Netflix no longer permits password sharing unless everyone lives in the same household. Thankfully, a profile transfer feature lets you easily transition to your own Netflix subscription without losing viewing history, recommendations, custom lists, and other important settings.
You can switch your own Netflix profile to an existing account, as well as turn the feature off to stop others from transferring their profiles into your account. Follow along to learn how to transfer a Netflix profile and turn this feature off at will.
Netflix Wants You to Pay for Your Own Account
Netflix’s been cracking down on password sharing to boost its subscription business. Whether you previously shared a Netflix account with your ex, roommates, or someone else, the company makes it a cinch to switch that profile over to your own Netflix account without starting from scratch and personalizing your experience over again.
You can use Netflix Profile Transfer to move your profile to a new account or an existing one as long as it’s active, not protected by a PIN code, and has an email address associated with it.
Kids’ profiles cannot be transferred between accounts.
What Data Is Included in a Profile Transfer?
Netflix says the feature will copy the following profile data to a new or existing account:
- Your profile name and icon
- Personalized recommendations
- Your watch list in the My List section.
- Game saves and your Netflix game handle.
- Settings for language, subtitles/dubbing, autoplay, and maturity rating viewing restrictions.
- Viewing history, including your ratings, duration, device information, country, “continue watching” information, and more.
- Other data, including in-app notifications sent to your profile, test participation history, and stream quality settings.
You should have received an email from Netflix confirming that the Profile Transfer feature, available since October 2022, has been turned on for your account.
How to Switch Your Netflix Profile to an Existing Account
A profile transfer must be initiated from the original member’s account settings page in the web interface. Profile Transfer is unavailable in the mobile app. If the account owner hasn’t used this feature yet, they must first turn it on by choosing Turn on profile transfer under the Settings heading on the Netflix Account page and clicking Allow.
If your profile has a PIN, remove it before using Profile Transfer.
The steps to start a profile transfer:
- Go to Netflix and sign in to the shared Netflix account. If the account owner has changed their password, ask them politely to handle the process on your behalf.
- Hit the profile image in the top-right corner and choose Account from the menu.
- Expand your profile under Profiles and Parental Controls, then click Transfer this profile.
- On the next screen, select Start Profile Transfer.
- Select An Existing Account, then click the Next button.
- Enter the email and password for your own Netflix account, and hit the Next button.
- Lastly, confirm the action by clicking Transfer Profile.
After the profile transfer finishes, you’ll find a copy of your Netflix profile in your existing account. Your Netflix game handle and saves will be immediately deleted from your old profile in the shared account, but other data shall remain intact until manually deleted.
If you already have five profiles in your existing Netflix account, initiating an account transfer will return an error until you delete a profile.
You or the account owner can safely delete your profile in the shared Netflix account anytime through the Manage Profiles screen.
The account you’re transferring your Netflix profile to must have a subscription. Visit Netflix’s support page for more information on using a partner package, package add-on, or third-party billing to pay for your account.
How to Turn Off Profile Transfer on Netflix
The Profile Transfer feature is enabled by default for new Netflix accounts. To disable Profile Transfer on Netflix, select Turn off profile transfers on the Account Settings page and confirm the operation by clicking Turn Off Profile Transfer on the next screen.
Doing so will disallow any further profile transfers in the future, but it won’t affect profiles that have already been transferred. To re-enable Profile Transfer at any point, toggle this switch.
Click Enable Instantly in a confirmation email to avoid a two-day wait before Profile Transfer appears in your account.
Paid Netflix Membership Has Its Perks
Now that account sharing is officially frowned upon, the era of freewheeling on Netflix has come to its inevitable end. Sharing a Netflix account with people outside your household is only possible if you add them as paying members.
Subscribers who are on the company’s Standard or Premium plans can add up to two external members to their account for an additional $8/month.
You might as well subscribe to Netflix. Besides, extra members are restricted to a single screen and can only download shows for offline watching on one device at a time.
To determine whether Netflix is worth the money to you, consider such factors as plans and pricing, video quality, exclusive content, the number and type of shows offered, etc.