Netflix users across the United States were left exasperated on the evening of May 29 after the popular streaming service experienced a sudden and widespread outage. The disruption prevented viewers from accessing content, with many reporting the same error message: “This title is not available to watch instantly.”
According to outage-tracking platform DownDetector, over 75,000 user complaints had been registered by 9:40 pm EDT, indicating a major service disruption affecting a broad swathe of Netflix’s US subscriber base.
The issue appeared to impact all genres and device types. Whether viewers were tuning in to anime, revisiting classic favourites, or simply attempting to unwind with a film, the same error appeared without warning.
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One disgruntled viewer shared, “Getting an error message ‘This title is not available to watch instantly. Please try another title.’ This happens when selecting anything to watch.”
Another wrote, “Netflix just crashed and burned in me watching anime…. Won’t work on any device.”
A third added, “I’m getting ‘This title is not available to watch instantly’ for anything I play on all my devices.”
While the error message typically indicates a problem with the data stored on an individual device, Netflix’s official support page explained it was usually a localised issue. However, the scale and uniformity of last night’s complaints suggested a broader technical fault on Netflix’s end, rather than isolated user-side glitches.
As expected, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) was quickly inundated with complaints and commentary, as users sought confirmation that the issue was not unique to them.
One user remarked, “Of course Netflix is down when I want to watch something for once.”
Another vented their frustration with a more detailed post: “What is going on @netflix I’m 5mins into Episode 5 of #DeptQ and it shuts down and disappears from Continue Watching, My List, New Shows, etc?? Explain please ….It’s been an hour and still nothing. Fix it by tomorrow Thank you [sic].”
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Netflix has not issued an official statement explaining the cause of the outage. Users continue to await resolution, hoping the platform will restore service and offer clarity on what caused the disruption.
The interest in “Netflix” was high on Google India during May 27-29:
The interest in “Netflix” was high on Google India during May 27-29
