How to Get Around the Netflix Password-Sharing Ban (for Now) (2024)

In a bid to boost subscriber numbers and revenue, Netflix has cracked down on password sharing and made it difficult to share your account with someone outside your household. If you want to share an account with someone who doesn't live with you, it will cost an extra $7.99 per month, at least. Netflix would prefer you transfer their profile to a new account.

If you're an account holder who suddenly has fewer users to manage, you may want to cancel or downgrade your subscription. But if you're looking to hold on until the bitter end, there are some workarounds that may work—for now.

Netflix Password Sharing Crackdown: How It Works

In order to determine who should and should not have access to an account, the streaming service is relying on something called a Netflix Household," which is defined as a "collection of the devices connected to the internet at the main place you watch Netflix." A television is used as the center of that household, while a combination of IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity is used to determine who should be part of it.

This means the main TV you use to watch Netflix, plus all the devices connected to the same internet connection, are considered to be one household. While you can manually set your TV as the main device for your household, you can't add other devices or users to that household. It may sound impossible to get around this kind of setup, but there are some things you can try.

1. Purchase Additional User Accounts

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If you want to continue sharing your password, the only official way is to pay for what Netflix is calling an "extra member." These extra members are additional profiles for people who live outside your immediate Netflix Household. They have their own account and password, but the membership is paid for by the person who invited them to the household.

An extra member slot costs $7.99 per month and is capped based on your subscription tier. Those subscribed to the Standard plan can add one extra member while those with Premium can add up to two. If you're on the ad-supported plan, you won't be able to add an extra member.

You can invite an extra member from the Add Extra Member page on the Netflix website. Select the Buy Now option, then enter their information to send them an invite. You can then transfer an existing profile or let them set up a new one. Once the person has activated their extra member account, you can manage extra members from your account page.

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While Netflix does not leave a lot of room for various life situations—college students living in a dorm, children of divorced parents who move between homes, and so on—it did implement a workaround for those who are on vacation. If you're away from home and wish to watch TV in your hotel room, for instance, there is a solution.

When you log in to your account from an unknown device and network, Netflix will say that you are not part of the household. However, you can select an option to indicate that you are on vacation and Netflix will send a verification code to the account holder.

If you're the account holder, it should be easy to get the code and enter it on your TV. If you're not the account holder...it should be easy for the account holder to send you the code. Think of it like a two-factor authentication feature. Once the code is submitted, you're good to go.

3. Auto-Forward Verification Emails

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When an access code is sent out, Netflix only gives you a few minutes to verify before it expires. This can make it hard to send someone else the code if the account holder happens to be away from their phone at the time. If the idea of dishing out codes to everyone on your account gives you anxiety, you can automate the process.

The account owner will have to set up automatic mail forwarding in their email. Set this up in Gmail by clicking the settings gear and selecting See all settings. Open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and choose Add a forwarding address, then enter the email address of the person with whom you want to share the account.

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For this next part, you will need that other person's involvement. Before forwarding can happen, Google sends a confirmation email to the address you add. Have the other person click the link in the email and confirm the action. That email address should now show up as a forwarding email in your Gmail settings.

Enable Forward a copy of incoming mail to and make sure the correct email is selected in the drop-down. However, this means all your mail will be sent to that address, which we don't want, so the job isn't finished yet. The next step is to set up a filter that will send only certain emails to the forwarding address.

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Open the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab and select the Create a new filter link to set the criteria for an email to be forwarded. Netflix sends out codes from the [emailprotected] email account, so you can add that email in the From field. Enter the other person's email address in the To field.

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For even further specification, you can also add "Your Netflix temporary access code" to the Subject field, since this is what the company uses in the subject line of those emails. And since they also contain the profile name of the person who needs verifying, you can add their name in the Has the words field to narrow things down.

Hit Create filter, then tell Gmail what to do when an email matches your criteria by enabling Forward it to and select the email from the drop-down menu. Finally, choose Create filter and the filter you have set will now sit in the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab, which you can edit or delete at any time.

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Now, return to your inbox and you will see a notice at the top of the screen reminding you that forwarding has been enabled. If you want to set this up for multiple users, repeat the steps to add other forwarding addresses and create additional filters as needed. Using each person's profile name will be key here.

4. Route Traffic With NordVPN Meshnet

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Since location data isn't among what is collected by Netflix, a VPN won't be the easy fix here—especially since Netflix already blocks most of these tools. However, NordVPN has a unique feature called Meshnet that allows you to connect external devices together and avoid the roadblocks that prevent Netflix from working outside your household. You can essentially tell Netflix that your parents' TV in their house is actually part of your Netflix Household.

For exact instructions on setting up Meshnet, consult NordVPN's documentation. But all you really need to do is download the NordVPN app, create an account, and enable Meshnet. To add an external device, just download the app, sign into your account, and enable the feature.

5. Log in From the Account Holder's Wi-Fi

If the above method seems too complicated, Lifehacker has a much easier way to get around the block—hypothetically, at least. Since Netflix determines a household by the devices that connect to the same network, the simple solution is to log in from the account holder's home.

The service does allow members of a household to travel outside the house and keep watching, say, if you commute to work or otherwise spend prolonged periods of time away. As long as you live nearby, you could conceivably head over to their house, log in to your account from there, and then continue to use Netflix on that device from your own home.

The service will (theoretically) continue to believe you are part of their household and just spend a lot of time away "commuting." The only catch here being that you may need to do this more often than you might otherwise want to see the account holder.

6. Stick to the Mobile App

You may also be able to just do nothing. The block initially came for those watching on a television or streaming device. Those viewing from a mobile app have been able to skirt the crackdown a bit longer, though we have seen it hit people on the iPad app in recent weeks.

It's worth a shot for now, though. In the event that you do want to watch from a TV, your iPhone can use AirPlay to send Netflix to a compatible TV. For those with Android devices, Google's Cast feature should be able to help.