The thing is, while Netflix makes it easy to find all the great shows everyone wants to watch, it only recommends shows and genres similar to the ones we’ve previously watched. Which means we can sometimes get into a bit of a viewing ‘loop’.
So when we want to try watching something a bit different, how do we discover the shows that don’t fit into ‘trending’ hits or the tailored suggestions Netflix puts in front of us?
Well, there’s a trick to help solve that problem which will inspire our Netflix viewing over Christmas and for years to come, and it’s all to do with unlocking Netflix’s hidden programming genres.
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What we need are Netflix’s secret codes.
These secret codes open up a wealth of shows we’d likely never otherwise find. And we’re not just talking about the typical genres you might expect, like ‘comedies’ or ‘dramas’. We’re also talking about super niche categories we’d never search for like ‘Coming-of-age-dramas-based-on-books’, or ‘Visually-striking-imaginative-movies’.
So how do we do it? Easy. It’s as simple as logging into our Netflix accounts and entering www.netflix.com/browse/genre/xxxx into the URL, then replacing the ‘xxxx’ with the number that corresponds to the particular Netflix subcategory.
There are a lot of these secret codes. Like, thousands of them. And sometimes you can simply have too much choice, so here’s a shortlist we’ve pulled together to try out over the Chrissy period.
Action and Adventure - 1365
Classic action and adventure - 46576
Action comedies - 43040
Action thrillers - 43048
Adventures - 7442
Children & Family Movies - 783
Education for kids - 10659
Disney - 67673
Family features - 51056
TV cartoons - 11177
Kids TV - 27346
Classic Movies - 31574
Classic comedies - 31694
Classic dramas - 29809
Classic thrillers - 46588
Film noir - 7687
Comedies - 6548
Dark comedies - 869
Mockumentaries - 26
Stand up comedy - 11559
Documentaries - 6839
Crime documentaries - 9875
Historical documentaries - 5349
Science and nature documentaries - 2595
TV Shows - 83
British TV shows - 52117
Food & Travel TV - 72436
Reality TV - 9833
Dramas - 5763
Crime dramas - 6889
Period pieces - 12123
Tearjerkers - 6384
Horror Movies - 8711
B-horror movies - 8195
Teen screams - 52147
Independent Movies - 7077
Experimental movies - 11079
Independent comedies - 4195
Romantic Movies - 8883
Romantic favourites - 502675
Quirky romance - 36103
Romantic comedies - 5475
Thrillers - 8933
Gangster movies - 31851
Mysteries - 9994
Spy thrillers - 9147
LGBTQ Movies - 5977
Gay and lesbian comedies - 7120
Gay and lesbian documentaries - 4720
If this shortlist isn’t enough and you want to check out more codes then head over to our friends at WhistleOut, who helped us pull this list together and have compiled a much bigger one.
Alternatively, if you’re feeling lucky just mash random numbers together at the end of the URL and see where that takes you!
