Netflix.com Player Error - Black Screen without Player Controls on Mac OS X

Netflix.com Player Error - Black Screen without Player Controls

If you encounter a black screen without player controls when trying to stream a video from Netflix on your Mac, it’s possible your browser’s security settings are interfering with the Silverlight plugin, or the Silverlight plugin has become corrupted.

Troubleshoot your browser:

1. Clear browser cookies
   Your browser may be referencing an out-dated or corrupted setting in the cookie file.
   1. Go to netflix.com/clearcookies to clear the Netflix cookie. This will sign you out of Netflix.com.
   2. Select Netflix Home, then Member Sign In to log back in and play your movie or TV show again.
2. Restart your browser
   Sometimes restarting your browser can clear this issue.
   • Quit your browser, restart it, and play your movie or TV show again.
3. Try another browser
   A browser extension, plug-in or add-on may be causing this error. Try playing your movie or TV show in another browser.
   • If you're unable to play your movie or TV show in multiple browsers, there may be a problem with the Silverlight Plug-in used by Netflix.com. 

Uninstall and Re-install Silverlight Plugin

You may be running an outdated version of the Silverlight plug-in, or the plug-in may have become corrupted.

To uninstall the Silverlight plug-in: 

1. Quit all open browsers - including this window! You may want to print the following steps.
2. Click the Finder icon from the Dock at the bottom of the screen.
3. In the menu bar at the top of the screen, select Go then Computer.
4. Click the Macintosh HD icon.
5. Select Library.
6. Select Internet Plugins.
7. Drag Silverlight.plugin to your trash.
8. Once you have emptied your trash, Microsoft Silverlight un-installation is complete.

To install the latest version of the Silverlight plug-in:

1. Navigate to the Watch Instantly home page and click play on any title.
2. Follow the prompts to download and Install Silverlight on Your Mac.

You may encounter the message "Silverlight.dmg cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer" when attempting to install Silverlight. This is fairly common for applications that are not downloaded from the Mac App store. If you encounter this message, continue with the following steps to complete your Silverlight installation.

1. Right-click or hold Control on your keyboard and click on Silverlight.pkg.
2. Click Open on the pop-up menu.
3. Click Open on the prompt that says "Silverlight.pkg" is not from the Mac App Store. Are you sure you want to open it? Opening "Silverlight.pkg" will always allow it to run on this Mac.
4. Follow the prompts to complete installation.

   Disable Ad Blocker from Firefox

   From the black screen:

   1. Click on Firefox in the top left corner of the browser window.
   2. Hover the cursor over Options.
   3. Make sure there is a blue check mark next to Ad-On Bar.
   4. A bar should appear along the bottom of the browser window. In the bottom left corner of the bar, click the red stop sign.
   5. Click Disable on movies.netflix.com.
   6. Press the back arrow to return to the Instantly Watch home page. Try playing your movie or TV show again.