Netflix’s Secret Category Codes Help You Get the Most Out of Your Queue

As anyone with a Netflix account will attest, browsing for something to watch can sometimes be a frustrating experience. Although the streaming service boasts thousands of titles, it seems like we’re only getting a fraction of that whether perusing via the official site or another platform’s interface, as the same movies and TV shows repeatedly turn up while browsing various categories. Where are all the other titles hidden? How do you discover more interesting titles? This quick hack should come in handy.

A Reddit user, inspired by a post on The Stashed, took it upon themselves to find all those hidden category codes. What’s a category code? If you go to the Netflix website and pick a genre, you’ll notice a number sequence at the end of the URL. For example, here is the one for horror films: http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/8711

But Netflix has a wonky algorithm, and while each genre offers various sub-genres, we often see the same titles show up again and again, forced to endlessly scroll to the bottom to find anything interesting, lesser-known or more adventurous. And several of the sub-genres aren’t easily accessible with a click or two, so if you’re looking for something specific like historical documentaries, gay and lesbian foreign films or, my personal favorite, “satanic stories,” you’ll need to alter that numerical code in the URL to go directly to the page.

The Reddit list offers a basic guide to the “hidden” sub-genres on Netflix, but there’s a way more detailed guide a user put together on this Google page. This list gets super specific, with everything from cult sci-fi and fantasy to Belgian, Korean and “experimental” movies. You’ve probably seen some of these categories randomly show up on your home page based on your previous ratings and viewing history, but those categories can be difficult to find when exploring the website itself, making it hard to maximize the diversity and awesomeness of your queue.

So next time you’re looking for something off the typical, heavily-beaten path of Netflix, use this code list as your guide to cinematic spiritual awakening.