Netflix Search: By Title, Actor, Genre, Code or Voice
Where search sits on a TV, a phone and the web, what you can type into it, how the genre codes work, and why a title you know exists does not appear.
Open Netflix, choose Search and type. The box takes more than titles: Netflix’s Help Centre says you can search by a person’s name, a genre, a language, and even by “UHD” or “Atmos”. If a film you know exists still does not come up, the usual reason is that Netflix does not hold the rights to it in your country, and no search trick changes that.
Everything below comes from Netflix’s own pages: its Help Centre, its Tudum site and the category pages on netflix.com. Where Netflix is silent on a point, we say so.
Where to find search
| Where you watch | Where Search is | To narrow by category |
|---|---|---|
| TV with the menu across the top | In the menu at the top of the home screen | Open Search and pick from the list on the left side |
| TV with the menu down the left | In the menu on the left-hand side | Type the genre into Search |
| Android phone or tablet, iPhone, iPad | In the bar at the bottom of the screen, with Home and My Netflix | Swipe the shortcuts at the top: Shows, Movies, New & Hot or a category |
| Web browser | The Search icon on netflix.com | The Shows and Movies shortcuts, the Browse by Languages page, or a genre code in the address bar |
On a TV, the Back button on the remote takes you to the menu from anywhere on the home screen. A menu across the top means you have Netflix’s newer TV layout, which Netflix says most TVs and streaming devices get. On that layout the old Categories shortcut is gone, and Netflix’s instruction is to open Search and choose from the list on the left.
If search and the rows of titles are missing altogether on an older Roku, Netflix says the usual cause is that its “enhanced interface” has been switched off. From the Roku home screen go to Settings, then Netflix Settings, then Enable Browse and Search in Netflix.
What you can type
These are the kinds of search Netflix lists on its search and browse help page, with its own examples.
| Search by | Netflix’s examples |
|---|---|
| Title | Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters |
| A person’s name | Jennifer Aniston, Álvaro Morte |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama |
| Original language | Spanish movies, French TV shows |
| Dubbed audio | Hindi Dubbed Movies & TV, Portuguese Dubbed Movies & TV |
| Audio description | Audio Description in English |
| Picture or sound quality | UHD, Atmos |
Names are not only actors. Netflix’s page on voice commands lists directors next to actors, with “Find movies by Steven Spielberg” as its example.
For languages there is also a page on the website called Browse by Languages, at netflix.com/browse/original-audio, where Netflix says you can look for titles by subtitle, audio or original language. It asks you to sign in first. If Hindi is what you are after, our list of Hindi films on Netflix saves you the typing.
Searching by voice
Netflix documents two ways to search by voice, and both depend on the device, not on the Netflix app.
- A remote with a microphone button. Press the button, wait until the device is listening, then say the command.
- A virtual assistant. Netflix names Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Samsung Bixby. Say the wake word, then the command.
Netflix recommends adding “on Netflix” to whatever you ask for. Its examples: “Show me comedies on Netflix”, “Show me movies with Tom Cruise on Netflix” and “Find Bird Box on Netflix”. Saying “Play The Irishman on Netflix” starts the film directly.
Netflix adds that not every device or assistant supports every command. When one fails, its advice is to check with the device’s maker.
There is a newer kind of search that takes a plain sentence such as “Something funny and upbeat”. Netflix’s Help Centre describes it as a limited beta for a small set of members on iPhones and iPads. If you are included, the Search screen shows a button to opt in, and “Switch to Standard Search” takes you back out.
Browsing without searching
The home screen is rows of titles Netflix thinks you will like. The Shows and Movies shortcuts near the top cut those rows down to one or the other. For recent arrivals, Netflix points to a shortcut called New & Popular, Latest or New & Hot, depending on the device, and to the New on Netflix and Top 10 rows further down.
Netflix genre codes
The “secret codes” are real, and Netflix confirms them. Its Tudum site has an article on the category codes that says there are more than 36,000 of them. To use one, type netflix.com/browse/genre/ into a web browser and add the number to the end.
According to that article, the codes go back to Netflix’s DVD days, when the site had a public tree of genres and a fan copied every number out of it. Netflix’s staff still make new categories, each with its own code.
The article gives a starter set of codes, not the full list. The long lists on other websites are put together by fans, so expect some dead numbers. These are codes we opened on netflix.com, with the name each page carries:
| Code | Category on netflix.com |
|---|---|
| 1365 | Action & Adventure Movies |
| 6548 | Comedy Movies |
| 5763 | Dramas |
| 8933 | Thrillers |
| 8711 | Essential Horror Flicks |
| 5475 | Romantic Comedies |
| 1492 | Best Sci-Fi Movies |
| 6839 | Best Documentaries |
| 9875 | Crime Documentaries |
| 7424 | Anime |
| 67879 | Korean TV Shows |
| 783 | Children & Family Movies |
| 81466194 | 90-Minute Movies |
Netflix describes the codes for a web browser. A TV or phone app has no address bar, so on those the nearest thing is typing the genre into Search.
The pages opened for us without signing in and listed titles from Nigeria’s catalogue. That makes them a quick way to see what Netflix has in a category before you pay for it. A few other numbers we typed in opened a page with no category on it, so a code only helps when that category has titles where you are.
Why a title does not show up
Netflix’s help page on titles you cannot find gives these reasons.
- It is not licensed for your country. Rights are sold region by region. Netflix says it cannot get a title where nobody is selling it or where another service holds it exclusively, and that it also chooses titles by what is popular in each region. Some Netflix originals are missing in places for the same reason.
- It has not been released in your country yet.
- A VPN is on. Netflix says that through a VPN you may only see titles it has worldwide rights to. Turn it off to get your own country’s catalogue back. If you are not sure one is running, open fast.com, click Show more info and read the country next to Client.
- The profile’s maturity rating is lower than the title’s, or the title has been blocked on that profile.
- The profile’s language hides it. For each country Netflix lists one or more languages, and a profile set to one of them only sees titles with audio or subtitles in it. For Nigeria the listed language is English. Netflix’s fix is to set the profile to a language that is not on your country’s list.
- It has left Netflix. Licences expire, and Netflix says it gives a warning before a title goes.
Searching by country is the one thing Netflix does not offer. You get the catalogue of the country you are in, and the Help Centre describes no way to look through another one. The websites that promise to search every country’s Netflix are run by third parties.
If a title is nowhere on Netflix, you can ask Netflix for it. The form takes three suggestions at a time, and Netflix says it cannot reply to individual requests. For films that are on other services, see our guide to Netflix alternatives.
Quick answers
Can you search Netflix by actor?
Yes. Names are one of the search types Netflix lists, and its voice-command page shows that a director’s name works too.
Do Netflix codes work on a TV or a phone?
Netflix describes them for a web browser, where you can type an address. In the TV and phone apps, type the genre into Search or use the category shortcuts.
Why is Netflix search not showing all movies?
Search only covers what Netflix is licensed to show in your country, on a profile with your maturity rating and language. A VPN narrows it further, to titles Netflix holds worldwide.
Does Netflix have voice search?
Yes, through a remote with a microphone button or through Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant or Bixby. Which commands work depends on the device.
Can I see or delete my Netflix search history?
Netflix’s Help Centre has pages on your viewing history, which you can look through and hide titles from. We found no page there about a list of past searches.
If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
