I watched one episode of “Is it Cake?” on Netflix. Spoiler: Everything is cake, and it’s totally not for me. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s completely wrecked my streaming recommendations — and I’m guessing yours aren’t much better.
Good news: If you don’t want to scroll through garbage for 30 minutes every night, I found some great hacks to get them back on track. Grab the popcorn. This is a good one …
Re-write your history
Obviously, your watch history has a huge influence on your show suggestions — but do you know you can edit it?
Yep, you can clear your history just like on your browser. I try to go in regularly and remove anything I didn’t like (or didn’t actually watch myself). It helps my algorithm big time.
Here’s how to clean up your history. It only takes a couple of clicks.
Netflix
- Log in to your account page from your computer (don’t use the app).
- Go to Profile & Parental Controls and select your profile.
- Select Viewing Activity to scroll through and remove titles you don’t like (click Show More to see them all).
Amazon Prime Video
- Log in to your Amazon Prime account from your computer.
- Hover over Account & Lists and click Account.
- Scroll to the Digital Content and Devices list, then click Prime Video settings.
- Click the Watch History tab to delete videos and shows you don’t like.
Pro tip: If you’re accessing your account from the Amazon app, press and hold a video thumbnail in your watch history and choose Hide this video.
Hulu
- Log in to the Hulu app, then go to Continue Watching to view your watch history. (Note: this only includes recently watched content).
- Remove a video or show by clicking the three dots in the top left corner of the thumbnail.
- Submit a request to get your entire viewing history.
- Head to Account > Your U.S. State Privacy Rights > Request Report.
- Clicking thumbs-down on a show or movie you don’t like will remove it from your home screen and the “Up Next” and “You May Also Like” areas.
What happens in Profiles stays in Profiles
If your kids are corrupting your Netflix with “Peppa Pig,” a great way to keep your preferences personalized is to use profiles … and stick to them.
Be extra smart, and for family movie or TV nights, create a separate profile for shared viewing, such as “The Johnsons.” That way, you won’t have to mess up anyone’s algorithm.
All the major streaming services let you create several profiles per account: Netflix gives you up to five accounts, Amazon Prime Video gives you six and Hulu gives you seven.
✅ Pro tip: If you wanna get really fancy, you can make more than one profile for yourself and curate things by genre or mood. Example: One profile where you only watch thrillers and another for comedies.
Crack Netflix’s secret code
Netflix has unique codes for each hyper-specific subgenre, from silent movies to political documentaries. You can use them to find interesting flicks or tailor the algorithm to your niche interests.
- Get Netflix’s master list of categories and codes here.
- Type netflix.com/browse/genre/ into your browser and add the specific ID code to the end.
Bonus: Wanna save on maintenance for individual platforms? The Reelgood app lets you consolidate your watchlist and strecommendations for all your streaming platforms in one place. You’ll need to manually input your preferences and watch history to start, though!
Btw, if you are trying to get a handle on all your streaming and other subscriptions, I use Rocket Money. It helped me save $532 a year, seriously. Try it free now using my link. I get no kickbacks if you use the app. It just works.
😂 What is Iron Man’s favorite movie? “Ferrous Bueller.” (No, I won’t apologize for that one.)