A video that pauses momentarily while you’re watching.The appearance of a red circular icon in the center of the Netflix video player.White dots moving in a circular pattern in the Netflix video player.
What Does Buffering Look Like?
You may see a frozen image when Netflix starts buffering, or the Netflix video player may display a black screen. While Netflix buffers, you’ll typically see the light gray timeline at the bottom of the player slowly turn a darker shade of gray from left to right. You may also see a number count up in the center of the player. The number may reset to zero or fail to reach 100 percent. Under normal circumstances, you can wait for the video to buffer and then watch without interruption, even if your internet connection is slow. If the bar doesn’t change for a while, that means Netflix isn’t buffering, or it’s buffering too slow to do any good.
Why Does Netflix Keep Buffering?
If you experience repeated buffering interruptions when trying to watch a video, there may be a problem with your home network, your internet connection, your computer or streaming device, or Netflix itself. You can fix some of these issues yourself, but you won’t be able to do anything if your internet service provider or Netflix itself is experiencing a problem.
How to Fix it When Netflix Keeps Buffering
This issue applies to Netflix across a wide variety of platforms, including the web player that you can use in a web browser on your computer, the Netflix app on phones and tablets, and the Netflix app on streaming devices and video game consoles. To fix your Netflix buffering problem, follow these troubleshooting tips: Netflix recommends: To lower your Netflix stream quality: While a video is playing on:
Windows PC: Press shift+alt+left click.macOS: Press shift+option+click.Game console: Press up > up > down > down > left > right > left > right > up > up > up on the controller or remote.
Once you have brought up the hidden buffering rate menu, adjust the buffering rate and attempt to watch your video.
