How do I set up multiple profiles on Netflix?

I've been getting into Netflix, but am finding that having my wife also log in occasionally and both rate her favorite movies and add new films to our shared queue is really messing up the recommendation system. But the recommendations are one reason we signed up in the first place. Is there some solution?

Dave's Answer:

There is a solution with Netflix, actually, and it's one of the many ways that Netflix continues to remain number one: you can create a new profile for your wife and then have multiple 'virtual' accounts under your one agreement. Let me show you how to do it, then you'll see its value.

Start by logging in to your Netflix account, then look on the top right and you'll see this:

Netflix DVD rental service: top right menu

You'll want to click on the My Account link, at which point you can make a lot of changes to your account (logically enough), most notably including the following section:

To actually set up a new profile you need to click on "Learn more about Profiles" (a link I find a bit confusing. Why doesn't it say "Set up a new profile" or similar?)

Now you'll get a bit of a blurb about how wonderful profiles are:

Enough of that. Click Create a Profile and now your wife can have her own account:

Worthy of note is that if you want to set up accounts for your kids, you can limit what films they can add to their queue too. The choices are All Movies, R, PG-13, Unrated Family, PG and G. Not only that, notice that community features option too. With that, you can limit new members from creating reviewer profiles and writing movie reviews.

Almost done now. Fill everything in exactly as you want, then click on Save, then you'll be able to determine how you split out your rental queue inventory:

You can, of course, adjust this as you desire, letting your wife have a bigger "mini queue" than you, or vice versa. Adjust this as you'd like, then simply click on Save again and you're done!

Now, to switch between accounts, uh, profiles, simply click on the tiny little triangle next to your name on the top right of all the Netflix pages and you'll find that there's now a tiny pulldown menu that lists other profiles:

That should get you and your wife in separate queue, alleviate any marital tension and help your recommendations list too, all in one fell swoop!

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Categorized: Computer and Internet Basics (Article 6440, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: dvd rental online, netflix
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Reader Comments To Date: 18

Valerie said, on May 28, 2008 12:49 PM:

I tried setting up another queue, but my Account Preferences doesn't even have the option of profiles. Just "Blue Ray", "Email Preferences" and the "More info..." and "Drag and Drop"

Sean said, on June 1, 2008 12:43 PM:

Me too, same problem, there is no "Learn more about Profiles"

Therese Aguirre said, on June 1, 2008 1:45 PM:

I have the same problem the others are mentioning...nothing about setting up an additional profile, just blue ray, e-mail preferences, etc. How do I get to the screen to add an additional profile?

Jake said, on June 2, 2008 3:35 PM:

I called netflix yesterday and found out that the profile option is no longer available. The support rep said that the best option is to contact them to request that they restore that option.

zack said, on January 28, 2012 4:56 PM:

the profile option works fine I just did it.. not sure what all of you are complaining about the turorial is great!

gil said, on February 11, 2012 10:02 AM:

not there when I try. very odd that some can some can't

Jeri said, on February 14, 2012 11:41 AM:

I just called customer service and they said that option is not available if you are on instant stream only! It would be added if i added a DVD plan in addition. Which i think bites. But oh well. Thanks for the info though since i couldn't find how to get to it using their help.

Katherine said, on March 24, 2012 6:55 PM:

Hi, thanks for the article, I have a question.
I have a second profile on a family member's account but seem unable to access it. Every time I hit the drop-down button and select my name, Netflix sends me to the page for signing up for Netflix (not member sign in). But I already have an established second profile that I receive a DVD from.
That is the first problem. The second is that I actually don't remember my name/password for my second profile (it's been a long time since I've checked in). Is there any way to find that under the main account?
Thanks so much!

Dave Taylor said, on March 25, 2012 11:12 PM:

Seems odd, Katherine. I wonder if the second account is tied to their older user interface? I'd suggestion you call their customer service number and see if you can get help from them: http://account.netflix.com/ContactUs

Rahul said, on May 5, 2012 8:21 PM:

I have both DVD and Streaming plan and I can setup the second profile fine but when I go to the newly added profile, I do not see any option to add stream-able movies that I want the new profile to be able to stream.

Second profile only gets a DVD Queue but no streaming queue, which is odd.

Essen said, on May 16, 2012 10:42 PM:

Ugh, Netflix sucks. That is the most stupid thing, requiring a DVD plan for this. That doesn't even make sense.

Paul said, on May 19, 2012 12:19 AM:

@Essen, Thanks. I was trying to find the profile setup for several minutes. Your right. It makes no sense at all to force people to the DVD plan just to get this.

SJK said, on August 14, 2012 4:31 PM:

I don't have the profiles option on my account. Crazy that I can't do this for streaming only. I'm thinking about dumping Netflix soon because we STILL cannot have a separate queue for our young children with parental controls. We have to apply the controls to the account, so every time we want to watch a show we have to change the settings. Ridiculous.

August said, on August 19, 2012 2:29 PM:

2 things, first I had a profile set for my ex that moved out and I can't erase her name now my new girl hates seeing her name.
Second I want a sub account or profile so when her kids use the wii or any other streamer in the house they log in to the parentally controlled account and not mine.

Ebone LikeaMutha said, on October 8, 2012 2:18 PM:

Dave- this thread is aging but still valuable. Thought I'd give an update for anyone else out there Google-Sleuthing for Profiles answers.

I called support today to ask why changing profiles *always* requires a login / password .. when I remember that it used to be that the account owner could jump to lower tier profiles "under their own power". The friendly but clueless woman said "we know it's broken.. it has been for about a year.. and "they" won't tell us when it's going to be fixed". (That's not how I want my help desk responding to people). I asked for escalation path and she in so many words said "it doesn't really matter- they know about the problem".

Having bugs isn't frustrating.. having questions dodged and treated as insignificant *is* frustrating!

Richard Vanderlippe said, on December 11, 2012 4:59 PM:

I found this while looking for information about this issue myself. Exact situation described in the initial post - 2 DVDs at a time and I created two accounts to allow both my wife and myself to create our own queues. At some point, I found I didn't have much time to watch movies and - since she is retired - I allocated both DVDs to her. But for many weeks now I've been unable to use the "Edit" button to change the number of DVDs assigned to an account. I contacted customer support - and got the "yes, we're aware of the problem". They changed it for me at the time but now I want to change it again and cannot do so through the web interface. And this is even when I AM the primary account holder.

Richard Vanderlippe said, on December 11, 2012 5:03 PM:

Actually - I should clarify that the "Edit" button isn't required to reassign DVDs to account profiles. But the Edit button is broken.

Long-term Netflix Customer One Step Closer to Dumping Netflix said, on December 21, 2012 7:25 PM:

This thread is somewhat outdated. However, I had a similar experience to that which Ebone described except I was told completely different information when I called to report the issue. The support rep told me the problem began the previous week and that a fix was being worked on and he was unable to provide a time frame as to when the issue would be resolved. Over a month later and the issue persists. I implemented a workaround by sharing my queue with a family member, however coordinating mailings and the order of movies in the queue has become quite inconvenient so I just cancelled my physical DVD plan and am sticking to instant viewing for the time being. I may eventually cancel this also and switch to a competitor.

It's become obvious to me that Netflix wants to eliminate multiple profiles under one primary account in an effort to increase its membership rate (currently the only way to access all of the features of a profile is to have your own primary account). This is unfortunate because having multiple profiles on an account was a major feature that my family and I enjoyed since 2005. It was what differentiated Netflix from its competitors. However, the inconsistency of information provided by their customer service reps and the indifference suggested by Netflix's inaction to remedy the lack of this feature has caused me reconsider how willing I am to shell out $20+ every month for a service that is inferior to one that was MUCH better and less costly before Netflix split their business into two entities.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

How do I set up multiple profiles on Netflix?

Reader Comments To Date: 18

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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