There was a time when Netflix was still riding high — when it was the envy of pretty much every entertainment company, and when the official Netflix Twitter account was still sharing cheeky quips like “Love is sharing a password.” Not anymore. The world’s biggest streamer is in the unusual position of now bleeding subscribers. And a Netflix password-sharing crackdown is about to get underway, as Netflix races to grab the much-needed revenue it had previously left on the table.
Read: How to block spam texts on your iPhone
How to change your password
Speaking of Netflix passwords, if you haven’t changed yours in a while now is as good a time as any to rectify that. Just know, however, that once you do, all of your connected Netflix accounts will be logged out (including any being used by people who are mooching your password).
On the web
- To do this from a computer, go to Netflix.com. Then, click the face icon in the top right of the screen.
- Then, click account.
- Over on the right-hand side of the screen, near the top, you should see an option to change your password. Click it, and follow the prompts.
Note: Follow the steps above if you’re trying to change your Netflix password from your phone. If I try to do so on mobile, for example, when I click “Account” under the smiley face menu within the mobile app, I’m greeted by this message. “Looking for your account settings? Please go to Netflix on the web to manage your account.”
Netflix password-sharing
Everyone is talking about the Netflix password situation right now, and here’s why. The streamer last week said a staggering number of people around the world are inappropriately borrowing other peoples’ passwords to stream content.
Netflix said in its latest quarterly shareholder letter this week that on top of its 222 million paid subscriber base? “We estimate that Netflix is being shared with over 100m additional households.” Including over 30 million in Netflix’s US-Canada market.
A test is currently underway in three Latin American countries that prompt freeloaders to start paying for a Netflix subscription. The delicate balance to achieve here is that Netflix wants those people to start paying up. Rather than causing them to flee the service for good. “We are trying to find a balanced approach here, a consumer-centric approach,” Greg Peters, Netflix’s chief product officer, said in a video interview with JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth.
Make no mistake, though. This push will definitely come to the US, to go after US-based freeloaders borrowing a Netflix password.
“My belief is that we’re going to go through a year or so of iterating, and then deploying, all of that so that we get that solution globally launched, including markets like the United States,” Peters continued.
More Netflix coverage: For more Netflix news, check out our coverage of the latest new Netflix movies and series to watch.
