Watch Offline: How to Download Content From Your Favorite Streaming Services

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The ubiquity of streaming services means endless entertainment at your fingertips—provided there's a solid internet connection. Accessible Wi-Fi isn't always on tap, and dead zones are very real. (Just ask anyone whose commute involves a tunnel.) Thankfully, most streaming services allow subscribers to download content for offline viewing.

Ahead of the next family road trip, long-haul flight, or off-grid weekend, load up your device with movies and TV series and press play. The feature also ensures you won't run into buffered video during that high-speed chase or will-they-won't-they kiss.

Netflix

To download from Netflix, your device must be running the latest version of iOS, Android, Fire OS, or ChromeOS (sorry, the new Windows app no longer supports downloads). On mobile, tap a TV show or movie and hit the Download button up top or the down-pointing arrow button next to individual TV episodes. If you're looking for content that you can download, tap Categories > Available for Download.

To access downloaded content, tap My Netflix > Downloads. This is also where you can delete watched or expired content. Standard and Premium subscribers have the Downloads For You feature, which automatically downloads shows and movies you might like. To enable it, tap My Netflix, open the hamburger menu, and choose App Settings. Under Downloads, tap Smart Downloads and enable Downloads for You. The app then lets you set the storage amount for each profile.

Netflix supports as many as 100 simultaneous active downloads per device on as many devices as are included in your membership plan. (For instance, Standard subscribers can download on two supported devices, while Premium users are allowed six at a time.) Canceling your account automatically deletes downloaded TV shows and movies from your device; you will need to download them again if you rejoin in the future.

Amazon Prime Video

To download Prime Video titles for offline viewing, you'll need a Fire tablet, or the Prime Video app for iOS, Android, macOS, or Windows 10. On mobile, navigate to the show or movie you want to download. For TV shows, you can download an entire season or individual episodes. For movies, tap the download button up top. To find content when you're offline, tap the Downloads tab in the bottom menu bar.

Prime Video has a feature that allows you to automatically download multiple episodes of a show at a time. To control this, tap your user profile, then the gear icon in the top-right corner and go to Streaming & downloading > Auto downloads. Here, you can turn the feature on and off, set the number of episodes to download, and choose whether episodes should be deleted after watching.

Amazon places some restrictions on the content you download. Depending on your location, the app will limit you to 15 or 25 downloads. And the same video can only be downloaded on two supported devices. Offline content will remain viewable for up to 30 days. Once you start watching, you'll have 48 hours to finish the show or movie before the app requires you to connect to the internet.

Apple TV+

Apple TV+ supports offline downloads for TV series and movies, as well as MLS Season Pass, from the Apple TV app on iOS, macOS, and Windows. To download on mobile, navigate to the TV show you want to download, tap the three-dot menu next to the episode name, and select Download. For movies, look for the downward-facing arrow on the top right. Find your downloads via Library > Downloaded.

Disney+

Disney+ supports offline downloads on up to 10 mobile devices for those with a Disney+ Premium, Disney Bundle Trio Premium, or Legacy Disney Bundle account. To download on mobile, select the content you want to download. Tap the Download button on the Details page. A device icon with a checkmark will display when your download is complete. To find it later, tap the Downloads icon.

You can watch downloaded content for as long as you're a subscriber (and as long as that content is available on Disney+), but you have to connect to the internet at least once every 30 days. So you can't download every Marvel movie and then cancel your Disney+ account. Another (potentially annoying) caveat: If you log out of Disney+, it'll delete everything you downloaded.

Hulu

You need the Hulu (No Ads) plan to download content for offline viewing. On movies, look for the download icon. For TV series, tap the download icon next to specific episodes. (Note that on-demand content that comes with a Live TV subscription can't be downloaded.) To watch later, navigate to the Downloads tab, where you can start watching.

Hulu allows you to keep 25 downloads at once on up to five supported mobile devices. You have a 30-day window to watch whatever you download, and once you hit play, you have 48 hours to finish before that download expires. Downloaded videos will be accessible on the device to which they're downloaded, regardless of which profile did the downloading.

Max

Subscribers to Max's Ad-Free or Ultimate Ad-Free plans can download up to 30 or 100 titles, respectively, via iOS, Android, or Fire OS for offline viewing. When you find something to download, tap the Download button up top for movies or next to specific TV episodes.

Downloads can be found by tapping the Download icon along the bottom menu. After pressing play, you have 48 hours to watch before it expires, and unwatched downloads expire after 30 days.

Crunchyroll

If you're an anime fan, Crunchyroll allows offline viewing for Mega and Ultimate Fan tier subscribers on an iPhone, Android device, or Nintendo Switch. Find the content you wish to save and tap the Download arrow. Once the movie or episode is downloaded, head to My Lists > Downloads to find your offline videos. If you run into problems, check out this FAQ page.

Unplayed episodes expire after seven days. Once playback starts, you have 48 hours to watch. Unlike other services, Crunchyroll doesn't restrict how many episodes can be downloaded at once. With the Switch app, for example, the only limit is how much free storage is available (so get an SD card).

Paramount+

If you have the Paramount+ with Showtime plan and a compatible device, you can download content to watch offline. (The option isn't available for Paramount+ Essential.) Most (but not all) content is available for download. You can have up to 25 videos in your download library and the same video can also be downloaded on up to five devices.

To watch something offline, hit the download icon next to a movie or episode description. A progress icon will appear; when it's downloaded, open the app menu and choose More > Downloads. Downloaded videos will remain in your library for 30 days, though you can re-download them if they disappear. Once you press play, you have 48 hours to watch.

Peacock

To access the download feature on Comcast's Peacock, you'll need to pony up for the Premium Plus ad-free tier and have a compatible device. Once you locate something to download, select the Download icon in the bottom-right corner (if you don't see it, it's not available to download). Once complete, the Downloading icon will turn into a checkmark. To watch, open the app while offline and it will direct you to the downloads section.

Download rules are similar to other streaming services: Videos remain for 30 days, expire 48 hours after pressing play, and the download library can support up to 25 movies or episodes. Certain TV shows and movies may only be downloaded up to 10 times per account. Logging out or uninstalling the app will also remove all downloaded Peacock content from that device.

Starz

You can download titles and watch them offline using the Starz mobile app. In the app, tap on the film or episode you wish to download. On the description page of a movie, tap Download. On the description page of a TV series, navigate to Episodes > Download. If the download button is not available, the movie or episode is not currently available for download

On the Starz app home screen, open the hamburger menu in the bottom-right corner and tap Downloads to access all files and a progress bar for content still downloading. Downloaded content is deleted after two weeks. If a title's license expires, it will be removed from your device.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV is a PCMag Editors' Choice pick for live TV streaming services, but it also supports offline viewing of DVR recordings for those with a YouTube TV with 4K Plus plan. Not every network supports this, so open Settings > Downloads to see your options.

Choose the Library tab, locate the recording you want to download to your device, and tap the download button. (If it's grayed out, you can't download.) You can only download something to one device, and you can't play the video anywhere else until you delete the download.

When you're ready to watch offline, tap Downloads in the YouTube TV app. You have to connect to the internet at least once in a 30-day window to avoid losing your downloads; all downloads expire nine months after they're recorded.

YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium lets you ditch ads on the video-streaming site for $13.99 per month. It also supports offline downloads, so you can load up your phone or tablet with your favorite videos before a long road trip or flight.

Just log into your Premium account in the YouTube app, find a video you want to save, and click Download. When the download finishes, the download icon will turn black underneath the video. To find downloaded clips, tap your profile and choose Download.

Downloaded videos can be played offline for up to 48 hours or 29 days, depending on the country. After that time, you'll need to reconnect your device to the internet so it can be synced to YouTube.