How to Watch Netflix on Zoom Together with Friends?

Watching Netflix together with friends is one of the most enjoyable activities. It lets us relax and enjoy some time away from our daily routine. However, this becomes impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, Zoom provides a solution.

You can use your favorite video conferencing tool to share all your favorite Netflix shows and movies, you will learn how to watch Netflix together on Zoom with friends even when you and your friends are far away from each other.

Section 1: How to Watch Netflix on Zoom Together with Friends?

1.1 How to Watch Netflix Together on Zoom on a Desktop

If you’re curious to know how to watch Netflix on Zoom app or any desktop browser. The steps below will tell you how:

• To begin, open the Netflix app and sign in with your Netflix account. If you don't have the app, simply log in to Netflix's website.

• Open the Zoom app while leaving the Netflix window open.

• Invite the friends that you want to watch Netflix with.

• When everyone is connected, go to the bottom of your Zoom screen and click "Share Screen". A new window will appear at this point, displaying all of the active applications on your computer.

• Choose the Netflix app or the Netflix browser window.

• "Share sound" and "Optimize for video clip" should both be checked. The audio from the video will be available to all participants. Video quality will also be maintained as well.

• Click on “Share”.

• Choose the Netflix content you want to watch and press "Play". You can now enjoy the content with your friends online.

There are several options on the Zoom meeting screen to help you improve the group viewing experience. The "Pause Share" button, for example, allows you to temporarily stop sharing your screen. This can be useful if you need to work on your computer privately while the video is playing. You can also record the session or chat with a participant without disturbing the others by pressing the "More" button.

Zoom's default setting is to start screen sharing in full-screen mode right away. It can be aggravating for anyone trying to watch the best horror films on Netflix while also watching their friends' reactions. You can see your friends' reactions while enjoying the Netflix content by toggling on the "Side-by-side" mode.

1.2 How to Watch Netflix Together on Zoom on a Mobile

We will show you how to stream Netflix with friends, family, or coworkers from your mobile phone or tablet using the free Zoom app. Netflix and Zoom are both compatible with mobile phones and tablets running Android and iOS.

• Open the Zoom app on your device.

• Begin a Zoom meeting and invite everyone who you want to watch Netflix with.

• Then, at the bottom of the meeting screen, tap "Share Content". A new screen should appear, allowing you to choose from several share options.

• Choose "Screen". Zoom will notify you that you are about to capture and share everything on your screen with all participants.

• Tap on "Start Broadcast".

• Zoom will request permission to display over other applications. Simply toggle the button on the screen to agree to Zoom's request.
• You and your friends are now ready to go after granting Zoom permission to display over other apps. All that remains is to launch the Netflix app and watch your preferred Netflix content.

Allowing Zoom to display over other apps creates a more seamless and convenient watching experience. It keeps Zoom control buttons on your screen even when you're using other apps like Netflix. When it's time to stop sharing your screen, you won't have to relaunch the Zoom app because the "Stop" button will be just a tap away.

Section 2: How to Fix Black Screen Issue While Streaming on Zoom

When attempting to use the Zoom screen-sharing feature to share a Netflix movie or TV show with your friends, you may occasionally encounter a black screen issue. Although this is frustrating, it may have nothing to do with your devices. Rather, it may occur as a result of Digital Rights Management (DRM).

Digital Rights Management is the management of access to digital content. It employs a number of methods to ensure that works are not copied or transferred in prohibited or restricted ways. DRM is used by Netflix to prevent users from widely sharing Netflix content with others.

The good news is that you can turn off "Hardware Acceleration" on the Zoom app and browsers to get around this restriction and watch Netflix on Zoom without any problems. Here's how to fix the black screen issue:

2.1 Fix the Black Screen Issue on Zoom App

• Open the Zoom app.
• Click on the "Settings" button.

• Navigate to Video > Advanced.
• Then, toggle off the three checkboxes related to hardware acceleration.

By configuring the "Settings", you and your friends will be able to enjoy Netflix content together.

2.2 Fix the Black Screen Issue on Browsers

Below, we'd give you instructions for disabling hardware acceleration in three popular browsers, Google Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. To complete the instructions, use your preferred browser. If you're using a browser that isn't mentioned above, simply go to the Settings menu and disable hardware acceleration.

2.2.1 Disable Hardware Acceleration on Google Chrome

• Open Chrome and go to the vertical three-dot menu in the upper right corner and select "Settings".

• Go to the "System" tab in the left sidebar, then to "Advanced" options, and disable the "Use hardware acceleration when available" toggle.

• Restart Chrome after disabling the toggle.

2.2.2 Disable Hardware Acceleration on Mozilla Firefox

• Firefox users need to choose "Settings" from the hamburger menu (horizontal three lines) near the browser's upper right corner.
• Scroll down to the "Performance" section under the "General" tab. A checkbox named "Use recommended performance settings" can be found here. When you uncheck it, a new checkbox for disabling hardware acceleration will appear. You just need to uncheck the "Use hardware acceleration when available" checkbox.

• Finally, close and reopen Mozilla Firefox.

2.2.3 Disable Hardware Acceleration on Microsoft Edge

• Open Microsoft Edge and navigate to "Settings" by clicking on the horizontal three dots menu in the upper right corner.
• Turn off the "Use hardware acceleration when available" toggle inside system settings by clicking the "System and performance" tab on the settings page.
• After that, restart your Edge browser to avoid getting a black screen while watching Netflix on Zoom.

2.3 Avoid the Black Screen Issue by Downloading Netflix Content

Another way to avoid the black screen issue is to download Netflix movies or shows using a video downloader and then enjoy the downloaded video with your friends via a screen-sharing session on Zoom. One of the downloaders that enable you to download Netflix and DRM-protected content is StreamFab Netflix Downloader.

2.3.1 Introduction to StreamFab Netflix Downloader

StreamFab Netflix video downloader as one of the StreamFab subproducts is a feature-rich and easy-to-use application for downloading Netflix movies and TV shows. This software downloads your target Netflix videos in 1080p resolution along with EAC3 5.1 audios.

Other than Netflix, StreamFab also enables us to download from streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus, Apple TV, and 30 more streaming services. Also, including 1000+ free online video sites. The downloader can be installed on both Mac and Windows PCs.

2.3.2 StreamFab Netflix Downloader Features

• Able to download Netflix content from any Netflix website

The StreamFab Netflix Downloader lets you save videos from any Netflix website as long as your location is officially covered by the streaming service, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and France. So, if you live in one of these supported regions, you can download any of your favorite movies and TV shows from Netflix to your computer, to watch when you don't have internet access.

• Download Netflix videos in MP4 format

By using this Netflix downloader, you can download movies and TV shows from Netflix and save them as MP4 videos that can be played on any media player and device.

• Choose the audios and subtitles in the language you want

With StreamFab Netflix Downloader, you can choose the language of the audio and subtitles for the videos you want to save and watch offline. And it will choose based on the language of your UI by default.

• Save subtitles as SRT files or remux into videos directly

You can download the subtitles as independent .srt files and later load them manually with your media player. Or you can have the subtitles remuxed directly into the downloaded videos, ensuring that you always get subtitles regardless of whether your media player supports .srt subtitles or not.

• Set up a schedule to download new episodes automatically

As TV shows air new episodes at a scheduled time, you can also schedule a download queue to download all the new episodes automatically.

• Include metadata information in the downloaded videos

If you’re having difficulties managing your media library. The Netflix movie downloader can offer you a solution, it lets you download metadata details such as title, cast, season, episode title, and poster for easier management.

• Batch-download mode

You can easily download a TV show that has multiple seasons and each season has multiple episodes by utilizing the batch-download feature. With a single click, you can choose to download all the episodes and seasons of a show.

Section 3: What to Do with Zoom 40 Minutes Limit?

You need to share Netflix content that is under 40 minutes if you have a free Zoom license. When the timer runs out, the meeting automatically ends, ejecting all your friends from the meeting room.

When your precious 40 minutes are up, you have two options:

• Start a new meeting: Because there are no limits on the number of meetings you can host, the simplest solution is to begin a new meeting with the same participants.
• Upgrade to a Paid License: You can upgrade to Zoom Pro, Business, or Enterprise license to get rid of the 40-minute limit.

Section 4: Does Zoom Work with Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and Other Streaming Services?

The Zoom software allows you to share any screen; it has no idea what you're sharing. It simply transmits whatever is displayed on the screen as well as audio output. As a result, it is fully compatible with streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus, and others. This feature also works with downloaded media.

But keep in mind that many mainstream streaming services use strict DRM protocols, which may make watching the content via Zoom difficult. For the time being, this trick appears to work with the most popular streaming services, such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Prime Video.

Summary

We discussed how to watch Netflix with friends on the Zoom desktop and mobile app. The screen-sharing process is straightforward and will only take a few minutes. However, your friends will need a stable internet connection to watch Netflix on Zoom in real time.

Furthermore, Zoom meetings are limited to 40 minutes. If the movie or show you're watching goes over the time limit, you'll have to start a new meeting or upgrade your Zoom membership.

And you need to either disable hardware acceleration on your browser and Zoom app or download the Netflix content using StreamFab Netflix video downloader to fix the black screen issue that you will most likely encounter when you try to watch Netflix on Zoom with your friends.