflix decides what to show you
Netflix’s recommendation engine is one of the most sophisticated in tech, and it runs on the signals you give it. Every title you watch, how long you watch it, what you rate, what you add to your list, even what time of day you tend to view — all of it feeds an algorithm that shapes your homepage. The catch is simple: garbage in, garbage out. If you never tell Netflix what you like, its guesses stay generic. The fixes below are really just ways of feeding it better signals.
1. Use the thumbs — including the double thumbs up
Netflix retired its old five-star system years ago in favor of a thumbs-based rating that’s far more useful for teaching the algorithm. Today you have three options on any title:
- 👍 Thumbs up — “I liked this.”
- 👍👍 Two thumbs up — “I loved this, show me more like it.”
- 👎 Thumbs down — “Not for me.”
The double thumbs up is the most powerful signal you can send. Netflix added it precisely because members told the company there’s a real difference between something they merely liked and something they genuinely loved. Give Bridgerton two thumbs up, for instance, and Netflix will start surfacing more Shondaland-style productions on your homepage. Netflix has even moved the rating buttons directly onto the video player, so you can rate the moment the credits roll. The more you rate honestly, the sharper your recommendations get.
2. Clean up your watch history
The algorithm learns from what you watch — which is a problem if half of it was your kids’ cartoons, a show you bailed on, or something you only had on as background noise. Those stray titles skew your recommendations. Fortunately, you can prune them:
- On the Netflix website, click your profile icon and go to Account.
- Select your profile and open Viewing activity.
- Click the hide (⊘) icon next to any title you’d rather Netflix forget — or choose “Hide series” to remove a whole show.
Removing the noise lets Netflix focus on the viewing that actually reflects your taste.
3. Create dedicated profiles
This is the single biggest fix most households overlook. If everyone shares one profile, the algorithm is trying to please a horror fan, a rom-com lover, and a seven-year-old all at once — so it pleases none of them. Give each person (and each mood, if you like) their own profile.
Go to Manage Profiles and add up to five. Keep a Kids profile for children so age-appropriate filtering works — and so their viewing doesn’t pollute your recommendations. Some people even keep separate profiles for different moods (“Solo” vs. “Date night”). Just remember: a Kids or maturity-restricted profile will hide mature dramas, horror, and R-rated films, so if a title seems to be missing, check you’re on the right profile.
4. Master the “My List” feature
Whenever you stumble on something that looks interesting but you’re not ready to watch, hit the + My List button (the plus icon). It saves the title to a personal queue you can return to instead of re-searching from scratch. Building a healthy My List does two things: it gives you a ready-made shortlist for those “what should we watch?” moments, and it signals your interests to the algorithm. Prune it occasionally too — remove titles you’ve lost interest in so the list stays genuinely useful.
5. Unlock Netflix’s secret category codes
Here’s the power-user trick. Netflix organizes its catalog into tens of thousands of hyper-specific hidden categories that never appear in the normal menus — things like “Witchcraft & the Dark Arts,” “Gentle British Reality TV,” or “90-Minute Movies.” You reach them by editing the URL in a web browser:
netflix.com/browse/genre/[CODE]
Swap [CODE] for the number of the category you want. A few to try:
- Witchcraft & the Dark Arts — 81552046
- Gentle British Reality TV — 81240711
- 90-Minute Movies — 81466194
- Recently Added — 1592210
Netflix’s own Tudum guide and community-maintained lists catalog thousands more. Two caveats: the codes only work in the web browser (not the phone, TV, or tablet apps), and available titles vary by region because of licensing — a code that opens dozens of films in one country may show only a handful in another. Netflix also rotates its catalog, so revisit your favorite codes now and then.
6. Watch together with Teleparty
Want to watch with friends who aren’t in the room? Teleparty (the free Chrome extension formerly known as Netflix Party) syncs playback across everyone’s screens and adds a group chat sidebar, so a long-distance movie night feels shared. It works with Netflix and several other streaming services. Install it from the Chrome Web Store, start your title, click the Teleparty icon, and share the link with your friends.
7. Explore beyond just movies and shows
Netflix isn’t only a video service anymore. Your subscription now includes more than 100 mobile games — with no ads, no extra fees, and no in-app purchases — spanning originals and hits like Grand Theft Auto-style titles and games based on shows such as Squid Game and Outer Banks. Netflix has even begun letting you play select games on your TV using your phone as a controller. When there’s genuinely nothing you feel like watching, a game can be a better use of the same subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Netflix keep recommending the same things?
Usually because it doesn’t have enough signal from you. Rate more titles (especially with the double thumbs up), clean out viewing history that doesn’t reflect your taste, and use My List. The more you interact, the more varied and accurate your homepage becomes.
How do I stop my kids’ shows from ruining my recommendations?
Set up a separate Kids profile and have children watch there. It keeps their viewing out of your algorithm and gives them age-appropriate filtering at the same time.
Do the secret Netflix codes work on my TV or phone?
No — the category-code URLs only work in a web browser. Once you find titles you like via a code, though, you can add them to My List and they’ll appear across all your devices.
What replaced the old Netflix five-star rating?
Netflix now uses a thumbs system: thumbs down, thumbs up, and a two-thumbs-up option for titles you love. The double thumbs up is the strongest way to tell the algorithm to find more of that kind of content.
The bottom line
Netflix’s endless-scroll problem almost always comes down to an algorithm that hasn’t been taught what you like. Rate honestly with the thumbs, split your household into profiles, curate your My List, prune your history, and lean on secret codes when you want something specific. Do that, and Netflix stops being a scrolling trap and starts feeling like it actually gets you — which is the whole point.
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