Does Netflix keep showing you a black screen when you hit Play? There’s an easy fix
This week, I ran into a Netflix issue that I’d never come across before. Whenever I tried to play a TV show or film on my TV through the Netflix app for the Amazon Fire TV Stick, the audio would play but the screen would turn black.
Lazy so-and-so that I am, I navigated back to the Fire TV home screen, tried again, shrugged my shoulders, and decided to cast it from my phone instead.
Related: How to find 4K HDR content on Netflix
Only when it happened the following night did I decide to actually look into the issue. A quick scan of Twitter revealed that there are other people out there who have been running into the black screen of death:
@NetflixUK @AmazonUK just wondering if you can help. Netflix on Firestick opens up ok but when selecting playback I just get a black screen with audio and subtitles. I have cleared cache and data. Unpowered Firestick, uninstalled Netflix and reinstalled. Still same issue.
— gwid (@garywiddup) July 17, 2019
Is anyone’s #Netflix down? Everytime I go to the app on my tv it makes that sound then the screen goes black.
— India B ❤️ (@india_brooke) July 24, 2019
#netflix anyone else having a black screen with everything they are trying to watch?
— Kathryn (@KWeathersB1) July 21, 2019
wait my netflix screen is just black but the audio is playing…what do i do
— s (@se3juns) July 23, 2019
Fortunately, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The blank screen issue is so common that Netflix has not one but two comprehensive help pages devoted to it.
If you’re in a similar boat to me, and get a black screen with sound when you try to play anything on Netflix on your device of choice, you can find out how to fix the issue by visiting this page.
In my case, the suggested fix (detailed below, but essentially turn the Fire TV Stick off and on again) worked. Here it is:
- Unplug your device from power for at least a minute
- Plug your device back in
- Turn the device back on with the Fire TV remote
- Try Netflix again
If, however, you get a black screen and no sound when you try to play anything on Netflix on your device of choice, this is the help page for you.
Read more: Best VPNs for streaming
And if the fix that applies to your situation doesn’t work, we’d recommend getting in touch with Netflix either through the @NetflixHelps Twitter account or through the Netflix Help Centre. Good luck, and happy bingeing!
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
