Can You Download Netflix Movies & Watch Them Offline?

Netflix does not offer digital video-on-demand downloads. This is because the site is intended to be a movie rental service that provides a continuous amount of video entertainment to members, not a retailer of digital downloads. However, Netflix does have many options for watching video content.

Netflix offers thousands of movies and TV shows as streaming video through the "Watch Instantly" section. These video streams cannot be downloaded, but can be played on many different devices. Netflix ready devices include any computer running the Microsoft Silverlight plugin, Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, Windows Phone 7 smartphones, game consoles, Blu-ray players, HDTVs, home theater systems and digital video players such as Boxee and the Roku Player.

Netflix movies can also be rented on DVD or Blu-ray. Discs are shipped through the mail and include a pre-paid return envelope for when you are ready to rent another movie from Netflix. You can keep the DVD or Blu-ray as long as you would like, though you will have to keep your Netflix membership active. Be aware that you will have to pay an additional fee to activate Blu-ray rentals on your account.

If you do not wish to only rent movies from Netflix and would prefer to pay for digital downloads of movies or TV shows, you should consider using a different service. Many different video-on-demand services are available, including Apple's iTunes Store, Vudu and Amazon Instant Watch.