How To See Netflix Viewing History on TV

Netflix is one of the most popular online streaming platforms that everyone has come to love. Thanks to this popular platform we can all watch different shows from any part of the world. Netflix has a Recently Watched featurewhich allows subscribers to see their viewing history on their mobile phones, PCs, and TVs.

It is easy to check your viewing history on your phone but if this is your first time watching Netflix on TV it might be a bit confusing, so read on to find out how to. 

How To View Your Netflix History

Kindly note that you most likely won’t have a viewing history if you’ve never used Netflix before or you just created a new account. The history only contains a list of movies you’ve watched, so until you watch a movie, your viewing history will be empty. 

If you have watched a couple of movies before linking your account to your smart TV, follow the steps listed below to see your Netflix history:

Step 1 – Install The Netflix App

To view Netflix history on TV, you need to install the Netflix app. You can do this by searching the TVs app store to see if it is available. Note that the app store varies depending on your TV brand. 

Some TVs come with the app already installed, and you can find it on the home screen or main menu. For TVs that don’t have the app preinstalled or have an app store, you can share screen from your mobile phone with your TV or use a streaming media player to use Netflix on TV.

Read this guide on LG TV screen sharing.

Note: Try updating your TV software system to find the Netflix app. For more guidance on that, check the brand’s user manual. 

Step 2 – Login To Your Netflix Account

Now that you have successfully installed the Netflix app on your TV, it’s time to login to your account.

  • After logging in, you will be shown a page with different options and icons. Located at the top right corner is the profile icon. Click on the icon and select Account from the drop-down list.
  • If you have multiple accounts or are sharing with someone, a list of accounts will be shown to you. Select the account you wish to check.
  • Another list will be shown to you. Scroll down and choose Viewing Activity. You will see every movie you have ever watched; the day and month; for movie series, you will see the last episode you watched. 

If you are screen sharing, skip the installation step and go straight to logging in. 

Does Your Netflix History Affect What You Watch? 

Yes and no. 

Netflix’s algorithm works similar to that of Instagram and every other social media platform you can think of. When you watch two or more movies in one genre, the algorithm automatically thinks that you love that genre and will continue to recommend movies that fall into it. 

So, for example, if you watched two K-dramas in a row, the next set of recommended movies will be K-dramas. If you decide to watch a Bollywood movie next, Netflix will recommend both Bollywood and K-drama movies to you once you are done. 

This is a good thing to many, but it can get boring after a considerable amount of time. Naturally, you will want to explore something else. To do that, you only need to search for the movie you want; don’t worry, Netflix will pick up on it and stop recommending the genres you are tired of. 

What If You Want To Clear Your Netflix History?

Clearing your Netflix history is as simple as viewing it. There are many reasons why you might want to do so; it could be to change the movies that pop up in your recommendations or because you are tired of seeing a cluster of movies in your history. 

Whatever the reason is, read on to find out how to clear it on TV:

  • Follow the same steps listed above until you get to Viewing Activity. Beside each movie is a no-entry icon on the right. 
  • Click on it for every movie you want to delete. A short message/prompt will come up each time you click on it. This action will clear your Recently WatchedContinue Watching and Watch Again sections.

For more Netflix how-tos, read this article on how to make Netflix full screen on TV.