The online streaming market has become a huge business with Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and Netflix as the major players. In the US, Netflix leads in the business. Other than movies and popular shows, it streams series’ specifically made for the liberal American audience. Since most potential viewers spend the majority of their time on computers, Netflix has launched a Windows application that could be downloaded from the Microsoft Store. However, many users have reported that the Netflix app keeps freezing from time to time.
What does “Netflix keeps freezing” error mean?
When you sign in to the Netflix app and your app freezes continuously then please check your subscription and sign in again.
Why Netflix keeps Freezing?
The probable causes behind this issue are as follows:
- The Netflix server could be down.
- The wrong date and time were selected on the system.
- There might be some problems with the Internet connection or proxy.
- In some cases, using a VPN could be the reason.
- An Outdated Silverlight plug-in.
Troubleshooting tip to Fix Netflix keeps Freezing
To start with, first of all, check and confirm that your internet connection is working properly by opening a few other websites. Then try these practical suggestions:
Check if the Netflix server is down or working
If the Netflix server is down, no level of troubleshooting can fix the problem. Rather, the Netflix website won’t work either. Interestingly, it isn’t uncommon for Netflix’s server to malfunction despite it being a high-rated company.
The status of the Netflix server could be checked on the official website here. If the statement Netflix is up is in green, the server is online. If the statement reads Netflix is down in red, the server is offline.
All you could do in such a situation is wait.
Try opening the Netflix website
The Netflix app is a framework that pulls data from the Netflix server/website. If the website is down (even if the server is working) for any reason, you won’t be able to access the Netflix app.
Try opening the Netflix website on your browser. If it doesn’t work, try opening the website on a different browser (to isolate browser issues).
If Netflix doesn’t work on any of the browsers, the issue is probably with the internet connection, proxy, interfering anti-virus connection, or a VPN. We would discuss these cases and possible fixes going further.
Disable VPN connection
It is very common for people to access Netflix using a VPN. The reason they do so is to bypass location filters and access shows meant for regions they don’t have access to.
This obviously is against Netflix’s policies and they lose revenue when people use VPNs. Thus, Netflix tries its best to ban VPN access to its servers.
If you are using a VPN service to access Netflix and the app or website freezes, it is quite probable that Netflix isn’t allowing you to use it. In such a case, you would have to disable your VPN client.
Disable any proxy on your system
You might have a lot of valid reasons for using proxy servers on your system, but Netflix would always judge it as an attempt to fudge your location. If you are using the latest build of Windows 10, disabling the proxy would be easy:
- Click on the Start button and go to Settings.
- Select Network and Internet from the available options.
- Now go to the Proxy tab.
- Under Manual proxy setup, disable the switch for Use a proxy server.
- Enable the switch to Automatically detect settings.
- Restart the system and check if it fixes your problem.
Re-install the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in
The Microsoft Silverlight plug-in is important for streaming Netflix and many other applications. If the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in is outdated, you would face problems with Netflix.
- To uninstall the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in, open the Control Panel and go to Programs and Features given inside the Programs category.
- If you get the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in in the list, just right-click on it and select Uninstall.
- Restart the computer once the plug-in has been uninstalled.
Now, re-install the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in from the official website here.
Disable third-party anti-virus on your system
Third-party anti-virus products are known to interfere with genuine software and applications. The same could be the case with Netflix. Thus, it is advisable to disable your third-party anti-virus temporarily.
If you are using Windows Security and it is interfering with Netflix, you could disable real-time protection temporarily to isolate the issue.
- Click on Start and then Settings.
- Navigate to the search box and type “Windows Security” and then choose “Windows Defender Settings” from the result.
- In the next window, just disable the option given for Real-time protection.
Check the date and time of the system
Servers and associated websites use security certificates to judge the safety of the system accessing them. However, the time is calculated through the system’s internal clock. If the time mentioned on your system clock is incorrect, the Netflix server might disallow your system from accessing its server.
To correct the date and times, the procedure is as follows:
- Search for “date” in the Windows search bar and click on Date and Time settings to open the settings page.
- Click on Sync now. The date and time will automatically sync with the internet date and time.
Update the Graphics Card Drivers
Outdated or corrupt Graphics Card drivers can cause a lot of issues with many applications on the system. To fix this cause, you could update the Graphics Card drivers as follows:
- Press the Windows key and R together to open the Run window.
- Type the command devmgmt.msc and hit Enter to open the Device Manager window.
- Scroll through the list which is in alphabetical order and click on the + sign corresponding to Display adapters.
- Now, right-click on your preferred Graphics Card driver and select Update Driver.
- Follow the steps mentioned for automatically updating the driver.
- Restart the system once the driver has updated it.
Uninstall and Re-install the Netflix application
If all other solutions fail, you could consider re-installing the Netflix application. To uninstall the application, open the Programs and Features menu as explained earlier. Then, right-click on the Netflix application and select Uninstall.
Thereafter, you can re-install the Netflix application from the Microsoft Store.
Conclusion
We are certain that by the time you have exhausted these steps, your problem of Netflix keeps freezing on Windows 10 would be resolved. Hope you enjoy your online streaming experience. You can follow us on our social media platforms LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to get an update on the latest posts.
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